Do houses in Knoxville have basements? (Morristown: real estate, tornado, living)

[ddlove01]

Hi! I recently visited Middle TN and our realtor said TN doesn't have many basements. Does this apply to Eastern TN, too?

[brcomm0]

no. we are putting a basement in our property in eastern tenn. Can't live without it.

[chester's]

how's that?tornados or?

[brcomm0]

My sports room. 1000 sf of basement. Bar, TV and Pool table.

[mbmouse]

I am not a Realtor but in the real estate industry and have seen lots of appraisals for many homes in this area (tri-cities). There are more than 50% of what I have seen with basements. However, there is very little need for basements as far as a tornado shelter. We are protected by the mountains here. There are some strong thunder storms that knock trees down in mid summers, but they are few and far between. In the 10 years I have been here, I can not recall a tornado touching down in Upper East TN. Could be wrong on that though.

[insanesmooch]

Do you mean any kind of basement? Like finished or unfinished? My parent's house in Knoxville has a basement that was unfinished when they bought it, but they finished it soon after. I know several people with dirt floor basements out there. Some are large enough to make it part of the house. My house in Northeast TN has a basement that I could partially finish. I think part of the reason I have seen more basements in the east versus middle is that east is more hilly and sometimes the houses almost have to have one to make it flat. My parent's house looks like a one level in the front, but the back is all seen from the rear of the home. My house is also on a hill and that is why I could only partially build the basement into living areas.

[phinz]

I have a 1950 sq. ft. basement.

[GrannyLois]

I live in the Tri-Cities area, and everyone I know has a basement.

[kikiart_4U]

Have been doing a little house hunting via the web. I am finding that most
homes DO NOT offer basements, and usually only a 1 car garage. Where do
folks store all of their stuff from years gone by, Christmas, Easter, seasonal
furniture, grill, canning equipment, luggage etc? And what about you guy that like to build, and make a lot of saw dust ? Why no basements. I have one in my home in Ohio, and I LOVE all of the extra space.

[hoosier07]

Hi. Just curious, perhaps in Knoxville you don't find basements, but I'm looking perhaps 30 miles East of Knoxville (around Morristown) and 80% or more of the houses I find have some kind of basement, the most common type is the basement with walk-out doors and windows, really great. As I mentioned in a previous thread, they almost have to build a basement in order to put the house in flat surface and usually the garage is also in the basement with a side entrance. I don't have a basement today but I have a 3rd car garage which helps a lot.