Hard to give advice until you know the number - I would consider 8 feet standard, not ”low”

" Our builder is getting this quote for us, but our Realtor is telling us this is going to be a very expensive upgrade. "

Impossible to tell you with zero real context if it will be very expensive or not. Way to many variables.

Add another 40%-50% to your foundation quote, plus the engineering costs. And then start adding numbers to all the finishing quotes. Be sure you understand that the basement slab and the HVAC running through the space impact the *finished* height. Most people don't realize an 8' basement is more like a 7' basement after that happens. To get a 9' finished basement would require an entirely differently engineered foundation, much taller than what you are thinking. That has downstream costs on everything, like stairs, to HVAC, etc.

Has the basement already been dug? If not, change it to 10'.

@dan1888, No. They will break gound/dig and pour foundation on 8/25/25. Thats why I'm hoping asking for this wont be too expensive to request!

I toured a house on the market, the house was probably built in 1970s. When I, accustomed to 7’ and 8’ basements, got to the basement I noticed the 9’ ceiling and marveled, and the realtor said the owner was a concrete contractor. That’s how he could handle the added cost. (he also had excavated under the long front porch, the space was used as a cold storage room.)

Yes - expensive. And they will pour based on 8' to the bottom of the joists. What won't be taken into consideration is the HVAC ductwork that has to run in the basement ceilign and cross those joists - making your 8' ceiling 7' in some areas. Or less. Any height you want / call out - expect it to be less when the inevitable finishing work and systems need to be installed. But iut's probably worth it if you want to have a welcoming space and decent light.

You want them to DIG DOWN, and not just add contract up - or else your first floor level will end up being weirdly higher than the surrounding ground. That's why it's expensive.

We also had excavated under our porch - they were going to fill it in with dirt (!) and so we added a door and had similar storage for nominal cost. We ended up with HVAC in there too - so quieter in the rest of the house.

@just_janni, When you say expensive, how much would you think this will cost? I have heard $25-30K?

That's probably not unreasonable - digging is expensive and as the walls get higher, they may need to be thicker / require larger footings / more rebar. It all adds up.

IF you do this - make sure you and your contractor are CLEAR on the finihsed results. i.e. HVAC taken into account, will there need to be soffits, etc. I think 8.5' is a nice level - but I think a FLAT ceiling without the need for soffits is paramount in a basement. We triedfor 9' in out last house - but we had an area where all the HVAC ducting gathered that required a soffit down to less than 8 and then a little less than that in 2 steps - not thrilled. hated the multi level ceiling.

Get the basement dug for a 10' ceiling. AND spec these types of trusses to get the most height possible. Open web floor trusses provide a space between floors to run ductwork

You also absolutely must have a 10mil plastic sheet vapor barrier under the basement floor when it gets poured. I also put it under garage floors before they're poured.

Our basement is 8' but once finished ceilings are 7'8". It's even lower where the ducting is. I assumed 8' meant finished at 8'. NOPE! Double check what your finished height will be.

@aziline, Do you have photos that you can post on your 8 ceiling finished basement?

"How much will Delaware foundation contractors charge to increase the height of the foundation so that the finished ceiling height in the basement would be 9 feet instead of 8 feet before the foundation pour and construction begins?"

Ask your Delaware foundation contractor.

"We are very worried!"

Read "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living" by Dale Carnegie

"Our builder is getting this quote for us,"

Wait for your builder to get back with you

"Our Realtor is telling us this is going to be a very expensive upgrade."

Your realitor does not know squat.

I don't. But if I knew then what I do now I would have paid 20-30k in a heartbeat for 9' unfinished.

9 feet is worth it. It feels noticeable and nice. We have it and are glad we do.

Really ? We have 8' ceilings in our whole home , MCM ranch and have never wished for higher ceilings I sur ehave better use for my 20K than higher ceilings /. As for your cost how would we possibly know . BTW we have ahuge basement walk out with amedia room a huge pool table a bar and even 2 office spaces all with nice big windows .

I don't go in any basement. I outgrew basement entertaining with the potato chips of my youth.

I like the main floor, care not if it is walkout "lower level" or not. But this is me, not you, and I have not ever seen luxury ANYTHING in a basement be the driver in the resale of a home. Huge tv, wine cellar, tasting rooms you name it.

I'd much rather have the real upgrades....up the stair. Jmo, but nope, not loving the "down there" Call me crazy, it's fine.: )

It is not a basement, it is a "Lower Level".

And I thought a "Finished basemen" was a retired baseball player?

I'm with Patricia and Jan. I despise basements as living spaces. Don't care how luxurious they are, they are caves, and I don't want to live in a cave, underground. Also unless you're over 7 feet tall, 8' ceilings are perfectly habitable.

