Unless the rest of your home is poured concrete construction and you expect consistency, I fail to see the problem with framed construction.

Now that I can see your pics, yes, I would have preferred a stem wall where the slab (patio) is, rising a foot or two abovegrade, as the concrete would be more resistant to moisture damage than the wood baseplates. But if the wall is built in accordance with your contract and drawings and meets Code you're getting what you agreed to.

worthy, as someone else told me that the pic on the left shows that the basement slab extended outside. That's a GUARANTEED leak situation. And I've double checked my blueprint, mine is not like the left pic. My walkout wall is sitting on the concrete foundation (frost wall under grade). I've attached it here. Which one is more desired? Durability? Termite resistance? Flood/Moisture resistance? Fire resistance? Of course concrete may have cracks in the future. All I wanted to ask is which one is a better way to design the walkout side considering all the aspects.

I don't know why the builder has decided on this.

Because it costs less. My personal preference would be poured all the way around, but that's just me. Your builder will do poured all the way around if you require it. Just expect to pay more.

DreamingoftheUP, I talked to my builder and they said wood framed basement walls have better insulation. Strength is not a problem at all. But I asked if cost is not an issue, which one do you prefer? He said he would do poured concrete for all basement walls. So I ended up choosing the all poured concrete walls. This makes me feel comfortable about my house. Because I can always frame the inside later on.

yuanzhou19

Sorry, I didn't notice your post earlier. Your drawing looks to me like what you have. Minus that slab/patio.

Instead of a poured slab at grade, I would have used a paving stone patio a few inches lower than the walkout wall and sloped away from the house. (That's the way I have done below grade walkouts. (See pic below in a house I built in '91.) As I posted earlier, a stem wall--even a foot off grade--would have been more resistant to water entry.

Thanks for the pic, worthy. I wish I could mention your name when I reply to you so you can get a message notification.

I'm glad that I noticed the wood framed walkout side and questioned around the concrete V.S. frame. I believe framed wall above the grade for basement walls will be fine since they are sitting on the stem wall (frost wall). All poured concrete walls just make me feel more solid and confident.

I'm not seeing the issue in the terms you are. In terms of structure, wood has far more compressive strength than needed to carry the load above. In terms of waterproofing - concrete is not waterproof.

Now the single slab IS a major concern with leakage, but that's a separate issue. If you are saying that your walls were built over a slab that was poured and extended from the inside to the patio, that would worry me greatly both in terms of structure and water intrusion. Please clarify

In terms of waterproofing - concrete is not waterproof.

But it is a heck of a lot easier to protect from moisture infiltration then an at-grade framed wall And it is not affected by moisture that will soon rot a wood wall.

I have similar problem and want to install a walkout from a flooding basement window--and a crumbling stem wall. Mr @Worthy, how do I best retrofit this problem--seems very similar in solution to your photo of 1991. I just bought this place, previous own could have prevented the stem wall deterioration but didn't, so it's my fix expense now. HELP! It's a small basement, maybe 10x24x6 (ceiling), 4' window well built circa 1940.