[nocoldiron]

I internet shop property daily I have noticed that the Hulbert area seems much less expensive than Poteau area? Any particular reason why? I want the most fertile land I can get. My husband wants mountains or at least hills.

[Mattie Jo]

Hulbert is a very small town and run down, but they are planning on fixing it up, and I think they have started. The closest shopping is Wagoner or Tahlequah. There are no mountains there. You won't get hills until you go more east, but they are more like foothills to the Ozarks Mountains, not that the Ozark Mts. are Mts. where I come from.

Poteau is close to mountains if I remember correctly. I think the land is fertile everywhere, but you will find it very rocky in that when you dig you have to dig up small rocks too.

[whip]

I live 6 miles out of Poteau, And the rocks grow here...lol You can go pick them up and it seems like after you mow or a good rain there are more to replace what you picked up.

Hulburt has less than 2000 people where Poteau had about 10000 so I don't think there is a comparison.

[Mattie Jo]

I know what you mean. I picked out a lot of rocks before we put in the lawn. In fact I have a ton of them behind the shed. Now that the lawn is in they keep popping up. There seems to be an upward movement of them in the ground. Perhaps some underground critter is pushing them up.

[nocoldiron]

We live in a town of 800-small town living doesn't bother us.Have to look further east-need rolling hills at least.Could rock be why there seems to be so few basements in OK? A basement on a hot,summer day is a WONDERFUL place.

[whip]

I'm not sure if it's economics or because the frost line does not go nearly as deep in the south but I have noticed since moving to OK that there really are very few basements.

[Goodpasture]

We have three basic reasons for not doing cellars/basements. Cost is one. Footings in Oklahoma are generally about 24" below grade as that takes them below the frost line. Taking them down 5' plus excavation plus disposal of the fill dirt to accommodate a basement (with a house 3' above grade), will add thousands to the price of the house. 2) the water table is frequently high. this means constant sump pump operation and frequent mold problems. 3) subsurface rocks are frequently large and cross property lines. I can show you places in my yard where there is a sandstone boulder just 3 or 4 inches under the surface that is probably 100 yards wide. To put a basement there would require dynamite. In the house I grew up in, in North East Tulsa near Owasso, the foundation was ON the bedrock.....a limestone rock less than 2' under the surface that would shake our house whenever the rock crusher a mile away would blast. It was one piece of rock in excess of a mile wide, but it had pockets of soil because we got a septic put in and the well water was great. But when every house would have to have a engineer to determine if blasting was to be done, and if it did, what would the potential damage be to neighbors as far away as a mile, then you dig down and try to find a place to put the dirt you remove, just to put in a concrete wall that is 3 times the height it needs to be, it becomes obvious that a basement is not a cost effective alternative. It is far cheaper to finsh the attic and make it a story and a half with nice views out the upper floor.

[whip]

Well I guess I was close...lol

[nocoldiron]

Was wanting a basement because it is cooler in the summer.Does this mean putting in a tornado shelter is spendy? I'm a greenie-would love to have an earth sheltered house.

[Goodpasture]

Tornado shelters are between $2500-$10,000 depending on quality, materials, and location.

Houses are built INTO hills for earth berm housing, not dug into basements. Most have conventional roof systems (they don't leak quite as much and are easier to fix) so cutting into a hill, then filling around it is pretty simple and is not significantly more costly than stick built.