2 (probably) silly questions (Dallas, Plano, McKinney: houses, tornado, square footage) - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

lizzylou2012 · 09-30-2012, 01:20 PM

I've been looking (online) at literally hundreds of houses in the Frisco, McKinney, Flowermound, Plano, etc. areas and I've yet to see a house with a basement. It seems like you guys occasionally get tornadoes, so why don't you have any basements? Is it really just not an issue with them coming into the area?

And secondly, why do all of the houses have media rooms? It seems like a neat idea, it's just not something that we really have out here in CA. Just curious why everyone has one.

Thanks again for all of your help. We're very excited at the idea of moving out this way soon.

FalconheadWest · 09-30-2012, 01:33 PM

Basements aren't needed because the freeze line isn't that far down into the foundation. In colder areas, they only have a basement to get below the freeze line. It has nothing to do with tornadoes.

Media rooms are common as "Everything is bigger in Texas". People have moved to a state of wanting more and more space, and beyond the Gameroom, that's where the media room comes in. You probably don't have it much in CA because most Master Bedrooms are upstairs in much of CA so there isn't as much room to build a Media room upstairs. In the Dallas area, most of the Master Bedrooms are downstairs, so there is still room over the garages to build Media rooms.

txgolfer130 · 09-30-2012, 01:50 PM

Very rare for houses in the DFW area, much less the rest of Texas. Main reason, the limestone and soil in N. Texas makes it seriously cost prohibitive. They would be awesome to have especially when bad weather comes into the area, but you put yourself in the basic cost of home plus $40-50k right off the bat for the basement. It's basically the cost of a small/mid-size pool.

And as mentioned, media rooms and game/play/bonus rooms are the next big items in most Texas homes.

Welcome to Texas!

ggolf · 09-30-2012, 02:13 PM

It's the soil. Bad soil. Clay. Basements don't work here. We have a neighbor who installed a storm shelter in his back yard so that's an option if you have a fear of tornadoes. Alternative is an interior room like a guest bath and get in the tub. But the odds of getting hit by a tornado are 1 in 20,000 (a guess) so I wouldn't worry. I've been here since 89 and I've had one tornado, a F0, go about a block from my house in Allen and all it did was knock down fences and tear off some roof shingles. I know Lancaster has had some nasty ones but that's because God hates Lancaster. Not sure why.

Oak Cliff had a bad one in 1957 I think.

I think God hates Oklahoma because there's been some bad-ass storms there too. We're at the tail end of tornado alley.

Growing up in Chicago, April through August we had some nasty storms. In 1974 I think Xenia, OH was just about wiped out by a tornado.

Bottom line: sh*t happens so just go on with your life. And as Billy said in "Predator", "We're all gonna die". Wow, second time I used that today on the forum. Have to admit I had to ask my wife what his name was. Still another senior moment.

kbchitown · 09-30-2012, 02:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FalconheadWest

Basements aren't needed because the freeze line isn't that far down into the foundation. In colder areas, they only have a basement to get below the freeze line. It has nothing to do with tornadoes.
???Whaaaaaa?????
Media rooms are common as "Everything is bigger in Texas". People have moved to a state of wanting more and more space, and beyond the Gameroom, that's where the media room comes in. You probably don't have it much in CA because most Master Bedrooms are upstairs in much of CA so there isn't as much room to build a Media room upstairs. In the Dallas area, most of the Master Bedrooms are downstairs, so there is still room over the garages to build Media rooms.

???Wow...and this from a re agent?
Anyway, you don't find basements 'cuz we're sitting on rock....'tho there are tons of in ground pools...so go figure. We have noticed that people tend to use thier garages as storage....we call that a Texas basement!

lizzylou2012 · 09-30-2012, 04:30 PM

Okay, got it! I guess I figured that the main reason that people had basements was to hide out from the tornadoes. I'm not really worried about them, I just didn't know if it was an issue. Heck-out here we're just waiting for "The Big One" to come knock down all of our houses and you can't hide out from that!!

And that makes sense about the media rooms too. I think it's such a cool idea, but we just don't have those out here. And you're right- it's hard to find houses with the master bedroom downstairs. Now that you mention it, I've noticed that most of your houses do have the master down. Interesting!!

Thanks again for all of your help. You guys are so friendly and helpful that it makes me excited to move out that way. It seems that people are getting ruder by the day out this way.

FalconheadWest · 09-30-2012, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kbchitown

???Wow...and this from a re agent?
Anyway, you don't find basements 'cuz we're sitting on rock....'tho there are tons of in ground pools...so go figure. We have noticed that people tend to use thier garages as storage....we call that a Texas basement!

Yes, there are tons of pools because it's not just about the limestone or the clay. It's about the freeze line. Google it and you'll see plenty about the freeze line and how it varies region to region, so yes, this information is coming from an RE agent, WOW!!

MckinneyOwnr · 10-01-2012, 07:31 AM

Texas homes are generally made of brick, which is quite a bit more fortified than a home with siding. Our old home in Kansas City had a basement, and we all went down there for tornadoes, because siding can get punctured by debris quite easily. Brick is much stronger, so from a safety aspect, we have less of a need for a basement than homes in other parts of the country.

jason87x · 10-01-2012, 08:22 AM

No frost line + crap soil = no basement in Texas. I live in KC area, where every house has a basement. Newer ones are finished and add an insane amount of square footage to an already huge house. Tornadoes never hit Johnson County (the rich county) anyway, so I never worry.

Media room == place where your teenage kids will hangout, so that you (parents) can have the main living room. In KC area, this is the entire basement, and teenage bedrooms are usually down there as well. In CA and TX, the media room upstairs serves this purpose, maybe the garage if such a room doesn't exist.

Trance750 · 10-01-2012, 08:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lizzylou2012

I've been looking (online) at literally hundreds of houses in the Frisco, McKinney, Flowermound, Plano, etc. areas and I've yet to see a house with a basement. It seems like you guys occasionally get tornadoes, so why don't you have any basements? Is it really just not an issue with them coming into the area?.

You know, that's a good call. Not too many people here do have storm-cellers. Now while we do get tornadoes (maybe 2 or 3 a season, on average), the folks up in Okie-Land really get it bad and I believe (correct me if I am mistaken), but believe in Oklahoma having a storm-celler is a required law