Is it good to raise my foundation as high as possible?

Question

Is it good or not? My hubby said it will look so weird among the neighbors. But I think it will be good for basement. Also, I don't know if the builder will allow me to do that.

I hope some professionals can help me on this.

Answer 1

I have remodeled hundreds of basements over the years, and headroom is almost always a problem. If you are having a custom home built, one of the best decisions you can make is to extend the height of the foundation.

Typical poured concrete foundations are usually 7'-10" high because the forms are 8'-0" tall. By the time you lose 4" for the concrete floor slab, and another 10" for ductwork and/or beams; you are often left with under 6'-8" of headroom in some parts of the basement. This creates many problems when finishing the space in the basement.

It will cost you more money, but adding 12" to the height of the basement walls will solve a multitude of problems if you eventually intend to finish any of the space.

Good luck with your new home.

Answer 2

I don't know about raising your foundation as high as possible, but here in Texas, you have to have a good and sturdy foundation with PIERS. We just did one side of our house with 14 piers because our foundation cracked. Cost us $7,000 to put in piers on a 15 year old house. Now we need the other side done because we can't close some of our doors.