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Great job! The ground grading looks good too. (the blue color shocked me though)
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Originally Posted by CHTransplant
Yeah, what's with the blue color? Is that something temporary to be covered/painted over? Looks like it belongs in a swimming pool.
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Originally Posted by goodgal
I kinda agree..expected to see a pool at the top of the stairs..is one going in?
The blue and white is a signature design/color/pattern of some islands in Greece (Santorini in particular --- google it).
A trip was made to that small island and that's what inspired the color/design of the walkout.
Looks great, but quick terminology question(and it is a question, not a nit pick): Isn't a "walk out" basement technically a basement where the exterior grade at the exit is at the same height/level as the basement floor.... so one can "walk out" directly to the yard? These typically require a house to be built into a hillside.
No, I think that term is a daylight basement, where part of the basement opens out to ground level. Walkout to me means any exit where you don't need to walk up steps before reaching a door to the outside (one step up at the door would qualify too).
Looks great, but quick terminology question(and it is a question, not a nit pick): Isn't a "walk out" basement technically a basement where the exterior grade at the exit is at the same height/level as the basement floor.... so one can "walk out" directly to the yard? These typically require a house to be built into a hillside.
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Originally Posted by akck
No, I think that term is a daylight basement, where part of the basement opens out to ground level. Walkout to me means any exit where you don't need to walk up steps before reaching a door to the outside (one step up at the door would qualify too).
Hmmm... I've always had the same understanding as Al - never heard the term "daylight basement" before. Maybe there are regional differences in terminology?
I, too, have heard the termonology walkout and daylight applied together and walkup applied to what you have done.
I sure would not advertise it as a walkout because if you go on homeplan pages you see walkout plans are designed for sloped lots so you can walkout on ground level
There are a number of references for walkup basements. I would guess a realtor would have the best knowledge on that since they list them a certain way but I looked at some listing and that seems how the terms are used as well.
Thanks for sharing your pictures. We're in the middle of doing the same thing at our house here in Northern VA. The rain we're having this week doesn't help!
For the person who inquired about the cost, we're paying about $16K for a stairwell that's about twice as wide as the one from the original poster. When it's complete we're going to have the retaining wall and exposed foundation covered in flagstone (that's an extra expense.) Everyone in our area has either a walk-out or walk-up basement so I figure when we go to sell someday the buyers would have reduced their offering price for the cost of doing this (it's code now to have a second egress, wasn't when the house was built). So I might as well pay for it now and enjoy the extra light, convenience and security (fire safety.)
Looks like a great job.
The blue and white are not to my taste, but it's not my house. Do you have blue and white on other areas of the house/property?
I agree about extending the downspout well away from the house. It looked like a drain was installed at the bottom of the stairs. Where does it drain?
I also agree that this would not be called a walk out basement in my area either. Here, a walk out basement has a door that exits on grade, and not at steps.
Wow, really nice and dramatic change. Thanks for sharing. I'm glad I read the other posters' comments though. I didn't even notice where your downspout was located until I read on. Wow, they are so very right about the proximity of it...you definitely want to redirect that flow much farther away from your house and stairwell. Otherwise, what a great job... the bright blue? ...not so much, hehe....I, too, thought there should be a swimming pool nearby...or a paint color on the house that ties it together. Sorry, I hope that doesn't sound nit-picky, I don't mean it to. It's just my personal preferences coming out. Really, it's beautiful and it must be so nice to be able to enter and exit your basement without having to go through the house!
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Really, it's beautiful and it must be so nice to be able to enter and exit your basement without having to go through the house!
