Basement foundation question (house, crawl space, cost of)

[Tarheel22]

So, other than the cost of Superior Walls, can anyone give an opinion or person experience on the advantage of a block built basement over the preformed concrete wall system?
We are trying to make the best choice.
Thanks for your replies!

[vandemusser]

I work as an energy rater here locally, and Superior Walls are a fantastic product from an energy efficiency standpoint. I would say if you plan on having any conditioned space in the basement, it's a great option. They go up very quickly (typically in 1 day), the continuous wall insulation detail they use is fantastic, and the company is extremely professional. My wife and I are in the process of building a house ourselves and this is what we are using for our basement office. There are other similar systems out there, but I honestly believe that Superior Wall is the best of the bunch.

If you aren't planning on doing any finished basement space, the value of a Superior Wall system is a little muddier. It's still nice to have, but there may be less expensive ways of separating the conditioned space upstairs from the unconditioned basement (or crawl space).

[Tarheel22]

Originally Posted by vandemusser

I work as an energy rater here locally, and Superior Walls are a fantastic product from an energy efficiency standpoint. I would say if you plan on having any conditioned space in the basement, it's a great option. They go up very quickly (typically in 1 day), the continuous wall insulation detail they use is fantastic, and the company is extremely professional. My wife and I are in the process of building a house ourselves and this is what we are using for our basement office. There are other similar systems out there, but I honestly believe that Superior Wall is the best of the bunch.

If you aren't planning on doing any finished basement space, the value of a Superior Wall system is a little muddier. It's still nice to have, but there may be less expensive ways of separating the conditioned space upstairs from the unconditioned basement (or crawl space).

Feeling better already!
Thanks! Hope to run into you someday!

[GaryH3]

We looked at those when building too. But because we have a walk-out ("daylight") basement it wasn't as good an option because of the tie-in needed to the stick-built (above grade) portions of the basement walls. We talked to several builders about it and apparently it is doable, just more complicated. We ended up doing block walls for the below grade portions and insulating them before finishing the basement.

[Tarheel22]

Originally Posted by GaryH3

We looked at those when building too. But because we have a walk-out ("daylight") basement it wasn't as good an option because of the tie-in needed to the stick-built (above grade) portions of the basement walls. We talked to several builders about it and apparently it is doable, just more complicated. We ended up doing block walls for the below grade portions and insulating them before finishing the basement.

That is exactly what we have in our house here in the lowlands......we have a garaqe under the house......it turned out really well!!!!

[vandemusser]

For that very reason, I'm curious why you would stick frame the daylight wall in the basement to begin with. The easier detail would be to use Superior Wall on all 4 sides. This is typically what I see done for walk-out basements and it looks pretty good and resolves the tie-in issue you describe.

[Tarheel22]

Originally Posted by vandemusser

For that very reason, I'm curious why you would stick frame the daylight wall in the basement to begin with. The easier detail would be to use Superior Wall on all 4 sides. This is typically what I see done for walk-out basements and it looks pretty good and resolves the tie-in issue you describe.

Actually the superior walls are on all 4 sides with cutout for garage doors, etc. and we had no problems. In fact, they tie into a huge boulder the size of Rhode Island (we call it Bad Rock, but I would'nt let them blast it, I made the builders move the whole foundation over by one foot).... (I am happy I made that decision, the aesthetics are wonderful!!!)