Why are most of the houses half buried in the ground? (Sioux Falls: new house, construction)

[vozmozhno]

Still looking around on Zillow at houses in Sioux Falls and notice that a lot of them follow a basic design where the bottom story is half buried in the ground so that the windows are just above ground level. Is this to save on energy costs in the winter?


I don't like it for several reasons: Seems like a drainage problem could easily develop and instead of flooding a basement you'll end up flooding carpeted rooms full of belongings. Your windows will constantly be dirty due to proximity to the ground. The windows are located only on the top half of the wall.


Why don't they build houses on a concrete slab so everything is above ground? I'm looking at houses in the $200k range and even most of the new construction is half buried.

[jmgg]

Originally Posted by vozmozhno

Still looking around on Zillow at houses in Sioux Falls and notice that a lot of them follow a basic design where the bottom story is half buried in the ground so that the windows are just above ground level. Is this to save on energy costs in the winter?


I don't like it for several reasons: Seems like a drainage problem could easily develop and instead of flooding a basement you'll end up flooding carpeted rooms full of belongings. Your windows will constantly be dirty due to proximity to the ground. The windows are located only on the top half of the wall.


Why don't they build houses on a concrete slab so everything is above ground? I'm looking at houses in the $200k range and even most of the new construction is half buried.

This is South Dakota. The main purpose of basements instead of building a house with 2 stories above ground is tornadoes. If you live in a house and you get hit by a tornado, odds are you're dead. A basement increases the odds of survival tremendously.

The main reason for what is commonly called split foyer houses is a high water table. There are many areas where sump pumps might run 10 months out of the year (my house being one of them). So many developments have water issues such that when you're pumping the water out of you're basement, someone else's sump pump is pumping there's toward you. Each house recycles to the other.

In case you're wondering why they don't just pump it into the sewer drain, it's illegal. If houses all over town did this they would overload the lagoon systems (or water treatment facilities in the larger towns).

Pretty much the only houses you'll see constructed without basements are for those who don't want steps, or just choose to build on slab in order to build a much less expensive new house. When there's a tornado warning these people go visit their neighbors. B.Y.O.B. though.

[hotzcatz]

There is an option with new construction to build what is called a 'safe room'. Some codes require them, not sure what code South Dakota is using. A safe room is safe from all sorts of things, tornadoes being one of them.

Should you find a house you really like and it doesn't have one, you could probably build one somehow into the house. It could even be used as a big pantry when it's not being a safe room, especially since that would also place all the extra food stuff within your place of safety.

[sam812]

A safer place during a major storm or tornado is just a big plus. The real reason is the cost. It is way cheaper to build a split level or single story house with a basement that a 2 story house above ground.

Codes are always changing and are different for each city. I have been out of construction for several years now but was in it for over 20 years. In the area of SD I live in you couldn't build a floating slab house. You had to have a foundation that was a minimum of 4 foot deep so you are digging and pouring concrete no matter what.

The main reason for having a 4 foot deep foundation is weather related. With the hot summers and cold winters the ground is actually moving up and down so it could cause pipes to break. With constant improvements in materials/building techniques that might not be a problem now.

[WyoNewk]

Sam812 pretty much nailed it. A house needs to have a foundation that goes below the frost line. In South Dakota that's about 4 feet deep. Since you must place the foundation 4 feet underground, it doesn't cost that much more to go twice that deep for a full basement or to add 4 feet of frame for the lower level of a split-entry.

[vozmozhno]

Great info. Thanks for all the responses.