Basements?

[thepiper46]

In reading all of your comments let me add this tid bit of information. My wife is orignally from the Philly area. When I went to visit and when I was in the Marine Corps in the '70's I got my first wiff of basements and just like the rest of you thought that it would be a great idea for Texas, (primarily Houston where I live). I was told about the soil and such. But I also know that all of the building in the down town area have basements. Also, we also, like most large cities, have an underground mall in down town Houston. So, then why not basements. I mid 1980s there was a builder from up north that built basement homes in Humble Texas. My wife when out to view them and they were great. They cost a little bit more than the regular homes here but we wanted one. We both worked at Compaq at the time. Well, long story short there was hardly anyone that wanted to by them and the company pulled out. The ones that they built before they pulled out they sold and are still there.

[debzkidz]

When I lived in Midland there was a very well to do family from the northeast somewhere that wanted a basement, so when they built their big luxury home, they had one built. It was fine for a while, but the water table began to rise, and the basement began to flood. From what I've been told they did everything imaginable to pump it out, repair it, seal it and whatever else it is they do to them, but it was never able to be completely corrected. It sort of became a joke that they had an indoor, underground swimming pool.

[catman]

I can believe that. They don't work out too well here in Ft Worth, as the ground shifts too much. Foundation problems are not unusual. I do like the concept of having a basement, though.

[latetotheparty]

yep... a basement is one of the FEW things i will miss if and when i make it back home to south texas.... mine is not finished, just use it for storage and the laundry, but it sure frees up room on the main level.....

[joqua]

Many older homes - built way back when coal was in use - had basements to accommodate storage and use of the coal for coal-fired furnaces and boilers. It was also used in cast-iron cook stoves of the era.

When I was a child growing up in El Paso, the house we lived in for awhile still had a coal bin with coal in it in the basement, even though the furnace, water heater, etc had been converted to gas or electric. My grandparent's house also had a basement for coal storage.