Walk out basement vs. a walk down basement?

[Anonymous]

We are looking at building a house with a finished basement. depending on the lot we choice we can have a walk out basement (door opens up flat with the back yard) or a walk down basement (there are stairs going down to the basement). I have heard that both have plus and minuses in relation to water issues. Does anyone have any informaiton to share one way or another?

[Anonymous]

if it is a new home by code they will drain properly and it wouldn't matter. I would prefer a walkout but then you would end up having hills on the sides of the house. A walk up would be mostly flat from front and rear yards.

[Anonymous]

I would only buy a house with a basement with a door or egress windows in it.

[Anonymous]

I like the idea of a walk out, mainly because of the light in the basement.

[Anonymous]

I think a walk-out basement might be slightly better for resale, all other things equal, but which option works better really depends on your lot. If you have a walkout basement, then you will have more stairs down to the yard from any deck that you build, which is worth considering. I have a walk-down basement and I'm happy with it - we haven't had water in the years I've lived there, and there have been several hurricanes/tropical storms in that time. we get a decent amount of light down there, though obviously less than a walkout would.

[Anonymous]

I would prefer a walkout, but this limits what type of lot you can have. You will need a downsloping lot to have your basement be a true walk out- level with the backyard. It becomes another level of the house and the steeper the hill, the higher the ceilings you can have in the "basement". It's is very common on the west coast, esp. California, where you would see a one-story home from the street level and a two, or even a 3 story home from the back. If you have a flat lot, I don't see how you can have a walkout basement, you would need stairs.

[Anonymous]

We have a walkup but have 5 foot Windows in large bays so there is plenty of light. The size of the Windows make a huge difference.

[Anonymous]

Walk-out is usually better, but if you do a walk-up you can have an extra-wide step area and make sure you have a full window for any basement bedrooms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would only buy a house with a basement with a door or egress windows in it.

+1

[Anonymous]

We have a walk-out and a deck off the main floor. I've found we have less mosquitos on our deck since we're off the ground a bit. I also really enjoy looking into the canopy of the trees in our backyard and watching the animals. But that may not be a consideration for you if it's new construction.