Basements (Huntsville, Valley, Arab: houses, neighborhood, purchase)

[buddiero]

Is it possible to build homes with basements in NA? I imagine if so next step is finding a builder that actually knows what they are doing and does it properly. I need a "MAN CAVE"

[Southlander]

Basements are rare around here. Honestly, you might want to search the Alabama and Huntsville forum before you post all these questions.
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[Charles]

Originally Posted by buddiero

Is it possible to build homes with basements in NA? I imagine if so next step is finding a builder that actually knows what they are doing and does it properly. I need a "MAN CAVE"

Anything is possible, but is it common and realistic? Not sure. I didn't see too many homes with basements when looking for homes here. There are a few with walkouts.

Just for fun I did a search on Valleymls and (supposedly) found 255 homes with basements in its database.

So, go here

ValleyMLS.com

and click on Property, and "More Search Options" and click the "Bsmt/Ranch" box and use the filters as you like.

[Keeper]

I have seen a few basement houses here in Arab, but there are more tri-level homes where the homes are built on a slope.. not sure if I explained that correctly

[buddiero]

Originally Posted by Keeper

I have seen a few basement houses here in Arab, but there are more tri-level homes where the homes are built on a slope.. not sure if I explained that correctly

THanks. I understand exactly what you mean!

[mm42]

Most of the houses in our neighborhood have a basement or at least a drive-under garage like ours.

Generally speaking, there are plenty of basements in the hilly areas, virtually none in the "valley floor" areas.

Even Hampton Cove has some basements in the part that runs up the hills behind the waterfall.

One odd thing here compared to Atlanta is that finished basement space is counted as square footage like the rest of the house. In Atlanta, finished basement was only considered about 50% of the value of normal floored construction.

LOTS of the basement space you find here is finished. Most of the new construction here in SE Huntsville (what little there is) will include finsihing the basement from the start.

[milledj]

Our house, built in 1939, has a basement. It is also in a flat area. It has windows (2 window wells in the front) all around. However,it is a bit uncommon. It was probably the deciding factor for me to purchase this house... Sure, it can be done. The reason it is uncommon is that the frost line is so shallow here that footings don't have to be dug as deep as the would up north. If you have to dig 4.5' down already to construct a footing, adding another 4' for a basement isn't a major cost. Here, you have to dig another 6-7' down in order to put in a basement. So it isn't a no-brainer.

I would, however, specify a basement on any new build I did.