Basements in homes?? (Dallas, Austin, Plano: real estate, buying a home, neighborhood)

[MicheleN311]

Hi--
We are moving to the Dallas area this summer and will be buying a home. I've been on various real estate websites the last few weeks and have noticed that no homes have basements. Is there a reason for this? We are coming from a year in New Hampshire (before that, 10 years in Northern Virginia) and had a basement in both homes. Just curious!!
Thanks--
Michele

[Backintheville2]

A quick look on Google should find you the answer. One was the frost line is only a foot or so deep. The second, which I had always heard, was that much of TX has expansive clay soil,which expands by up to 30% when wet. There may be some other reasons as well, as I'm not an authority. But having been born in TX and living here all but a few years of my life, I can tell you that it is rare to find a basement in a home here. You might find one in an older home, but they are few and far between. So you might want to get rid of some of your "stuff" before moving here, since the major storage will be a garage. You will find that many here use the garage as storage and park their cars on the driveway.

[gymrat]

Simple answer: Frost line and poor soil (bad clay in many areas).

There are a few builders that do have basements but that is very few and far between. You better be prepared to shell out some major dough to get one if you really want a basement.

I'm pretty sure you can use the search feature on this forum and find the answers have already been discussed at great length

Other parts of Texas like Austin and Amarillo, you are going to see more basements and split level homes.

[FalconheadWest]

There is a recent thread on the forum from just a couple of months ago about basements. It's about the frost line and clay soils. You need a basement when the frost line is so far down to protect the foundation. You don't need that here.

[Obamney1]

Shallow frost line
Clay soil
Abundance of horizontal space
Climate
Cost
Single story, ranch, brick is the only way people knew

[mom2gurls]

A friend of mine said you can make an "outhouse" on your property. I know she didnt mean potty...I am assuming she meant you can put a shed on your yard...is that correct?

[HockDad]

The soil in Texas is a real problem. 2 years ago in highland park we toured a wonderful house that was unsold after 2 years because of water in the basement. They had spent loads of money but could not fix the issue. Also, it has traditionally been cheaper to build up then down.

[nonexpat]

Originally Posted by mom2gurls

A friend of mine said you can make an "outhouse" on your property. I know she didnt mean potty...I am assuming she meant you can put a shed on your yard...is that correct?

That would be dependent on your neighborhood association. Our neighborhood association in Plano had to approve any outbuildings, swingsets, arbors, etc. In fact, it didn't occur to us that a wooden play set would need approval since we had board-on-board fence around our back yard and only about six inches of the play set was visible from the road. How wrong we were!

[nonexpat]

I must say I miss having a basement. I grew up with them in Wisconsin. What I found to be the bigger problem in the Dallas area was the fact that builders will put the cheapest foundation they can. Houses built before 1968 have pier and beam which rarely cause problems, but I had many neighbors with slabs who had to have their houses jacked up and piers installed because of foundation problems. Obviously it is much more expensive to do this after the fact rather than while building.

[MicheleN311]

Thanks for your replies! Makes sense about the frost line and type of soil.

@gymrat, I have used the search feature but found many replies to be very old. I guess since I'm new to the Dallas thread, I thought I'd post and get some up-to-date info. Sorry if this bothered you. The next question I ask/post will undoubtedly mirror a few previous posters...again, just looking for up-to-date info; if you find yourself annoyed again, you certainly don't have to answer.