Walkout Basement House Plans are all the rage today, and with building prices continuing to creep up, it’s no wonder why. It’s less expensive to build a house plan with a smaller footprint and finish the basement than it is to build up with a two-story. Plus, many families want a main floor master and decide to put the kids in the basement for privacy.
With the open-concept floor plans that everyone wants today in ranch house plans, finishing the basement, especially if it’s a walkout basement, opens the door for opportunities to create private areas for the family. For example, many of our ranch house plans with walkout basements are finished with some kind of wet bar and family room combination to make use of otherwise unfinished space.
We see bar designs that include everything from a 12 person bar design to just a simple kitchenette with sink. Lower level family rooms can be wide open and often take up most of the walkout basement space. House plans with walkout basements also offer the opportunity to create an additional outdoor living space and with a good landscape designer can be one of the main attractions of the house plan. Options for this outdoor space are endless depending on whether your house plan is on a hillside lot or one that flattens out at the back. Some of our house plan customers have created elaborate living spaces that flatter the original house plan, while others simply add a patio and fire pit. Either way, that additional living space makes house plans with walkout basements more attractive than ever.
House plans with walkout basements don’t necessarily have to walk out to the back yard either. We have several house plans with walkout basements that walk out to the side yard that are equally as popular. Side-sloped lots don’t have to be a problem because we can also modify any of our house plans to accommodate your yard.
But what if you don’t have a lot that works for a house plan with walkout basement but you still want to finish the lower level? Can you still do it? The answer is yes! Daylight or egress windows in a basement house plan can work equally as well for a basement that isn’t a walkout. All residential building code requirements across the United States state that “any habitable space (including the basement) must have at least one egress window. Specifically, an egress window is a type of window that is large enough that a person could escape in the event of an emergency, such as a fire.” So as long as you incorporate an egress window, you should have no problem finishing your basement, and we have a lot of house plans that are designed specifically for you.
What type of rooms should I finish in my ranch plan with walkout basement? The options are limitless! We have house plans with exercise rooms, play rooms for the kids, bedrooms and bathrooms, a home office with side entrance, yoga or dance studios, family rooms and bars. The important thing is that you’re adding finished square footage to your house plan that will increase the value of your home. And, because it’s less expensive square footage to finish when building your house plan, it’s a great option for smaller homes, especially when you’re building a ranch house plan.
The bottom line in today’s market is that building a house plan with a walkout basement is an affordable way to add square footage to your home to increase the value, and the sky is the limit!