[debbie at bouontiful]

Originally Posted by mgrody

A basement is a great plus if the soil and water table permits. Not only does it give protection from severe weather, it's good for storage, permits easy access to HVAC equipment and plumbing, and much of it can be finished to provide extra living space at minimal expense. I would never buy a house without a basement unless they were nonexistant in that locale.

I sure miss my basement in Ill. People do not realize how much storage you can have with a basement. Now, I agree that the soil and water table could be a problem in some areas but I do know that my home could have been built with one, it was the builder trying to sell as cheap as possile. I've had to add on to get the storage. Now, I am thinking of building one more add on and put a basement in that room.

[woodworkingmenace]

In some places, the Water Table is the reason why people dont have basements, such as Florida. The water table is only about a foot or less below ground!

In other places, if a house is built upon rocks, then it would cost a fortune to blast or drill out the mountain and build a basement, bringing in such expenditure as to be cost prohibitive.

It depends on the location also... A lot of developers simply dont build basement because it takes more time and on a slab, they can build and 'hit it and git it'...with out too much fuss or mess, and they can build 'row housing' that look like cookie cutter homes and not worry about any type of EPA regulations regarding whats in the Soil or has to be moved or cant be built because of regulations regarding any type of 'thing' in the soil...They just slab over it and thus, no mess!

Just my opinion.

May the LORD Bless each of you.

I wish you well...

Jesse

[Synopsis]

Originally Posted by debbie at bouontiful

I sure miss my basement in Ill. People do not realize how much storage you can have with a basement. Now, I agree that the soil and water table could be a problem in some areas but I do know that my home could have been built with one, it was the builder trying to sell as cheap as possile. I've had to add on to get the storage. Now, I am thinking of building one more add on and put a basement in that room.

I have heard that in the North they have to dig several feet below the freeze line, therefore, the effort to dig further for a basement is not such a big deal. In Oklahoma, which is a rather warm state, there is no such requirement (to dig several feet below the freeze line). Hence the addition of a basement, in addition to soil factors (water table, rocks) would be cost prohibitive.

To be honest, I do not totally understand why basements are not built in Oklahoma, where they are sorely needed, but that is my understanding.

[BornToFly]

I'm sure it's a lot less expensive to get a storm shelter big enough for the average sized family than it is to put a basement under the entire house. Wouldn't a storm shelter be more effective in keeping people out of a storm, anyway, since it's concrete on all sides? What if the twister picks your house up off its foundation... then the basement has no ceiling and you're exposed, right?

[Goodpasture]

Oklahoma has four MAJOR problems with basements.

1) the frost line is 18 inches. That means a builder can dig a footing with a ditchwitch. Why would anyone excavate an additional 6 feet deep PLUS excavate the area inside it unless you had to? It costs money to excavate, load, haul, and store dirt. Would you be willing to pay another $20,000 for your house?

2) the water table is high. You would have to have a sump pump to keep it dry, you would have substantial mold problem potential. I have appraised maybe 6 houses in the past 10 years in Oklahoma that have had basements and every one of them had water problems.

3) the soil is shallow. Sometimes the top soil is a few inches of dirt sitting on a bedrock of limestone or shale. Where I grew up, our house was three miles from the rock crusher, but every time they blasted it rattled windows and dishes. To excavate down 6 feet will frequently require the use of dynamite and jackhammers. Again it is going to be another 5 figure number to install. I wanted to put two posts at the front of my driveway so I could mount a gate and have a cross beam at the top. Just to drill two 12" holes 4' deep and set two poles was going to cost me $700 plus materials.

4) Finally land is relatively cheap. I have 20 acres I am looking at selling for $2500 an acre. I saw a 40 acre piece of land for sale at $100,000. Why, when I could buy the adjacent lot for under $10,000 and give me an extra 1500 sf of house, would I want to spend an extra $20,000 to $40,000 just to dig a hole that is going to stay wet all the time?

[Okiegirlfriend]

A lot of houses around the country with basements have sump pumps, just in case. If one can dig 20 feet down to hook our sewer line to the main, why is is so hard to dig a basement. I know a man who owned a house in Brookside who dug a small basement by hand. He did a pretty good job of it too. We were told that contractors here just don't know how to do it. My husband could have set those posts for you a lot cheaper. Necessity is the mother of invention!

[HeatherDawn]

Now that I think about it, I did know of one house in Marland that had a basement, but I was a kid so I can't really remember if they had any problems or not. I'm pretty sure that's the only basement I've ever been in. LOL trailer houses don't have 'em ya know. LOL

[debbie at bouontiful]

It is an Oklahoma and New Mexico thing. I have spent a lot of time in Northern New Mexico where the frost line has to be very deep and they still do not have basements. Got me, I know there is cost in basements, I've have built them before but the spare bedrooms I have in my upstairs do not compare to a basement for storage. I am a big canner and gardener. You can't keep a potatoe in this climate at all. If I could have found a builder to built me one when we moved here I would have. They just don't. I didn't pay no big bucks in IL when housing was more costly there.

I guess we can't complain about tornadoes if we do not put in basements. I have lived through them in other states with a basement. Boy was that a lot less stress than here. Closet. Yea, right tell me that closet is still standing in a tornado.

I guess you can tell I've been having fits with husband to get a storm celler in here.

[HeatherDawn]

We always kept canned goods in the cellar but I'd agree with you about potatos. You have to spread them out on a dry material (like feed sacks) with none of them touching and they still won't last a real long time.

[Goodpasture]

Originally Posted by Okiegirlfriend

A lot of houses around the country with basements have sump pumps, just in case. If one can dig 20 feet down to hook our sewer line to the main, why is is so hard to dig a basement. I know a man who owned a house in Brookside who dug a small basement by hand. He did a pretty good job of it too. We were told that contractors here just don't know how to do it. My husband could have set those posts for you a lot cheaper. Necessity is the mother of invention!

Obviously technology exists for each and every reason why basements are not common. But the question is why don't houses here HAVE basements, not why CAN'T they. Bottom line, traditional cost prohibitions plus cheap land have created an environment where they are not customary. you can come up with all the reasons why they should be and explain away every reason why they aren't, but I can guarantee you that if they were profitable, in this part of the world, they would be installed. they aren't, so they aren't.

If you want one, find a builder, have him build on your lot and have a basement put in. Otherwise buy what is on the market and find ways to adapt.