I am not sure what the height of our basement is. Maybe someone can figure it out from the picture. It is a walkout basement. It does not feel like a cave at all. Our builder did use the open web floor trusses like @dan1888 shows.

We don't build a lot of homes with basements in our area. When we do, it's typically because the topography allows for a daylight/walkout basement. Generous use of windows and patio doors combined with a 9'8" ceiling height and a great connection to outdoor living areas can make the lower level (my architect gets mad at me when I say "basement") space an inviting living area. That said, without the walkout potential, a basement can still add value as a workshop, media room, man-cave or conditioned storage area. We recently completed a home on a lot which wasn't suited for a walkout basement, but with the addition of a Bilco door, it was perfect for the owner's workshop/man-cave which is the envy of his neighbors who have homes built on crawl spaces.

A nice dry basement is good for a tornado coming at you, for a chest freezer full of prime steaks! It's a super great place for drying soaking wet snow suits, a wonderful place for teen hangout and the abysmal mess that generally goes with that.....just get the pizza and soda remains out before the mice dive in.

Unfinished, it's great for tricycles on concrete flooring, finger painting, virtually any really messy craft project involving glue and glitter. Christmas decor, Halloween , the Easter Bunny stuff and even an extra range if you remodeled a kitchen.

All of which is why I don't go down for much other than that and excludes the tornado as we don't get those. Thank heaven: ) Sorry, couldn't resist.

Basements are very common where I live and people have wonderful spaces in them. Ours is 1700 square feet and we use every inch of it. We have a one bedroom and den suite, a rec room, guest room ahd bathroom. It’s awesome. Bright and wonderful.

I remember when we moved to the Midwest from the South and I saw my first house with a basement and asked my lovely posh realtor - “what do I put in a basement?” and she said ”your children, darling…. ” 💁‍♀️

fwiw we’re building a lake house with a walkout basement - it has beds/baths and a pool table for (adult) children

Many years ago I was part of moving a certain department in a hospital to the basement of a new building. It was more palatable for them to be moved to a "lower level" than a "basement". The lower level had some windows that looked out to a sunken courtyard that had a children's play structure.

Basements get a negative reaction because they are usually dark, damp, and low ceilinged. Having taller ceilings only fixes one of those things. If you aren’t upgrading the other two, then forget paying money for taller ceilings. It will still be dark and damp.

My first house had a finished basement - however, it wasn't a walk-out or a true daylight basement - it just had a few small above grade windows (not window wells). The ceiling was just under 8' - I think that if it had been a walk-out - or at least had larger windows, it would have felt okay at 8' - although 9' would have been nicer.

When I was looking at homes (prior deciding to build one), one of them had a 1 1/2 story basement (oops, I mean lower level). Half of the basement was regular height (prob 9' ceilings) - but then you walked down half a flight of stairs to the rest of the basement. It was a walkout (with a pretty steep wooded backyard). The whole back wall was windows + doors to outside patio. It didn't feel like a basement with ceilings that were so tall. Another house that I almost purchased had a basketball court in the basement (+ a finished family room area). I'm not sure how tall the ceilings were - but they were high. However, it still felt like a basement due to the lack of natural light.

I will be finishing my lower level in the next year or so (my SO wants to finish it - I'm sure it will be nice - but I'm much more focused on renovating the kitchen first!) It's a walkout - but the finished ceiling height will only be barely over 8'. When building my house, there was a significant charge for a basement with 9' finished ceilings. vs. 8' finished ceilings). I decided to spend that money on other items (like upgrading the insulation in exterior walls and fun things like that LOL).

@dani_m08, Thanks for the comment! Do you remember what they wanted to charge you to do the 9'?

WARNING!! Any price shared here that is not provided by the builder in the geographic location of the project in question will be misleading and potentially aid to deteriorate the relationship between the OP and their builder.

I think your reddit comment said it's around a $2.1mil build. You are contracted with this builder already. An 8' ceiling (less in areas because of duct/pipes) will be a regret in a fully finished basement as you plan right off the bat. You need to raise the pour no matter the cost, unfortunately doing it after initial bids will result in higher per capita cost for each trade but that is what happens when you overlook things on the initial bids.

We did a finished 10 ft basement when we added a guest house to our house in CA in 2011. Per earthquake codes it had to have a large egress light-well with ladder and railing and we need two large steel beams. Of course we also needed to add the cost of a staircase. Going from a standard slab to a basement with earthquake specs added about $100,000 to the quote for the whole project.

The higher ceiling height made a huge difference.