Why do we have basements?

[ditch donkey]

My wife and I had dinner with a friend from South Africa last night. We were talking about the differences in the two countries, when he asked, "why do you have basements? Is it because of tornaedoes?"

I couldn't supply him with a good answer, other than, "This is just how we do it here."

He made a good point, that a basement is quite expensive, and money would be better spent building a larger main level. I couldn't argue that point.

Does anyone know why we dig basements?

[vcmm]

To store crap we don't want to sell. Also to banish kids to and hide our evil long guns.:snapoutofit:

[Au revoir, Gopher]

Does anyone know why we dig basements?

Because you have to pour your foundation below the frost line.

ARG

[Ken07AOVette]

My wife and I had dinner with a friend from South Africa last night. We were talking about the differences in the two countries, when he asked, "why do you have basements? Is it because of tornaedoes?"

I couldn't supply him with a good answer, other than, "This is just how we do it here."

He made a good point, that a basement is quite expensive, and money would be better spent building a larger main level. I couldn't argue that point.

Does anyone know why we dig basements?



1-Double the size of the house within a footprint 1/2 the size

2-Laundry room better suited on concrete floor

[pickrel pat]

becaues a 150 foot long house doesnt fit on a 100 foot lot.

[elkhunter11]

To double your main floor area, would take up twice as much of your lot. Either the lots would all have to be much larger, which would result in higher taxes, or you wouldn't have much of a yard.

[Tom Pullings]

Two words. MAN CAVE! :sHa_shakeshout:

[NoKlu]

Illegal Suites,max out floor space on small lots,grow ops,Gun rooms,wine making,all kinds of neat things are in basements.

[Twisted Canuck]

Because you have to pour your foundation below the frost line.

ARG

That would be it....

[Snowdog]

generally so that your water supply can come in a min of 4' underground to prevent freezing, it is more economical to just go 8' (instead of 4', since you are digging anyway) and have a "full basement" rather than a "crawl space".

Im from Australia i.e. hot, no freezing=no basements.

I regularly do work in a carwash/shop that has a slab floor and the water (not the carwash water) comes under the wall and out through the slab inside, the building is heated but it often freezes where it comes under the wall.

[elkhunter1234]

When I built my last house I went with a 4 foot ICF frost wall and right to the rafters with ICF, never again will I have a basement, just make sure you build a bigger shop to store all your junk that you just can't find in you to throw in the dump.

[Snowdog]

That would be it....

house i am building right now says 48" below grade for frost.

[bb356]

Indoor swimming !!!

[st99]

Because you have to pour your foundation below the frost line.

ARG

x2 I remember learning that in school, at least I learned a few things

[hunted]

I think it has to do with the old days when everyone had a root seller for storing food for the winter/summer, warm in the winter, cool in summer, dark for veggies, canning etc. Then it became a tradition and that is just how we do today.

[Redfrog]

Tornadoes and basements. Ah Yes!

I remember my first experience with a basement. It was actually an old dirt floored cellar. Damp and disgusting as those are. I didn't know they were nasty at the time. It had the old double door access.

My sister and I were always warned about going near those doors, and we were forbidden to ever open them. Terrible things would happen if we ever did as dangerous things lurked on the other side.

Well as kids will be kids and we grew, so did our curiosity. Each day it seemed we went closer and closer to the doors. we would hear one of our parents coming and we would run away from the doors.

By the time I was 7 or 8 and my sister a year older, we had screwed up our courage enough to open the doors.

As I opened the door a crack and peered through, I couldn't believe my eyes. There was green grass, and trees, and blue sky and birds singing and the smell of fresh air. It was wonderful. :):sHa_shakeshout:

I tried to get my sister close enough to look out but her chain was too short and I couldn't get her collar off.:scared:

So tell your friend the basement is where we keep our children. :)

[K44]

So my wife has a place to put JUNK

[yoteblaster]

Many buildings don,t have a basement, why is frost not a problem for them? eg, we have a 36000 sq ft shop build ground level that never heaves when the frost comes out in the spring. Just curious

[u_cant_rope_the_wind]

so that in wet years it seeps and floods and wrecks everything, that way the wife constantly can renovate something after watching mike homes on homes,and you cant save for the African safari you always dream of, if we was smart(but no one accuses us of that) we would build a 4ft frost free crawl space, and put piling for a good solid foundation, but oh no we have to appease the wife and her constant urge to renovate

[bb356]

Many buildings don,t have a basement, why is frost not a problem for them? eg, we have a 36000 sq ft shop build ground level that never heaves when the frost comes out in the spring. Just curious

Piling's ........... holes drilled 18 inch around and 10 ft deep filled with cement ???

