Stilts or Slab, which costs more?

[James Morris]

I have a property on lake Travis that I would like to build. The main obstacle is that the lot is  nearly 20' below the floodplain and would require some significant stilts. There are many houses built this way in the area, but do any of you here on BP have any experience with homes built on stilts; pros cons cost difference from a normal slab? The size of the home would only be around 1600 sq ft. and I am looking at going with a basic rectangular shape. Any one that has built one in the austin area, or anywhere for that matter? Any help/ advice/ tips would be much appreciated! 

[Joseph R.]

We do a lot of work in flood zones and from what I've heard regarding "stilts"(we call them pilings) is you're looking at 20-30k extra over a traditional slab with a crawl space....Most of our footings are within a couple feet of sea level so we've never needed pilings but if you're indeed that deep you defintiely can't pour a footing on top of muck.....The other concern is flood insurance - the lower your first floor elevation the higher the flood insurance - I'd imagine if your first floor is under 10' the insurance would be astronomical.....your best bet is to talk to an engineer, get a survey, and go from there.