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Originally Posted by Formerly Known As Twenty
The mental imagery of that poor cat careening down the laundry chute! I shouldn't laugh, but still... 
Having a walk out basement is wonderful and very common here in Western Pennsylvania due to the topography--especially on the "low side" of streets in the older neighborhoods. Spring through fall, I'm in and out of the basement door multiple times a day. It's also really nice to have at least a rudimentary toilet and/or shower in the basement, too, as it keeps the upper living areas cleaner--no stomping a path of dirt and debris into the house when you need to use the facilities while doing something messy outdoors or in the garage.
My last house didn't have a direct exit from the basement, which I found to be a bit worrisome in the event of an emergency. There's no way that an adult could fit through the pitifully small egress window and it was too high for a child or short adult to climb out of if they needed to exit in a hurry. The lack of a direct basement exit seems to be a modern house issue as I've never seen an (unremodeled) older house without one. |
Interesting. My circa 1965 two story w/ basement had no exit directly to the outside. My circa 1978 house had a complete below grade living area with direct access to the outside and an extra window near the inevitable slider. But many houses in that area have walkout basements. I don’t know if current building codes mandate them, or not. But I think they are a good idea. In my 1965 era house I spent hours everyday downstairs doing laundry and sewing. It was a dreary place to spend time in. To get out quickly, I would have had to run up stairs to the kitchen and run to an outside door through a hallway, or a room.
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