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Maybe this has been answered before...but I am a New Englander looking to relocate (like everybody else!). Is there a benefit to a raised house? Most seem to be raised in Mt. Pleasant with an occasional non-raised. Just curious......?
Maybe this has been answered before...but I am a New Englander looking to relocate (like everybody else!). Is there a benefit to a raised house? Most seem to be raised in Mt. Pleasant with an occasional non-raised. Just curious......?
I would think that the majority of the homes in Mt. Pleasant are either on a crawl space, slab or raised slab. Some of the homes in Mt. Pleasant and throughout the Charleston area are raised because of the flood zone elevation in which they are located. Other homes are raised because they provide additional parking and storage underneath the home or to take advantage of views from the interior and exterior of the home. Some may also be raised because the owners like that architectural style.
Most of the homes in Mt Pleasant were built before 2005. That is when the new flood zones were drawn. Existing homes are grandfathered in, so you may buy a lot surrounded by crawl space or slab houses, only to find out the County zoning requires you to have an elevated home. (Obvciously, this is not just Mt Pleasant. You will see a mixture of old homes on the ground and new raised homes throughout the area. Some are by preference, as previously stated, and others are by requirement.
Less likely to flood when the ocean rises above the dunes.
Actually that scenario is much less a problem than the rivers rising. The ocean is the least of your worries unless you live on direct ocean front property. When the rivers push up it can affect areas for miles around.
The ocean rising above the dunes will be gone once the storm is over or as soon as the tide drops. The rivers can affect an area for weeks under the right conditions.
Is there a value issue in terms of the sales price of a house? Also wondering if there is a re-sale issue. Do people prefer the raised house as a sort of "southern tradition"...sitting on the porches etc.?
Is there a value issue in terms of the sales price of a house? Also wondering if there is a re-sale issue. Do people prefer the raised house as a sort of "southern tradition"...sitting on the porches etc.?
A raised home will probably cost about $35,000+ more to build than one on a crawl space. The disadvantage is having all those stairs to climb to get to the first level, which may not appeal to some buyers. In my opinion, it is best to look for a home with an elevator or at least room for an elevator shaft if considering a raised home for resale reasons.
What seems ironic to me is that in many Northern areas it's cheaper per sq ft to build in a basement foundation which includes a lot of grading, foundation prep (water-proofing, drainage, etc), and back filling to do. It seems like if you don't have to do all that and you're just building from a slab up it would be cheaper per sq ft than having to do all that grading and prep work.
In the north you have to dig deep enough to put your footings below the frost line. When you are that deep- you might as well claim the area for space since your foundation will go around the perimeter anyway.
In the south the 'raised basement' was really a means to get the house above probable flood levels. The early plantantions were all along rivers since that was the method of travel- so they were built to that environement. If you ever go to Drayton Hall see if you are allowed under the house. I went there with a group after they installed their fancy weather/humidity monitoring system and it was pretty neat to see the underside of an old masonry house.
Also- you have to build 14' above sea level so if you are already a four or five feet off the ground its often just as easy to bump the house up to 8+ feet above grade to claim the space.
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