[youngcaduser]

In my cad class we are designing houses. We have got them all done and now we can’t decide if it is cheaper to build a house with 1 floor and 3000 sq. ft. or a 2 story house with 1500 sq.ft. on each floor. The total living space would still be the same.we need some more info

[sundancer]

Its always cheaper to build a two story house than a ranch. A 3000 sq ft ranch would have a very large basement which is expensive and a much larger roof area. Take the same size two story and the basement is only 1500 sq ft not 3000 sq ft, also the roof on the second floor is much smaller. So there is less in the way of roof trusses, plywood, insulation and shingles. Otherwise everything inside is the same cost. Hope this helps you out.

[youngcaduser]

thanks, that helped me alot.

[TurboState]

Originally Posted by youngcaduser

In my cad class we are designing houses. We have got them all done and now we can’t decide if it is cheaper to build a house with 1 floor and 3000 sq. ft. or a 2 story house with 1500 sq.ft. on each floor. The total living space would still be the same.we need some more info

Always cheaper to build up.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by TurboState

Always cheaper to build up.

Kind of depends on how far up, doesn't it? Since gravity is an accelerative force, the amount of energy required to build upward grows exponentially. Cheaper to build up for a two-story house? Probably. Cheaper to build up when you need 50,000 square feet? Probably not.