My New House & Workshop

[Curious Hound]

A properly constructed basement is a beautiful thing.

 

[Jim Oaks]

The house I grew up in had a finished basement. My last house had an office in the basement, and the one before that had a basement with a large train table and and an area for my kids to play.

I've never had a basement flood.

 

[Snoranger]

The house I own now has a basement that’s never had any kind of water issues in the 75 years since it was built.
We’re in the process of buy a second house with a fully finished basement that’s never had any water issues, has a normal sized staircase, and has a drop ceiling to access the plumbing.

 

[rumblecloud]

I've had both basements and crawl spaces. I prefer the former. But as Robert42 said, getting stuff up and down that staircase can sometimes be an issue.
Now though, as I get older, any staircase can be an issue - depending on how my knees feel.
A big-ass ranch with a full size deeper basement - and an elevator - would be my next choice.

 

[franklin2]

"Properly constructed" basement is the key word. If you have a older home like I do, they did not necessarily know what that meant back in the day, and you can get water and also the walls pushing in. All avoidable with the proper construction techniques, which are usually code now days.

 

[Roert42]

"Properly constructed" basement is the key word. If you have a older home like I do, they did not necessarily know what that meant back in the day, and you can get water and also the walls pushing in. All avoidable with the proper construction techniques, which are usually code now days.

I've only had basements that were dug out in the 1800's so, not so great.

Suppose I wouldn't mind having a modern basement with ICF walls and all that fun stuff.

 

[Shran]

A lot of the old houses here built on slabs are in terrible shape. There is one part of town where almost all of them were built like that in the early 50's... I've been in a bunch of them and it's almost a guarantee that the slab will be cracked, buckled, or split somewhere. Garages are usually in horrible shape.

Modern concrete helps a lot with that, I did some work in one in February a couple years ago while it was under construction. One level, about 1600 sq/ft and they were keeping the entire house at 60 degrees with just a little electric space heater in the kitchen. They are crazy efficient - lots of insulation.

My house was built in '53 and has a shallow basement under half of it and a crawlspace under the rest. I hate them both. The crawlspace is just nasty and the basement has had water in it a few times from really hard rains or the sump pump failing. Also the floor on the crawlspace side stays really cold. I like the extra space in the basement but if I was building a new place, it would be on a slab.

 

[Curious Hound]

My first house had a crawlspace and the land/foundation were not prepped properly. The Red clay, I believe is termed "expansive" meaning it expands with water and contracts when dry. The whole foundation was shifting and cracking due to this. If it had been dug deeper, to get below the level where the moisture content changed so radically, it probably would have survived better. More or heavier rebar would have been good, also. Cheap builder = poor construction.

Or, better yet, dig down and build a basement and put proper French drain around it to prevent the ground from expanding and pushing the basement walls.

 

[Rick W]

Just a thought, on a tangent, probably for the younger folks, might bring a smile or a nod from the older folks.

When you get to my age, there’s a different reason you might want a house on a slab with an attic you can’t access. We accumulate all this stuff we think we can’t live without, and when we don’t use it every day, it ends up in the basement or in the attic. I’m as guilty as it comes.

In 1998 I was hit by the Dunwoody tornado. All the stuff in the attic got crushed when the roof caved in. It took forever to get it out and over to the dumpster.

If you’ve got something in a cardboard box, and you’re at the top of the stairs to the basement, or the bottom of the stairs to the attic, take a left to take it out to the curb!

 

[pjtoledo]

A properly overfilled basement is a beautiful thing.

fixed it for 'ya

 

[pjtoledo]

Just a thought, on a tangent, probably for the younger folks, might bring a smile or a nod from the older folks.

When you get to my age, there’s a different reason you might want a house on a slab with an attic you can’t access. We accumulate all this stuff we think we can’t live without, and when we don’t use it every day, it ends up in the basement or in the attic. I’m as guilty as it comes.

In 1998 I was hit by the Dunwoody tornado. All the stuff in the attic got crushed when the roof caved in. It took forever to get it out and over to the dumpster.

If you’ve got something in a cardboard box, and you’re at the top of the stairs to the basement, or the bottom of the stairs to the attic, take a left to take it out to the curb!

I have no idea what you're talking about

 

[SenorNoob]

I've always thought a house built into the side a hill with a basement garage would be the way to go. A little slope to the floor and water retention isn't an issue anymore. Doublewide stairs also makes sense. Of course nobody build houses like that cause of cost.

 

[franklin2]

I've always thought a house built into the side a hill with a basement garage would be the way to go. A little slope to the floor and water retention isn't an issue anymore. Doublewide stairs also makes sense. Of course nobody build houses like that cause of cost.

Try to avoid building a basement with something that looks like a shop or a door big enough to drive in a vehicle. A guy I work with ran into this when he was building his house. He found out his house insurance would almost double if he left that big opening in the basement. He quickly filled it in to a regular personnel door size to avoid paying the big insurance premiums.

Not for sure, but I bet a attached garage might make your insurance higher also.

 

[Roert42]

I looked at a house a few years ago with a very steep driveway that went into the basement. I can’t imagine that basement doesn’t floor regularly.
There was also a tunnel that went under the yard to a detached garage. That was really cool.

I see a lot of spilt level houses around here with garages on the lower level.

 

[sgtsandman]

I looked at a house a few years ago with a very steep driveway that went into the basement. I can’t imagine that basement doesn’t floor regularly.
There was also a tunnel that went under the yard to a detached garage. That was really cool.

I see a lot of spilt level houses around here with garages on the lower level.

Yeah, I imagine that sloped driveway just funnels all kinds of water into the garage, unless they have a trench drain running across the entry way. Better keep that drain running well and clear though.