|
North Central Kansas | Build a storm shelter into your basement when you are pouring concrete. Ours is under the front step. It has concrete walls and the cap is a concrete cap that is the front porch. We access it from the basement through a steel door that is set into the wall and the concrete poured around. We have storage shelves in ours as it makes a very good storage. We can get about 15-20 people in ours. Have had that many in it one time when the tornado passed over. Doesn't cost that much more to do it when you are pouring the basement. 9' walls in the basement for sure. Our floor joists are 2x10 yellow pine. Design your rooms right and use a steel beam and you can span with yellow pine. If you want more openness you will need to use one of the newer floor joist products. Is your basement a walkout? partial walkout? or fully underground? Ours is a walkout and love it. Doesn't feel like a hole that way.
It is a fun process. Getting all your ducks in a row before you start makes the build go so much smoother. You just have to remember that builders love change orders. If you build what they bid you they don't make as much money. They will try and encourage you to change your mind. Give you new ideas half way through. Just know the costs before you say yes. Good luck. | |
|
Anyone who has built a home in the past few years.
