Basements (home builders, contractor, tornado)

[Northern Traveler]

Does the OKC area have plenty of newer homes (1995 to present) with basements?

I have friends in Fort Worth and they don't have basements, apparently has to do with ground shifting and rock under the soil - same case in OKC or different?

Considering a move and basements are important to me for storage, oh but also safety.

[prerunner1982]

Pretty much the same case, very few homes here have basements due to the soil quality (Clay).. Storage you can get an out building and for safety we have storm shelters. Most shelters are not attached to your house, but they can make them now that they can put beneath an existing garage.

[Hallway]

Originally Posted by prerunner1982

Pretty much the same case, very few homes here have basements due to the soil quality (Clay).. Storage you can get an out building and for safety we have storm shelters. Most shelters are not attached to your house, but they can make them now that they can put beneath an existing garage.

This topic has been discussed. Clay has NOTHING to do with a basement. They CAN be built safely and with no leakage. All this about clay, water tables, etc is nothing but wivestails. Build away... I am.

[Fletchman]

We have clay soil here in Ohio (maybe not as thick as Oklahoma) and just about every home has a basement.

[linicx]

If you want a dry basement two things are absolutely necessary. Good drainage around the perimiter plus back plaster and tar. If you have heavy clay I suggest a drainage field of rock and sand at least 18 inches or more below the basement floor -not under the house.

Tornado are a bigger problem in okc than no basement.

[Hallway]

Originally Posted by linicx

If you want a dry basement two things are absolutely necessary. Good drainage around the perimiter plus back plaster and tar. If you have heavy clay I suggest a drainage field of rock and sand at least 18 inches or more below the basement floor -not under the house.

Tornado are a bigger problem in okc than no basement.

Yes. The message I am quoting and the one next to it support the fact all this crap spewed around Oklahoma about basements is nothing but obsolete wivestail.

[Goodpasture]

Originally Posted by Hallway

...........the fact all this crap spewed around Oklahoma about basements is nothing but obsolete wivestail.

I inspect literally hundreds of houses annually and have for decades. In Oklahoma, if the value of a basement was anywhere near the cost of building and maintaining one, then virtually all the houses out there would have one. In many parts of the state you cannot drive a fence post into the ground without hitting limestone bedrock that runs for miles in all directions. In other parts of the state you have incredibly high ground water. In other parts of the state you have extraordinarily high clay content. Over all, the reason we don't have basements is because most people are unwilling to pay for them. They simply are not cost effective.

and Hallway, I wasn't aware of any wives having tails, as such, obsolete or not. Most do, however, have tales..........

[n8tiv_okie]

as a former architect/environmental design student I can tell you from education that Oklahoma has "ground shift" and thus, not ideal conditions for a basement from the get-go.
A properly constructed and engineered basement will last the life of a house but doing it right costs money, and most home builders won't go to that sort of expense thus the popularity of brick homes built on floating slab foundations.
guess it all depends on who you talk to.

Goodpasture...sorry for restating your post.

[Hallway]

Originally Posted by n8tiv_okie

as a former architect/environmental design student I can tell you from education that Oklahoma has "ground shift" and thus, not ideal conditions for a basement from the get-go.
A properly constructed and engineered basement will last the life of a house but doing it right costs money, and most home builders won't go to that sort of expense thus the popularity of brick homes built on floating slab foundations.
guess it all depends on who you talk to.

Goodpasture...sorry for restating your post.

California has "ground shift" and is full of basements that are VERY safe and water tight. I frankly do not believe you. I will trust my contractor and the research I have done. One more thing. That "floating" foundation is a crock. Give it 20 or so years and that foundation you think is great fails and you pay Olshan or Ram Jack twenty grand. Why? Shallow footings that are nowhere NEAR bedrock.

[tuindecisive]

The only basements I have dealt with in Oklahoma were constantly flooded. I have no idea about the ground quality, etc., just that every time I see one, it's full of water.