Are houses with walk up basements built here (St. Paul: apartment, rent)

[queenswake]

Walk up basements (stairs leading from the basement to the back yard) have gotten popular in other ares of the country in new construction. Even if the lot is flat and a walk out basement is not possible, people still like having a door that leads to the back yard. Not only for the access but french or sliding doors allows a ton of light into the basement that makes it brighter.

Anyway, are builders doing this in Minnesota? One downside of this is that you have to make sure the drain is clear at the bottom of the steps so when it rains, the water does not flood the house. So I wonder if these are not built into homes in the north because of the hassle of having to shovel it out.

[rzzz]

A lot of old houses have them. My grandparents' and great uncle's houses in St. Paul both did. Not sure about new builds.

[StPaulGal]

I have never seen or hears of such a thing being built locally, but I am sure someone has done it. I do see arrangements like that in apartment buildings, though. Shoveling out a pit with a door sounds miserable to me...give me a walk-out or a traditional basement any day.

[golfgal]

New version of an old idea. I've seen some in various house planning sites, etc. You would have to have a fairly deep pour to make it work but it's a nice option. We had a walk-up basement in our 1850's build growing up . It could have had a french door I guess but it was an unfinished basement.

[ocsid]

Our house has one. We think it may have been added after the house was built. (house is 36 years old).

[queenswake]

I ask because one of the nice things is that it allows you rent out your basement and it gives the tenant their own private entrance. Or if you work at home and your office is in the basement, you have a separate entrance to the office for visitors. Again, walk-out basements are ideal, but for a house build on flat land, walk up basements are a nice choice. Just about every new house in other areas of the country I have been in has a walk out or walk up basement.

[jzeig104]

I think you will see more tri-level or split level homes here rather than outside entries to the basement, just because of the weather. One house we owned had a walk up basement, but it was inside a screen porch attached to the house, so it didn't get snow or rain.

[golfgal]

I saw a photo on Pinterest or Houzz that had the stairs inside, it was a wide stairway and it walked up to ground level inside an opened to a patio. That would work but having the door at the bottom of a stairway outside without some sort of cover over that would just be a mess.