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I think basements were popular in the NE because of frostline considerations back in the days when the technology (or lack thereof) made it necessary to get the foundation below the frostline.
In NE many homes are older and that is where the heating units are located. Depending on the age of the home it wouldn't be unusual for you to find an old coal chute leading to the basement and many still have 200-400 gallon oil tanks. Unfortuantely, another remnant of the past is asbestos.
In my experience most of the older basements in MA homes are purely functional for the water heater, AC, oil tanks, maybe some storage. Rarely used as an extra living space.
Finished basements are a big deal in my area. Yet no one ever recovers the cost but a lack of some semblance of finishing hurts, at resale.
It's fasinating that so many choose to spend the majority of their down time and do the majority of their in home entertainment, below grade and use the above grade space for sleeping.
In most of the SE the water table is too high. If you put a below ground basement in there will be a lot of issues with water intrusion and mold. (Hydrostatic pressure and all that jazz). We have some homes built on sloping lots with walk out basements but that's about it.
There are several considerations. The primary cosideration is one needs to get below the frost line or frost heaves become an issue. In colder climates, this will mean a dugout basement or deep piers. Draw a line across the US where below the line rarely gets below 30* and you will see most of the homes (even million dollar ones) below that line do not have basements.
A 2nd consideration is the water table. When near water (especially close to the coast) you will hit water only a few feet down.
Also in flood plain areas, basements are avoided. Many homes sit on a raised slab often a few feet tall with bricking on the exterior.
Years back slab construction was not liked as the piping (especially the sewage line) could rust/rot out and it was expensive to replace them. Often requiring the floor and slab to be trenched open. With newer materials this concern has gone away and slab (non-basement) homes are becoming more popular.
In Michigan you can find homes with a basement or a crawl space. While a lot has to do with the water table (as has been stated before), sometimes just the design of the house may/may not call for a basement. Some homes have a laundry on the first floor and only have a crawl space. Other homes have the laundry room in the basement.
As I am getting older and my knees aren't what they used to be, I am very interested in homes with a first floor laundry - without a basement. As long as there is enough storage space, I'm good to go.
Water table here in Florida is usually too high. However, I have seen some commercial buildings that do have them. Homes rarely have them, unless they are on a hill and it's a walk-out one.
Probably, because they are rare here, I always thought of basements as dark, damp, dirty places. However, from seeing shows on HGTV in the past, some of them look very nice after they are finished off.
Basements are rare in Oklahoma due to several reasons. First of all bedrock is pretty shallow. I recall putting in an oil change pit once where we had to jackhammer out the rock so we could get a 6' deep hole in the ground. Other places the water table is really high and sump pumps would have to run continuously. And the "frost line" is less than two feet deep. Why dig a hole when all you have to do is run a ditchwitch for a footing?
Being from the NE, I am always amazed that basements are not common in tornado alley. I could not even imagine living out there with no basement. Do all homes at least have a storm cellar of some sort? Every home in Ohio has a basement, just like every home has a roof. The only exception would be condos built on slabs and some really small super cheap homes.
Up here we are on the very tail end of the tornado zone, we maybe get one small twister every 10 years, and small funnel clouds that never touch down, or touch down quickly and go right back up each year. People use basements during bad storms here all the time.
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