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Im sorry, I'm just not buying the water table claim considering there quite a few of older homes (70's 80's)with basements or walkouts. Did the topography sunk and Im not aware of it
Main thing is that this area seems safe for fracking but not basements.
IMO I think it a saying that developers have unfortunately have realtors believe in so developery can get more profit off building slab lots on postage stamp lots with vinyl sidings verses brick home occasional basement or split level that was very common in construction 20 years ago Another thing that bugs me far as tornado safety.
OP find a home that has a adequate inner closet and keep a blanket and pillow in it for coverage.
F4 or F5 tornadoes are rare in NC and those are the ones destroy homes.
We have fewer basements because they bring much less value than the cost to construct them.
Maximum appraisal value on a finished basement is about $40/SF, yet construction is no less expensive than above grade space.
Even finished attics convey more value, and more bang for the buck, than a basement does.
$$$/SF on resale drives the local market.
Our frost depth construction requirement is to cover the footings with 15" of soil, compared to cold areas where it may be 48" or much more. So we can build with less excavation when not building a basement.
Expansive red clay and a water table that is closer to the surface combine to make construction more expensive, if one wants a dry basement.
I would not consider a hole in the ground basement here on a level lot, and only would want a walk out so I knew that ground water only had to be managed on a couple of sides.
Dank? Too often. The basement without a dehumidifier is not common.
Tornadoes? We have been here since 1997 and I have never had an urge to cover up for violent weather.
Yes, basements can be a nice luxury, for those who can afford them, or are willing to pony up and forego other items that bring value. But it is very hard to recommend to a buyer that they build one. If it is a must have item, always buy a newer resale and let the first owner take the hit for a poor financial investment.
As noted by Mike, the primary reason for fewer basements here involves the footer depth requirement. Up north, footers are routinely 48" deep-sometimes even deeper. They are a good way toward digging the basement anyhow. In our locality, the requirement is only 12". I have seen very few "water table" issues here.
Certainly basements in the area exist. However, i am guessing you have lived your entire life in the area? Coming from MA, I was shocked when within my price range there was only a handful of homes with basements. I'm sure there are homes in MA without basements, but I honestly cannot remember a single house I ever visited that did not have a basement. Almost all houses in MA have them, while almost all homes in NC do not. With in 20 miles of Raleigh is a huge area with probably thousands of homes, the fact only 354 have basements show how rare basements really are
Nope. Grew up in Houston, a place that really has no basements. Moved here when I was 39, built a house with a basement & drive-under garage four years later.
As noted by Mike, the primary reason for fewer basements here involves the footer depth requirement. Up north, footers are routinely 48" deep-sometimes even deeper. They are a good way toward digging the basement anyhow. In our locality, the requirement is only 12". I have seen very few "water table" issues here.
All the items contribute to the good choices to build without basements.
I would not want a basement on my lot, and the home next door had enough water that it is on a slab. At least I am dry enough to have a crawlspace. They would have had a swimming pool.
Im sorry, I'm just not buying the water table claim considering there quite a few of older homes (70's 80's)with basements or walkouts. Did the topography sunk and Im not aware of it
Main thing is that this area seems safe for fracking but not basements.
IMO I think it a saying that developers have unfortunately have realtors believe in so developery can get more profit off building slab lots on postage stamp lots with vinyl sidings verses brick home occasional basement or split level that was very common in construction 20 years ago Another thing that bugs me far as tornado safety.
OP find a home that has a adequate inner closet and keep a blanket and pillow in it for coverage.
F4 or F5 tornadoes are rare in NC and those are the ones destroy homes.
Up north, builders build the basement under ground. Here, the lot has such a slope that it has to have a basement or a huge crawl space but the builder doesn't build the basement under the ground.
The cost of a basement is more than the value of that basement so it isn't desirable.
Most of my clients that THOUGHT they wanted a basement did so because the area they came from had basements. Once they realize they don't need a basement for their snow blowers, they can adjust to space in the garage or...our Southern basement (3rd floor attic)!!!
Most of my clients that THOUGHT they wanted a basement did so because the area they came from had basements. Once they realize they don't need a basement for their snow blowers, they can adjust to space in the garage or...our Southern basement (3rd floor attic)!!!
Vicki
Snowblowers in basements? No, I don't think any (or very many) Northerners ever dragged snowblowers down a set of basement steps. They store them in their garages.
Furnaces, hot water heaters, washers, dryers, and lots of storage space (and sometimes play spaces and exercise rooms) are in Northern basements.
In the old days, furnaces needed coal, and "coal bins" (rooms where coal was stored) were in the basement. It was delivered by truck and poured into the room through the basement window. (I remember my father shoveling it into the furnace in our early 1900's home.)
So maybe when that all changed, there really was no real need for a basement.
But they're still nice to have, and ours is at least 5 degrees cooler than the upstairs -- great in the summer. And we've hidden in the basement from bad weather twice -- once for Hurricane Fran and a couple years ago when a tornado hit several blocks away.
Snowblowers in basements? No, I don't think any (or very many) Northerners ever dragged snowblowers down a set of basement steps. They store them in their garages.
When I was growing up, we kept ours in the basement for many summers...lawn mower and snowblower swapping spots in the garage and basement with the seasons. The snowblower was the easier one to move.
At least until we built a shed and we didn't have to move the stuff down the stairs.
Its all about the cheaper, crappy construction. You can say its because of water, clay, whatever... its about cost.
Its way cheaper to dig down 2' slap in some footers and lay a few rows of block. You HAVE to dig deeper up north to get below the frost line.
As someone who is frequently in crawl spaces, I WISH the builders wouldn't of been so cheap. Now the price of the job automatically goes up once I have to crawl under your house to fix something. I dont go face to face with camel crickets and snakes for free or cheap.
Builders stink, plain and simple. I was in a very high dollar cool subdivision in Carrborro/Chapel Hill the other day. Pretty new place. I was replacing ALOT of rotten wood and the houses need repaint after only 2 TWO! years! They are still banging them up. All illegal labor, short cut city over there... I am familiar with the builder from another Carrborro 'hood. I have spent alot of time fixing those houses too. Totally rotten wood from cheap materials installed improperly. Many, many flat roof balcony problems. Fingerjointed interior trim on the outside. No primer.
As a professional in the building trades, I wouldnt buy or even live in 1/2 the homes built here. Cheap crappy homes they slapped a 200,000, 300,000 price on. They put in some fancy appliances and a granite counter and that all you people buying see. Underneath your fake hardwoods or behind your pretty paint job is what you should be concerned about.
I was going to trash that builder on here a couple days ago. But he is no different than most of them. It ISNT about your pretty new house. Its about how much the builder can make u spend for the same crappy construction.
I'm really not overly concerned about tornados here so the lack of a basement isn't something I lose sleep over.
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