Recently purchased a 1,995 sq ft home that has 3-level flooring in it with the expectation of flipping it. Entry way is 1-level that opens to a sunken study room to the left and living room head on. The kitchen and dining areas are on the same level as the entryway. Off the entryway to the right is a long hallway that goes to the 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Crazy thing is there is a coat closet to the right of the lang hallway that is the same level as the hallway and bedroom/bathroom areas, so basically there is a step in the closet.

The ceilings are basically 9'4", so if I have the flooring raised to a 1-level floor plan, the ceilings would be 8'2" as the levels are approximately 7" each.

Options would be to either fill with concrete or wood framing to get it to either a 1-level or maybe a 2-level floor plan. Plan is to gut the entire kitchen and dining room areas including removing some walls, etc. to provide an open concept area and relay out the kitchen area as well. Also thinking of enlarging the master bathroom into the adjacent dining room area.

Which of the 2 options would y'all recommend and why or why not?

TIA for any and all responses!

That seems like a lot of framing and work for not a lot of benefit on the resale side. I would take advantage of the higher ceilings and leave as-is.

Have any interior shots to share?

Aggietaco said:

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That seems like a lot of framing and work for not a lot of benefit on the resale side. I would take advantage of the higher ceilings and leave as-is.

Have any interior shots to share?

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Hope these work...interior and a few exterior as well...
The seller had over 20 views of the house with no offers and all noted the main issue/concern was the 3-level floor plan...
The 1,994 sq ft didn't include the added sun room which adds another 310 sq ft approximately!

Gary79Ag said:

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Aggietaco said:

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That seems like a lot of framing and work for not a lot of benefit on the resale side. I would take advantage of the higher ceilings and leave as-is.

Have any interior shots to share?

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Hope these work...interior and a few exterior as well...
The seller had over 20 views of the house with no offers and all noted the main issue/concern was the 3-level floor plan...
The 1,994 sq ft didn't include the added sun room which adds another 310 sq ft approximately!

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It looks like this would be relatively easy to raise.


Bringing the living room to the same level as the kitchen and the hallway would make a big difference. I would leave the extension a step down.


What room is this?


The multiple levels aren't the only reason that house didn't sell quickly... Many people would want to do a bunch of updates. I don't mind the polished concrete, but that's going to be divisive too.

This is way more levels that I've seen. That's kind a nightmare.

TMoney2007 said:

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Gary79Ag said:

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Aggietaco said:

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That seems like a lot of framing and work for not a lot of benefit on the resale side. I would take advantage of the higher ceilings and leave as-is.

Have any interior shots to share?

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Hope these work...interior and a few exterior as well...
The seller had over 20 views of the house with no offers and all noted the main issue/concern was the 3-level floor plan...
The 1,994 sq ft didn't include the added sun room which adds another 310 sq ft approximately!

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It looks like this would be relatively easy to raise.

This room was a study, but we're undecided at this point as to leave it a study, remove the cabinets and convert it to a 4th bedroom, or just remove the 2 walls and make it part of the living room area (open concept).



Bringing the living room to the same level as the kitchen and the hallway would make a big difference. I would leave the extension a step down.

I agree that bringing the living room to the same level as the kitchen and the hallway would make a big difference, however, I would also like to include the extension area for 2 reasons. One, the add on area may not have been doweled into the existing slab so slurry coating they put on top of the extension area has a small gap crack at the seam line. Plus, we're thinking of moving the laundry room from the kitchen area into the small room in the garden room area so that would allow me to run a drain and water lines from one end of the garden room to the other end that backs up to a half bath.



What room is this?

That is the formal dining room as the house was built in 1970 and it's in need of some major updates as seen via the pics. We got the house for a song, considering what houses in this well established neighborhood go for, so we have room to make major updates in order to sell it in the $230-250k range based on an updated 2300+ sq ft home.

If we just convert to 2-level, I'll extend that wall to the right so the hallway level will not be exposed there. Then we'll remove the wall to the right to open that area up to the living room. The wall to the left backs up to the master bathroom and an HVAC/water heater closet. That wall would be moved 4-6 ft into the dining room in order to enlarge the master bathroom.



The multiple levels aren't the only reason that house didn't sell quickly... Many people would want to do a bunch of updates. I don't mind the polished concrete, but that's going to be divisive too.

Yeah, as noted above, we're planning to do a bunch of updates to bring it out of the 70's and incorporate open concept construction in the living room and kitchen area. As far as the floors, we're thinking along the lines of hardwood flooring like we had installed in our house across the street.

This is way more levels that I've seen. That's kind a nightmare.

Yeah, it was crazy seeing the 3-levels as I've seen 2-levels in a few houses in the neighborhood...and they've all been just a sunken living room. The only reason we could see it done this way is the builder was lazy, not wanting to spend the money and efforts in raising the grade of the lot and just took the easy route instead and incorporated the 3 levels...sucks for elderly folks and/or the handicapped...

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I've done this before on a remodel about 10 years ago. We raised them with concrete. If you use wood you probably won't save much money and depending on the flooring especially wood or carpet the wood subfloor will have a hollow sound as you walk on it between the transitions..

JP76 said:

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I've done this before on a remodel about 10 years ago. We raised them with concrete. If you use wood you probably won't save much money and depending on the flooring especially wood or carpet the wood subfloor will have a hollow sound as you walk on it between the transitions..

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Thanks JP76 for that response, that's what I was concerned about...

I've done wood and concrete. I agree that concrete is the way to go.

TMoney2007 said:

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I've done wood and concrete. I agree that concrete is the way to go.

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Thanks!