Basements in North Texas (Dallas, Highlands: construction, tornado, square footage)

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by rantanamo

The simple answer is bedrock depth. A basement is basically(not exactly) a way to make up foundation space between bedrock and surface. You would either have a giant, 8 foot thick slab, or you built a supported space between the bedrock and surface. Nothing to do with weather or water tables. DFW and much of Texas simply has bedrock that's not very deep.

It's preposterous to claim that water tables and weather aren't big time factors.

[TheOverdog]

You would either have a giant, 8 foot thick slab, or you built a supported space between the bedrock and surface.

And house slabs are not laid on bedrock. That's generally only for piers, not the entire slab. House slabs are generally laid on compacted regular soil.


Dynamiting bedrock must have gotten a lot more expensive, because we had to blast to put in septic tanks in several hill country properties, and these were homes for people who wouldn't even be considered middle class today. But that was back in the '80s when I was a kid, so I haven't seen prices for it in I guess 30 years.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by TheOverdog

And house slabs are not laid on bedrock. That's generally only for piers, not the entire slab. House slabs are generally laid on compacted regular soil.


Dynamiting bedrock must have gotten a lot more expensive, because we had to blast to put in septic tanks in several hill country properties, and these were homes for people who wouldn't even be considered middle class today. But that was back in the '80s when I was a kid, so I haven't seen prices for it in I guess 30 years.

Out in West Texas we used to buy 1/4 and 1/2 sticks of dynamite at the COOP over the counter - mostly for blasting post holes in caliche.

[iberanon]

Originally Posted by EDS_

It's preposterous to claim that water tables and weather aren't big time factors.

There are custom built houses around here with crawlspace (because the owner had them from the midwest). And it is a disaster when combined with AC usage.

We build the way we build here mainly because of weather/humidity. That basement is going to a moldy mess full of insects. Plus the structural problems. Even without basements I get dew condensation on my slab sometimes.

[serger]

There is no issue to build a good basement, except the cost. So it doesn't go well with the cheap construction around here. Of course, basements are built all over the world, including much poorer locales.

And, yes it would be the best protection from a tornado.

[WorldKlas]

There's a neighborhood in zip 76016 built in the 80's called Oldfield village that has about 75% of the homes with basements. I own an investment house in the neighborhood without a basement. Its been a great location for renting -- in the Martin HS attendance aone -- so every time a house came up for sale in Oldfield Village I would tour it hoping to purchase another place there. Every home I viewed with a basement smelled mildewy. One actually had standing water in the basement.....

For 15 years we owned a house in Las Colinas with a basement garage (because house sat on top of a hill) and rear entry garage sat under the house. Although we had french drains along the downward sloping wall, and the garage walls were treated with water seallant, and there were landscaping walls professionally designed to address water (wall about 4 feet from structure and a gravel ditch with drains between landscape wall and house/garage wall) the garage often had water in the garage after a heavy rainfall. While it was our "go to" place during tornado warnings, it was not a place to finish out for living. NTX and basements don't fare well.

The house itself was built on piers and there was a crawl space underneath. It, too, often had standing water in it. We had it inspected annually and it was always clear of mold so no health hazard. Still, this is just not basement land.

[octo]

Originally Posted by iberanon

There are custom built houses around here with crawlspace (because the owner had them from the midwest). And it is a disaster when combined with AC usage.

We build the way we build here mainly because of weather/humidity. That basement is going to a moldy mess full of insects. Plus the structural problems. Even without basements I get dew condensation on my slab sometimes.

Well my basement is bone dry because it was designed with local conditions in mind. It's heated and ACd. And no, this is not inefficient. The whole house (basement and two floors above) run off a single two ton AC and the whole house is 72F even in the hottest summer with bills around $100/month.

[loves2read]

Originally Posted by iberanon

There are custom built houses around here with crawlspace (because the owner had them from the midwest). And it is a disaster when combined with AC usage.

We build the way we build here mainly because of weather/humidity. That basement is going to a moldy mess full of insects. Plus the structural problems. Even without basements I get dew condensation on my slab sometimes.

Have seen some very high $$$ homes featured in magazines in Dallas who,have under ground garages because they don't have the land to use for 4-5 cars...
But totally agree...the Dallas area is not meant for normal basement design...
Even larger commercial buildings have to ratchet up their construction design to anticipate and deal w/water intrusion over time and other issues...

[Crashj007]

Raleigh does not have many either. Partly custom, partly soil conditions, partly high relative humidity in summer makes basements damp and dank.

[Soccernerd]

I looked at some of the houses in Arlington that had basements, and they looked kind of dingy. Most of the basements in Atlanta and even a great number in St. Louis are walkout. Also, a lot of the basements in Atlanta are finished with bedrooms, red rooms, offices etc.