What’s better: a single story house, or one with two (or even more) floors? If you are a buyer actively looking for your family’s next home, it’s possible that you already have a preference. Maybe you grew up in a two-story home and can’t imagine anything else. Maybe you come from an area (I’m thinking about my family’s home on the West Coast of Florida) where there are only one-story houses to be found. If you are on the fence about whether you want two floors or one, however, you should know that there are pros and cons either way.
Pros of Living in a One-Story Home
Living in a one-story home, like a classic ranch or bungalow, is simpler in a lot of ways. With everything on one level, maintenance is much easier. There’s no need to drag laundry up or down flights of steps or to struggle with the decision as to whether you need an upstairs AND a downstairs vacuum. Exterior maintenance like painting and window washing is also a piece of cake, and no scaffolding is needed. Since one-story homes are easier to design, they also tend to be cheaper. And if you have small children, you won’t have to worry about them stumbling down the stairs.
Cons of Living in a One-Story Home
On the down side, one story homes can be considered to lack privacy considered with their taller counterparts. All bedrooms are at the ground level, meaning that one accidental window left open can give the mailman an eyeful. It will also require more land to build a one-story house, since the footprint is bigger. And, from Realtor.com: “A one-story house also requires more materials such as for the foundation, roofing, and windows. And since plumbing and HVAC runs will need to be longer, thus requiring more power, you'll need bigger, pricier systems.”
Pros of Living in Multi-Story Home
Two-story homes have their advantages as well. That privacy that you were concerned about with a single story home? Not an issue here. Plus, you have flexibility of space. If you have grown-up friends over, you can always send the kids upstairs to entertain themselves. If you are a design buff, you know that you have more layout options with a two-story home, leaving you with more freedom to explore scope and space. Two-story homes also have a lower risk of burglary than their one-story counterparts.
Cons of Living in a Multi-Story Home
Then there are the cons. A two-story home is more expensive to heat and cool, owning to the fact that heat rises. Your upstairs is always going to run warm and your downstairs cool unless you have a really great HVAC unit, which of course costs money. And then there are those stairs you’ll have to navigate, as mentioned, which are especially scary if you have small children in the house. And then there’s the noise issue, which can be a problem in poorly-designed two-story houses where you hear a lot of clattering from people walking around upstairs.
One story or two story… it’s your choice. When buying a home, it’s best to keep an open mind, since there is so much more to picking the perfect house than counting floors.
