Single-Story vs. Double-Story House (investment, condo, commercial, rooms)
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Stairs are an issue for some, but the cost of elevators has come way down. A good elevator can now be installed for about $10,000...which is usually less than expanding into one story.
An elevator has been on my wish list for quite some time.
Can you reference some elevator brands that are in the $10k range? I might very well get one if the price is close to $10k. Also any comments about which brands are good and which might have issues.
Preference.
Age (of either residents or elderly frequent visitors)
Small children, afraid of stairs
Heating and A/C costs somewhat less
Ease of upkeep - somewhat easier to clean one story than two story, no lugging vacuum cleaner upstairs, etc.)
Fear of heights
My experience has been ramblers or single floor plan models are very tough to comp out on the appraisal. More ramblers have greater challenges and the highest instances of coming in lower on value.
Various advantages/disadvantages to a two story vs one story.
Cost - two story is cheaper to build per square foot - it has less slab and therefore less concrete...Two story also has less roof which is expensive to replace. It costs about 30% less to go up than continue on the first floor only.
You can also get more house on a smaller lot if you build up....maximize your backyard by going up, etc.
Stairs are an issue for some, but the cost of elevators has come way down. A good elevator can now be installed for about $10,000...which is usually less than expanding into one story.
I like the separation with kids up and parents down, but some dont....technology like baby monitors or security cameras means its easy to keep up with what they are doing.
I think in older homes there was some heating/cooling issues, but newer homes have pretty much solved that problem...Im in the process of building now, and I am doing two story for the sole reason of getting more house without decimating my yard. I want yard so I went up...If I lived on a huge 10 acre lot I would do a one story.
It is personal preference otherwise.
This sums it up well, not only for two stories but also three. We had a three-story house built because it was the only way to get the garage space we needed without obliterating yard space. We are both 60-ish but don't mind stairs and have lived with them all our lives. However, we don't like moving furniture and other big or heavy items up/down stairs, so we want single story for our next house...along with a LOT more land. A small second-story room with just nice floor padding (no furniture) might be OK, though; sort of a retreat space for quiet activity.
Upstairs rooms are warmer, which is a big advantage in cool or cold climates. They also take advantage of any views available, and they allow in more natural light. Even on the grayest winter days, we never needed to turn lights on except in early morning or from late afternoon on.
A house that I rented for a few months in GA had a dumbwaiter, an interesting idea that could be resurrected for some cases. I don't know if they are suitable for hauling furniture or boxes of books, though.
Preference.
Age (of either residents or elderly frequent visitors)
Small children, afraid of stairs
Heating and A/C costs somewhat less
Ease of upkeep - somewhat easier to clean one story than two story, no lugging vacuum cleaner upstairs, etc.)
Fear of heights
There are vaccum cleaning systems for the whole house. Each room has a port so that the vaccum motor itself doesn't have to be moved around. I never had one but have seen it in a house we looked at.
I would never consider a single-story home unless I were on an enormous lot or acreage. Single-story eats up too much lot space, for the usable square footage, on a 5 to 15k square foot lot. You also end up with more exterior envelope to maintain (roof, walls, etc) for a given square footage.
Unless you're constantly buying and getting rid of furniture, I don't see how ease of moving furniture in/out of the second story is a big deal.
I would never consider a single-story home unless I were on an enormous lot or acreage. Single-story eats up too much lot space, for the usable square footage, on a 5 to 15k square foot lot. You also end up with more exterior envelope to maintain (roof, walls, etc) for a given square footage.
Unless you're constantly buying and getting rid of furniture, I don't see how ease of moving furniture in/out of the second story is a big deal.
You don't have to keep buying or dumping furniture for moving it to be a pain. I like to move furniture from
one room to another to take advantage of natural warmth from where the sun shines through at different times of the day. And to change how things fit WITHOUT wasting more money on furniture, which is really boring stuff.
I have always lived in two-story houses, and I prefer them if for no other reason than the built-in exercise. The healthiest old people I know have lived in two-story houses, then upstairs apartments and condos, for their entire lives. Our family friend was still walking upstairs to her condo until shortly before she died at age 100.
We taught our babies to go downstairs on their bellies as soon as they could crawl, so safety was never an issue and we never needed gates.
I also like the natural separation between the bedrooms and living areas, especially since I tend to retire earlier and get up earlier than other family members. I like the morning sun in the upstairs bedrooms, and the space saved by not having everything at ground level. Where I live, land is at a high premium, so most houses have two stories.
We don't move furniture around on a daily, or weekly or monthly basis. There is already somewhere to sit in every room.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rakin
As Baby Boomers age and start to downsize the 1 story homes are becoming much more in demand. Climbing stairs past the age of about 35 is not a lot of fun. Past 60 it becomes difficult for many.
I'm a whole lot past 35 and I still enjoy stairs. And mountain biking.
I went from a one story to a four story and liked them both
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