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I have been told that the shortage of basements is largely due to the heavy clay and overall moisture content of the soil. Basements, therefore, are limited to the walkout variety where at least one full wall of the basement is exposed to the air, which would help dry out the overall foundation. Supposedly in a fully buried basement, there would be problems related to moisture, seepage, & drainage that would affect the structural integrity of the foundation.
At the builder I have talking to most, they are charging $40k or more for a basement.
I was born in Connecticut and stayed until I was 18...We had a basement that had a pool table, washer/dryer, storage. It was dark and dreary. Then I moved to Florida where of course there are no basements. My husband and I just did an exploratory trip to the Atlanta burbs and boy have basements changed! Some were nicer than my main floor We decieded that if we move there, we must have a basement that has a bath, kitchen, room for a pool table and an extra room for when company comes to visit.
This is an odd thread to me...I'm NC born and raised and never really noticed a "shortage of basements"!
But after thinking about it, the few folks I know with newer homes built in the past decade, they don't have basements after all.
Older houses, though, are much more likely to have them. My home here in Raleigh has a smaller basement...just big enough for washer/dryer, furnace, water heater, and some light storage of power tools and shovels.
My parents and all my grandparents back in the Winston-Salem area all had HUGE basements...almost as much square footage as the house itself. My dad still parks his car in it (as a garage/basement combo). My late grandmother used hers to breed siamese cats in....a "cattery" as she called it...and still had room for a huge mega-freezer, laundry appliances, and storage of 50 years worth of junk.
So to hear "there are hardly any basements in NC" is just, well, strange to me.
I have been told that the shortage of basements is largely due to the heavy clay and overall moisture content of the soil. Basements, therefore, are limited to the walkout variety where at least one full wall of the basement is exposed to the air, which would help dry out the overall foundation. Supposedly in a fully buried basement, there would be problems related to moisture, seepage, & drainage that would affect the structural integrity of the foundation.
Ah yes...that is true. Most people I know with basements, have one of the walls exposed to the air. Many are also used as garages.
I have been told that the shortage of basements is largely due to the heavy clay and overall moisture content of the soil. Basements, therefore, are limited to the walkout variety where at least one full wall of the basement is exposed to the air, which would help dry out the overall foundation. Supposedly in a fully buried basement, there would be problems related to moisture, seepage, & drainage that would affect the structural integrity of the foundation.
At the builder I have talking to most, they are charging $40k or more for a basement.
That's the reason. It has nothing to do with hilliness really; it's pretty much because of the tough red clay. Walkout basements are pretty common in upper end houses, but most houses around here just don't have them. I have yet to see a single house in NC with a true basement. Walkouts can be nice though.
I did not read all of this thread because it would take to long. But if you are moving to Concord there are basements. Different that what most people are used to. But my sister lives in Holly Springs, NC(Raleigh) and she has a basement. Lots of the new houses do. I would say anywhere west of I-95. Still, most houses don't
I wonder where people put all their stuff (treadmill, big TV, computers, Christmas stuff) if they don't basements.
Good question. We have no basements in South Florida; almost no crawl spaces (the reason is the water table; can be as high as 6" below grade). Most of the older houses have shallow-pitched roofs, so no attics. Most of the houses are single story, so no bonus rooms.
We keep our "stuff" in the garage. The cars stay outside.
Yeah, most houses here have bonus rooms over the garage. Most of the basements down here are incomplete. Mainly just a spot to store things.
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We decieded that if we move there, we must have a basement that has a bath, kitchen, room for a pool table and an extra room for when company comes to visit.
