Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Why no basements?

Generally speaking a basement is the cheapest square footage he will add. If unfinished or minimally finished. Now if you fancy it up as a main living quarter of course you can spend however many dollars a square foot you can afford..

On slab is a big value hit here, few stick builds don't have a basement.
A lot of double wife's and modulars are on a basement.


Know in much of the country they are rare, but I can't imagine not
having one.


Its where the mechanicals live. Where a water heater,
washer, water softener can be out of the way, where it can live
without fear of a leak ruining the house.

Where we store wood and coal, and burn the dirty stuff without
having that mess in the house.

Where you tie the kids up if you want to go away for the weekend, and
don't want to bother with babysitters.

Got to ask what are you guys calling a swamp cooler? Water evaporator with a fan?

my wife....

won't even go into my basement gun/reloading room

Footing drains in and out, sump pump and sealed walls are the norm here.

Some won't put in a sump pump but that's pretty fuggin stupid in my opinion, saves maybe $1k at most. Takes less than $3k to do the pump, drain tile and spray the exterior of the walls.

Only works in low humidity areas.....SW USA

Big in Utah...PIA upkeep/maintenance

But when humidity rises...swamp coolers no workie

I use whole house AC...220 unit & a 110 mini split unit

Fuggin 92* today

I watched the home being built next to mine and it took the builder 6 months to chisel out enough rock to put in a foundation. The equipment had to be repaired about every 3 weeks and it took a few days to weld up all the cracks.

So I guess your question on why some homes do not have basements, could be because the homes are built on a rock pile.

All the homes in our neighborhood is slab construction.

Now a subdivision near by has a home that has a partial basement. It took them 1 1/2 years to chisel out the hole for the 1/2 basement for the home.

Here ya go. My estimate for our build. Basement is 55x24 plus we will have 30x34 attached garage with 4' walls. Forgot, 55x10 covered porch with room under that porch.

Understand .. 103 here and over 80% humidity.. real AC is struggling

I'd like a basement at our cabin.

2 or 3 days at the most with a big hoe and a breaker.

Best place to built a walk in basement vault/safe-----(conditions permitting)

In an empty corner...only have to frame 2 walls & the roof/cap.....door of course

Water table were I live is to high for a basement..

They started putting basements in in Utah due to the Freeze in the winter and have the pipes so deap.
it was easier just to bring the pipes into a basement.
Where I am in Commyfornia there are no basements.
I was going to dig one in as I am on a mostly raised foundation.
I was talking to Realtors and Contractors and found out that going down did nothing for your home value where I am at but going up did.
I still wanted the basement and after fighting the boulders in my back yard knowing that they get bigger the deeper you get. I gave up on the Basement idea.

Now I am just trying to get out of Commyfornia.

conditions permitting

I hope whoever is doing that provides the Vaseline. We got three Rock breakers I know a bit about this and that is horrible it should be a lawsuit involved.

Evidently D. R. Horton does not know how to build a house

Best place to put a vault door and make a concrete vault it's actually in the back of your basement underneath your front porch. Dig everything full depth where you have 8 or 9 ft 10 ft if you want basement walls and front porch wall is the same height. Take a few extra steps and seal the concrete cap that is your front porch is an awesome place for gun vault. One thing people don't realize when they put a safe in the basement if your house ever catches fire all the heat ashes and cold settle around your safe and make it into a oven.

anything underground will leak. period. end of discussion.

Alabama, basement leaked. Storm shelter, anything underground in Alabama will leak, unless you get a metal or fiberglass box
Virginia, daylight basement. leaked. fortunately we were renting so not my problem.
Washington, same type daylight basement leaked. this place we owned and had to rip out the wall covering 3 times in 15 years and try to seal it up. Finally sold it after patching the 3rd time, I'm sure by now the new owners know ...it leaks.

our final house in Alabama- Slab foundation. I can buy air conditioners all day for what dealing with a headache of leaking basement and associated repair costs.