Steve_P

Well put.

Our house is a side split.

If you imagine one half of the house as a bungalow (living-room, dining-room and kitchen) with a full basement beneath. The other half is like a Bi-Level (bedrooms and bathroom) with a not so deep basement beneath which has the family room another bedroom and a half bath.

Also most of these type of homes are usually built with the excavation dug to the same depth and the side of the house with the family room is built over a crawlspace which usually has a full concrete floor and can be used for storage.

However not all are built that way, we didn't check close enough before purchasing ours and to our dismay found after we moved in that our family room level has a poured concrete floor. (House purchased in the days before home inspections prior to purchase became a regular thing.)

Something other may want to think about if looking at a four level split built in the early seventies.

Cheers
Steve

iaink

Ha,now why did none of us think to do that!

Asking the realtor takes all the fun out of browsing the MLS listings

Biiiiink

We have a 4 level split, sq ftage of 3 levels listed as 3 levels fully above ground, basement dimensions excluded.

There are lots of 3 and 4 level splits in the UK, I've seen many 1970s developments in Scotland and Wales exclusively split-level - they must have been the latest design back then! But all of the ones I've seen in the UK are on very steep hillsides. So why are there so many here? It's flat as a pancake...I can't see any reason. Was it just a fashion (or are they still being built)? Are they cheaper to build?

Cowtown

I've never seen a split where the third level is completely above ground. Ours is a walkout and it is on a (not very steep) hill - the back of the third level is completely above ground (obviously) but it is not considered to be "above grade" as the ground goes uphill towards the front of the house. Our house was advertised based on the sq footage of three levels - but its not strictly correct!

A builder once told me that they were more expensive to build - something to do with all the corners on the pouring of the concrete. Corners apparently cost more than straight lines.

ClareBC

It sounds just like my house - which is 1800sq ft (600 of which is basement)

Cowtown

We have a sitting room, dining room, kitchen level above a "proper" basement. Behind all of that we have a bedroom level (which is upstairs from the sitting room - but not above it) and a family room, more bedrooms/washroom level (the third level- downstairs from the sitting room and below the bedroom level). Confused?

Our family room is in the third level and has patio doors and a picture (floor to ceiling) window. The office on the third level but nearer the stairs to the sitting room has smaller windows but the ground outside is only about a foot below the window. The result is that the whole level stays warm in winter and cool in summer!


Ours is not built this way. We dont have a crawl space. I've been told by someone who has lived in Calgary for a very long time that if you have a walkout then you dont get the crawlspace - dont know if that holds for all four splits.

Our excavation is on two different levels - so no crawl space (thankfully).

Why is a poured concrete floor in the family room a problem?


The bottom line with foursplits seems to be that there were so many different ways to build them that you just dont know until you see it. Dont eliminate a foursplit from your search because you saw one previously and didnt like it.

Cowtown

Another advantage of a four split - there are only about six steps in each flight of stairs so it hurts a lot less when you fall down them - not so far to fall!

Woodstock62

Would that be when you've had 1 too many?

Steve_P

It's not a major problem by any means. But a couple of things spring to mind.
The concrete floor tends to be cooler which although an advantage in the summer it makes the room colder in the winter. It is also more difficult to heat the area as the heating ducts run overhead rather than under the floor and the heat tends to stay at the ceiling if you don't get good circulation. We installed a ceiling fan to help with circulation in winter.

With a crawl you can use that space for storage of large items like the christmas tree and all the decorations. Plus of course the many other things that perhaps you shouldn't be storing anyway.

Another advantage of the crawlspace, you have access to the under floor area so if you want to add an electrical outlet for any reason it can be done with relative ease. Or as in our case we would like to try to move our cable outlet but can't beacause of the layout of the room, if we had a crawl it would be a doddle.

Very true and although I appreciate the humour in the above, there are also health reasons to consider a four split. For older people the six steps are less likely to cause shortness of breath as you could rest at each level. Something I would never of thought of prior to developing angina nine years ago. I was less likely to get chest pains if I went up one flight at a time. I realise most of us don't have to consider such eventualities thank goodness, but unfortunately some of us do.

Cheers
Steve

Cowtown

No - I'm rather embarassed to admit I was stone cold sober! It would probably have hurt less if I had a few drinks beforehand.

Cowtown

You can have the duct work taken to the floor so the vents are in the walls at the floor level. Our vents are also in the ceiling in the family room and we dont have problems with it being cold in there. Perhaps it is a side effect of some of the other rooms having vents on the wall at floor height in other rooms on that level.

Dont encourage that - there is enough pack-ratting going on in our house without adding extra space to do it in!

No ideas for you there!


Hadnt got that far with my life yet. Just at the less far to fall stage right now! It is an important consideration though and I guess one that not too many people think about in advance.

Cowtown

Here is another house question: does anyone know if a four-split can have a walkout basement (ie not a walkout third level but a real deep in the ground basement)? In theory its is possible but has anyone ever seen one?