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Cheaper way...buy a small buried concrete sealed safe room.
This is much cheaper than the cost of a full basement and you dont have to worry about having an entire house that was destroyed trapping you in a basement.
I dont think that beyond staying away from windows that any newer house here has any protection. Home is drywall with osb and bath tubs are fiberglass. I am pretty sure a diret hit with a tornado wont mean much to those.
in 45 years, there've been two tornadoes and 1 hurricane to hit the triangle.
Say what? There was Fran in 1996, Bonnie in 1998, Floyd in 1999, and Isabel in 2003, not to count many more tropical storms that might as well have been category 1 hurricanes for the damage they caused. I remember the one in 2006 being particularly bad for flooding. I'm much more worried about hurricanes in this area than tornadoes.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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After having grown up with damp, moldy basements in PA, am I the only one who came to this area and was GLAD to find out that houses didn't have basements? No basements = no water problems!
After having grown up with damp, moldy basements in PA, am I the only one who came to this area and was GLAD to find out that houses didn't have basements? No basements = no water problems!
Say what? There was Fran in 1996, Bonnie in 1998, Floyd in 1999, and Isabel in 2003, not to count many more tropical storms that might as well have been category 1 hurricanes for the damage they caused. I remember the one in 2006 being particularly bad for flooding. I'm much more worried about hurricanes in this area than tornadoes.
You're probably correct about the numbers and hurricanes, but my point was related to the actual events which have caused wind damage to the extent one should fear for their life.
In the 45 years I've been alive, all* of which have been spent in the Triangle, there's 3 events - the tornado that ripped through NW Raleigh and N Raleigh in about 1987, Hurricane Fran in 1996, and the tornado(es) last year.
Also statistically you're far more likely to die from radon induced lung cancer than from a tornado and radon is more prevalent in houses with basements. So pick your poison.
You're probably correct about the numbers and hurricanes, but my point was related to the actual events which have caused wind damage to the extent one should fear for their life.
In the 45 years I've been alive, all* of which have been spent in the Triangle, there's 3 events - the tornado that ripped through NW Raleigh and N Raleigh in about 1987, Hurricane Fran in 1996, and the tornado(es) last year.
I doubt the people that died or lost their homes in events you say people shouldn't have feared would agree
Basements depend on the lot selected. Lots on a decent slope may have walk-out basements. Location can have a lot to do with it.
A few years back I was considering building a custom home, wanted a basement for storage/workshop. Speaking to builders adding a basement would increase the cost by about $50K. A friend built on a sloped lot and had to blast out some rock, adding to the cost. Speaking to the excavators I learned that wasn't unheard of and certain areas are more prone to it than others.
If that doesn't get you, some areas have lousy soil percolation, above and beyond the problems with clay soils. A walk-out basement on a slope gives you a pretty good drainage path. Managing drainage with a basement on a more level lot, especially one with poor percolation, is more problematic. Keep the water away from the foundation will help keep you from having a damp basement. Still, you may end up needing to run a sump pump and/or dehumidifier to keep it dry.
As for tornadoes, not really a big concern here. The news is kind of tornado-happy right now. Yes, they happen but it's very rare in this area. It's kind of up there with meteor-proofing your house. Yeah, it could happen but its not probable enough to make it a driving decision.
Also be aware that not all basements are suitable storm shelters, especially in older houses. It could just be where all the debris ends up if the house gets hit. That said, there are some houses in my neighborhood that have sloping lots with a lot of height in some parts of the crawlspace. At least one I know of had stairs put in with a landing against the wall supported by steel columns. Under the landing is a suitable shelter. It cost him some space on the ground floor as he had to install an exterior type doorway that opens to the stairs since it isn't finished space.
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