Quote:
Originally Posted by southernnaturelover
Im not sure if I'll ever move again, but if I do I'd never buy or build another house over a crawlspace (or basement), there's just too many issues with humidity and mold down here in the South, and as you get older the steps get to be annoying. A house on a concrete slab just feels so much more solid and well built, you can jog on a treadmill without feeling like the whole house is shaking.
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In the upper midwest using below grade areas as living space is par for the course. A benefit to this is piping is easily accessible without having to jackhammer into the concrete and water pipes are protected from freezing, among other things. A little known trick to reduce basement smell in a reasonably modern home that has drain tile and sump pits is to install radon mitigation, which sucks air from underneath the cement slab and ejects it out the roof. Reduces humidity and odors. In my particular county it's typical to have radon levels of 10-30 pci/l and yet nobody around here even knows about radon.. my home tested 25 pci/l with both my tester and the radon guy's and afterwards was 0.7 and the basement smell was gone.
Anyways my house has most of what I like... it could use more circuits and is not up to modern electrical code in places but it's built well enough, with plenty of attic insulation, good ventilation, no moisture issues, decent layout, and low ceilings don't bother me as it's more energy efficient... it's vaulted ceilings that I don't like, because that means you compromise space in the attic for insulation and/or a big roof antenna and room to move around up there.
I would always want a dishwasher... the one that came with my house, I can load plates caked with ketchup, glasses that were used to mix whey protein shakes, etc. and they come out sparkling clean.. all the prewashing my relatives do in my case is completely unnecessary.
Having 2 stall garage that's attached.. very nice.
I'm not that picky.. but I wouldn't want a home with wallpaper or paneling.. I like plaster and/or drywall with light texture that I can paint. Not a fan of big wood decks because it's just a big maintenance and expense item.. I'd rather just grill on a small cement slab or my lawn.. much cheaper. Not a fan of split foyers with elevated main floor that require use of a big deck that is elevated above the grade of the yard.. I'd rather have the patio be at the level of the lawn ala a ranch style home.
I want to be 1/4+ mile from train tracks and off a major artery for traffic... check. Overall the house I got meets most all my qualifications.
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