My comparison: what is more profitable to build - a one-story or two-story house

When my husband and I were young, we dreamed of leaving the village for the city. But having fulfilled my dream and lived here for about 10 years, I realized that I am not a city resident. And I want to give my children more freedom, fresh air, normal foods and communication. Including, I cannot live without animals, and in an apartment with our neighbors this is unrealistic. At the family council we decided that we were leaving and would find a house closer to the city, in neighboring villages.

As it turned out, building on your own or even with the help of a hired company is much cheaper than buying a ready-made private house. And naturally, my husband and I began to argue: what is more profitable - to build a one-story house or a two-story one? And besides the benefits, there is still the question of convenience and safety.

Material costs

To make the comparison fair, we presented a house of 100 square meters. Either it is one-story with a total area, or two-story - each floor is 50 square meters.

Foundation

When building a two-story house of 50 square meters per floor, the cost of the foundation is almost halved (compared to a one-story house of 100 square meters). This also applies to concrete pouring and pile foundations.Perhaps the builders will offer to strengthen the depth of the foundation (since the load on two floors will be higher), but in any case, the money savings are obvious.

In addition to the financial indicator, it is worth considering that if the plot is small - 5-6 acres, a 100-meter one-story house will take up too much space compared to a 50-meter two-story house. Saving land is also a very important issue, especially if you want to place a vegetable garden or garden on the site.

Walls, cladding

The wall area of ​​a two-story building is larger than that of a one-story building. Therefore, more materials will be required for construction. And further cladding will cost more.

In addition, the work of builders will also depend on the amount of work. Although, from experience, contractors here do not give a discount, but set the price for the work in general. And they also add the cost of high-rise work and scaffolding.

Therefore, what you save on the foundation usually completely covers the cost of the walls and work on their construction.

Roof

As the builders explained to me, one of the most expensive parts is a good roof. It turns out that when building a two-story house, you will have to spend half as much money on it.

Ladder

It is clear that in a one-story house it simply does not exist. And there will be no costs for it. But which staircase to put on the second floor will depend on your desires and capabilities. You can get by with very inexpensive options starting from 20,000, or you can install a handmade forged structure that costs half a million rubles.

But it is also worth considering that the staircase “takes up” a considerable amount of square meters.

Floors

With the same area of ​​the house, the same number of floors will be required. Therefore, there will be practically no difference in these costs.

But in a two-story house it is also necessary to build a floor/ceiling.Here the costs will be higher.

Heating and electrical piping

In a two-story house heated using heating pipes, the cost of wiring increases by an average of 30-40%. Electrics will cost 10-15% more. All this happens due to the height of the walls and, accordingly, more materials. But compared to the costs of the foundation, walls and roof, these are small amounts.

If you are making a fireplace or solid fuel boiler with a chimney, then naturally it will be longer in a two-story house. And these are yet another financial cost.

Other pros and cons of a one-story house

A big positive aspect of a one-story house is for those families who have small children. You won't be afraid of them falling down the stairs. They are always under your supervision.

The cost of maintaining a one-story house, in case of breakdown or replacement of some structures, will be cheaper. First of all, there is no need to spend money on work using scaffolding - it is enough to do everything from the ground or use a regular stepladder.

A big advantage of a one-story house for me is the fact that a robot vacuum cleaner cleans the floors in my house. You run it for a certain time and you don’t worry that it will fall down the stairs of the second floor.

Other pros and cons of a two-story house

The advantage of two floors is the possibility of placing bedrooms on the second floor. On the first one there is always a noisy life, and on the second one you can relax during the day, not paying attention to other family members.

If there is a picturesque area around your house, having a balcony and the possibility of a viewing platform will be a plus.

The main disadvantage of a two-story house for me is the usual staircase. I'm just very afraid of them.My mother broke her leg twice while descending from an ordinary staircase in a private house in old age. And I'm not getting any younger either. And the children are still very fussy and run around like crazy. But these are my personal fears.

Speaking about safety, it should be understood that private homes are more susceptible to fires. Letting neighbors fall, poor-quality wiring, gas cylinders (in our country gasification leaves much to be desired), wood-heated stoves - all these are increased sources of danger. And being on the second floor, trying to escape from a fire, you can suffer much more.

Bottom line

It is still worth considering that there is no exact answer to the question of what is more profitable to build - a one-story house or a two-story one. It all depends on the area, construction materials, design features, and the contractor. But if we take approximately the same parameters, many builders will say that a one-story house will cost 5-10% more than a two-story house.

Where exactly you can save during construction is shown in the following table: “+” is cheaper, “–” is more expensive.

Still, my husband and I came to the conclusion that it’s better to be a little more expensive, but safer. Therefore, a one-story house is definitely better for me. Although I understand that you will have to spend a little more money on it. And it will take up more space on the site. But I’m even glad - I’d rather have chickens and rabbits than plow the land all day long, putting a strain on my back. Animals are closer to me than cucumbers and tomatoes.