Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Mississippi
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 09-26-2008, 10:41 PM
 
57 posts, read 217,258 times
Reputation: 50

Advertisements

Hi,

My builder says that you can't put "basements" in
houses in the Jackson, Mississippi metropolitan area
(Hinds County).

He says the land is too "muddy" and doesn't hold
basements very well.

Land looks DRY, rich and gorgeous to me!

(I'm not builiding in a Flood Zone)

I wanted a lavish basement entertaining area but
he says would be a waste of money, because "NO ONE
HAS BASEMENTS IN MISSISSIPPI."

Why is he saying all this?

What's your opinion?

I just know somebody has a nice basement in the
Hinds Co. area in a nice home.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 09-27-2008, 05:49 AM
 
16 posts, read 60,014 times
Reputation: 24
"There's a rational explanation for the typical lack of basements in the South and there prevalence in the North. The further North you go, the deeper the building codes require you to excavate to place a home's footing below the frost line. If you're excavating 3-4' already, plus placing the house 2' out of the ground, it's foolish to not dig an extra foot or so and just create a basement. In the South, the codes may only require footings to be 1-2' deep, and therefore the addition of a basement would require much more excavation (and therefore cost) beyond what's required."

Found that on anther thread hope that helps
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-27-2008, 05:55 AM
 
16 posts, read 60,014 times
Reputation: 24
might also ask about the water table.... depending on how high that is... it could be the reason why. If water table is high then you're going to have flooding issues in your basement. A mancave is not fun if you're big screen and poker table are 2 feet underwater... if a basement isn't an option just build a room made for entertaining on ground level?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-27-2008, 07:00 AM
NWS
 
Location: Port Orange, Florida
720 posts, read 1,645,407 times
Reputation: 357
Quote:
Originally Posted by Claude Wilson View Post
Hi,

My builder says that you can't put "basements" in
houses in the Jackson, Mississippi metropolitan area
(Hinds County).

He says the land is too "muddy" and doesn't hold
basements very well.

Land looks DRY, rich and gorgeous to me!

(I'm not builiding in a Flood Zone)

I wanted a lavish basement entertaining area but
he says would be a waste of money, because "NO ONE
HAS BASEMENTS IN MISSISSIPPI."

Why is he saying all this?

What's your opinion?

I just know somebody has a nice basement in the
Hinds Co. area in a nice home.
I'm from New York and I miss my basement too.
The soil around here is so different. The clay just doesn't absorb
water. I water my lawn and 2 days later it's still soggy.
Your builder is right. Unless you live on a small hill or elevation
I wouldn't try it. Also due to the clay it's possible to have foundation movement problems.
Why not build up? Build a second floor and put the "she cave" upstairs. My house is a one story large ranch but long.
It is the same size square footage as my NY home which had 3 floors (3200sqft).
The area I live in is over 300ft about sea lvl and no one here has a basement. Much of hinds is closer to 200ft or less.
If you force the issue you may hit the water table in your area, have to worry about dampness, mold, ect.
Believe me builders would be happy to charge you extra to build a basement. It costs more to build down than to build up. Go with a bigger one or two story and you will be happy.
Think about it this way since you are going to spend the rest of your life in MS why would you want to be old and have to go down those nasty basement stairs? Good Luck.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-27-2008, 07:19 AM
 
Location: Central Mississippi
356 posts, read 1,345,161 times
Reputation: 210
It's the Yazoo clay that causes so many foundation problems in the area.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-27-2008, 11:26 AM
 
Location: Hernando,Mississippi
78 posts, read 394,558 times
Reputation: 53
This was interesting to me. I always wondered why there are so few basements in this area. I live in Desoto County. They sure would be great with a tornado approaching
I would guess that 90% of the houses where I grew up in West Virginia had basements
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-27-2008, 05:31 PM
 
57 posts, read 217,258 times
Reputation: 50
HEY EVERYBODY-----GREAT ANSWERS!!!!

Thanks so much.

I just wanted to hear from some responses from others.

Now I'm fine with it.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-27-2008, 06:49 PM
 
1,354 posts, read 4,088,529 times
Reputation: 1286
I grew up in PA and everybody has a basement. I don't like them at all. New homes still have them. Great for storage maybe but to spend time in those
underground holes isn't something I miss at all. Would rather have a sunporch, sunroom, enclosed patio or bonus area filled with light, a pretty view, and the scent of fresh air during day---with nice blinds to adjust, comfy seating, and soft lights for the "mancave/shecave" evening wear!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-28-2008, 06:54 AM
NWS
 
Location: Port Orange, Florida
720 posts, read 1,645,407 times
Reputation: 357
Tama I thought that too. If I were building a new house a huge sunroom would be great. A great view of your backyard, pond, garden, pool maybe.
With the right window treatments it could get dark enough in there to serve as a media room also.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-29-2008, 09:47 AM
 
Location: Baton Rouge
794 posts, read 3,356,543 times
Reputation: 246
Never been in a basement in MS, but I have been into many establishments and homes that had ground floors build into the side of a hill so it practically served as a basement with one side open.

Can't beat a good sunroom though. Spend the money there.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Mississippi
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top