Custom Home Basements
Many of us grew up in Northern climates with underground basements that were cold, dark, and unpleasant to stay in for long periods of time. In some homes, basements just store boxes and dust. Aside from the occasional storage and maintenance need, these large areas go unrecognized and families ultimately miss out on hundreds of additional square feet of livable, useful space.
Luckily, people can finish their home basements to transform their cold, dark concrete room into an extension of the rest of the house. Today’s finished basements are looking more and more like the first floor of the house. Basements can add a whole new level of living space, versatility, function, and entertainment to your home.
In Texas, specifically the Hill Country, Basement homes are an improvement on a home’s design when it makes sense. Texas basements are considered a 3 sided basement and NOT a 4 sided typical basement.
Often times we have clients that want a piece of property with a view. Well with a view comes topography, sometimes severe topography. The solution is to build a two story home, but instead of going up to the second floor, you would go down. This design makes the best use of the land and offers more functionality not to mention even more features and advantages. We believe that it only makes sense to build a Basement home in Texas when you do not have to do extensive excavation. Excavation can quickly add up in climates like ours with extreme limestone beneath the ground.
Custom basement designs improve a home’s function because you can make the space whatever you want it to be. Whether you want room for an office, a gym, or a place to watch movies, basement renovations can be an exciting time to watch your home dreams and ideas become reality.
Popular Basement Features
Finished basements have an open floor plan because they foster versatility. Open floor plans also allow the space to evolve with needs. People create separate “rooms” within the space in time, so that a play space can transform into an entertainment areas as kids get older.
Another important feature of improved basements is that the large space can be energy efficient and resistant to mold. As builders we must take extreme measures such as water-proof materials and drain systems, which help fight against water infiltration, mildew, and mold in your basement, keeping the space safe and habitable for you and your family.
There is not a rule of thumb as to how large a Texas Basement can be, but they are typically one third of the entire average home, about 600 to 700 square feet. This of course largely depends on the slope of the land, because we do not want to excavate where we do not have to. Basements create incredible living spaces and massive entertainment opportunities for all.
