Between a single-storey or two-storey house, which house to build? This choice depends on the price, the land and your lifestyle, but above all on your crush on your future home!
When asked if they would rather to build a home on one level rather than a two-storey house, 59,3% of those surveyed on the site ForumConstruire.com would opt for the single-storey house.
Characteristics of a single-storey house
– The most universal single-storey house
Without stairs and benefiting from several accesses to the outside, the single-storey house is suitable for everyone. Retirees praise it for its ease of maintenance in particular, and find it better suited to their old age. As for the families, they consider that the single-storey house is easier to live in because it requires less supervision of young children.
– The single storey that is easier to maintain
No more cleaning the stairs and moving furniture difficult. Similarly, repainting a shutter no longer requires putting yourself in a dangerous situation. Similarly, the low height of the walls avoids the installation of scaffolding in the event of a facelift, as explained by this article of the figaro.
-A house around the terrace
The single-storey occupies, with an equal surface, a larger space on the ground. But its great asset is its opening onto the garden. The house is often entirely turned towards the outside, making the terrace a real living room. Its shape, often U or L, provides a setting for this primordial space which then becomes the heart of the house.
– Easy resale
For all these reasons, single-storey houses are more sought after today. They therefore generally leave more quickly than two-storey houses. In addition, they very often offer a potential for expansion in height since the PLUs often only speak of the footprint coefficient.
See examples single storey houses
The characteristics of the two-storey house
– More suitable for small terrainsns that the house on one level
Despite this enthusiasm, the French chose instead to build two-storey houses. In question, land increasingly small. Occupying less floor space, the two-storey house saves additional square meters, both in the house and in the garden.
– Well-defined living spaces
In a two-storey house, it is easier to separate the sleeping area from the living room. The rooms are thus better protected from the noise of other occupants, who watch television in the living room for example.
Similarly, we can provide the children's area upstairs when the parents grant themselves the bedroom on the ground floor.
– Volume games
Aesthetically, the two-storey house still has its followers. In fact, it offers more play on volume than a single-storey house. Mezzanine above the living room, floor on a single part of the house, the aesthetic possibilities are thus more varied inside and outside. The plan can also more easily adapt to your needs.
Single storey or floor which house is the cheapest?
On an equal surface, a small one-storey house is less expensive than a two-storey house. Indeed, the addition of an intermediate floor, and a staircase, adds nearly 10% to the price of the house. However, on larger surfaces, this ratio is no longer true and even tends to reverse. In question, the price of the frame and the cover which are important items in the construction of a detached house. In a single-storey house, the surface of the roof is in fact twice as large as that of a two-storey house of the same surface.
The more economical two-storey house in the long term
– Less energy for heating
Another advantage of the two-storey house is its compactness. There are proportionally fewer wasting surfaces, such as the roof or exterior walls. As a result, multi-storey houses consume less energy for heating for equal surfaces than single-storey houses. In the long term, energy savings are important!
– Savings on domestic hot water
On the same principle, the water features are often placed one above the other in a two-storey house. If the whole is close to the production of domestic hot water (water heater), there again these are still energy savings. Indeed, in a single-storey house, the various bathrooms and the kitchen are often far from each other. The water network is therefore larger. This is detrimental to the comfort of use since the hot water takes longer to travel to the point of use. Heat losses are also greater.
