Quality of house building on LI: 1950s vs 1960s vs 1970s

[dman72]

Originally Posted by 2011littlehouse

Just today I came across this real-life horror story of a woman (single mom) who bought an older house on a slab and within a week huge problems emerged. All pipes and duct work were under/in the slab, and somehow, the sewage pipes had started leaking into the heating duct! Smell, black mold and all...
House was condemned and 2 years later the woman is still trying to get her life together and sue the seller (also a RE agent) for non-disclosure...
Bought a house with major defects not disclosed sellers knew about

Anyway, I genuinely dislike basements. Attics - yes, basements - no. But from practical point of view and after reading here, am trying to view the positives.
Listed here, I have seen: 1) desirability/value (most people want them); 2) storage; 3) living space expansion; 4) moisture/flood control: this seems to go either way, but still preserves the main floors; 5) temperature control/utilities (offsetting the freezing point away from the main floor level); 6) easy access to pipes, wiring etc.

I personally do not care about 1, 2 & 3, still unsure about 4; but 5 & 6 may convince me to want a basement.

The problem on LI is that putting in a basement instead of a crawl space or slab is a bad idea in many areas where water table is already high and rising. There are certain areas where if I don't see a house built up on a slope (Nesconset, for example), then it's not worth looking at if it has a basement.

[Galicia#1]

Originally Posted by dman72

The problem on LI is that putting in a basement instead of a crawl space or slab is a bad idea in many areas where water table is already high and rising. There are certain areas where if I don't see a house built up on a slope (Nesconset, for example), then it's not worth looking at if it has a basement.

There is always remedies for damp basements such as French drains and such. Buying a home on a slab is never a good idea.