[graham1]

Many buildings don,t have a basement, why is frost not a problem for them? eg, we have a 36000 sq ft shop build ground level that never heaves when the frost comes out in the spring. Just curious

I reckon the shop you're refering to is heated. Therefore it doesn't freeze under the floor.

[yoteblaster]

No pilings whatsoever under the building. Did put in 18 inch pilings approx 10 ft deep when we installed our 90 ft truck scale though. Not sure why though.

[donabb]

My wife owns the main floor, I own the basement,It's a bi level so big windows downstairs, wood stove, wetbar,TV,mancave...life is good

[jimbo1]

to store all the crap we should throw away but dont :thinking-006: i seriously need to have a sort out soon :angry3:

[demolition101]

Literally just finished telling the wife this story like 5 minutes ago... Remember when I was a kid dad having 20 beaver pelts nailed up on plywood boards all over the basement.

[cover]

Because you have to pour your foundation below the frost line.

ARG

Also you can fit many more lots in a given space = alot more money for developers

[panwojciech]

Wife has to live somewhere too,.. eh..:sHa_sarcasticlol:

[couleefolk]

here in Manitoba it gets really cold. hot air rises, so you build up. my neighbor was scared of water in the basement, so he built 2300sqft on one level, and boy does he pay for heat! plus his 1 acre of grass now has a huge building in the middle of it because he also added a double car garage, and try to squeeze all that into a spot without having to get a variance for being to close to the neighbors property line. here it is good practice to bury any waterlines at least 8' down.

[Jamie]

Well being that my Grandpa is passed away, I can only tell you out of memory of his thoughts.

He said they built basements to help keep the homes warm.
I am going to take his word on it as he had a hand in developing most of S.E. Calgary.

Jamie

[u_cant_rope_the_wind]

:sHa_shakeshout:thats what they make kitchens and dawg houses for :sHa_shakeshout: ( just joking)

Wife has to live somewhere too,.. eh..:sHa_sarcasticlol:

[NSRfishing]

basement nice and cool in summer barely have to touch my AC

[rugatika]

However, basements are considered standard on all but the smallest new buildings in many places with temperate continental climates such as the American Midwest and the Canadian Prairies where a concrete foundation below the frost line is needed in any case, to prevent a building from shifting during the freeze-thaw cycle.

Adding a basement can also reduce heating and cooling costs as it is a form of earth sheltering, and a way to reduce a building's surface area-to-volume ratio.

fr.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basement

I would guess that these are the two main reasons in Canada anyway.

[catnthehat]

My dear old mother ) God rest her soul) used to call basements "damp traps"!:sHa_sarcasticlol:
She hated them with a pasion, and swore that when they built their next house , that she would get Dad to design a big ol' ranch style with a shed and big garage, main floor laundry, and NO basement!!

Our basement is completely finished except for a crawl space and utility room, the last one was as well except for the utility room .
Cat

[bessiedog]

I cannot for the life of me, fit a mattress in the dogs house.

So I get banished ... Down there.

[yoteblaster]

I reckon the shop you're refering to is heated. Therefore it doesn't freeze under the floor.

correct

[Taco]

If you didn't have basements where the hell would all the 30 yr old hackers live???

[elkamaholic]

.Tornadoes and basements. Ah Yes!

I remember my first experience with a basement. It was actually an old dirt floored cellar. Damp and disgusting as those are. I didn't know they were nasty at the time. It had the old double door access.

My sister and I were always warned about going near those doors, and we were forbidden to ever open them. Terrible things would happen if we ever did as dangerous things lurked on the other side.

Well as kids will be kids and we grew, so did our curiosity. Each day it seemed we went closer and closer to the doors. we would hear one of our parents coming and we would run away from the doors.

By the time I was 7 or 8 and my sister a year older, we had screwed up our courage enough to open the doors.

As I opened the door a crack and peered through, I couldn't believe my eyes. There was green grass, and trees, and blue sky and birds singing and the smell of fresh air. It was wonderful. :):sHa_shakeshout:

I tried to get my sister close enough to look out but her chain was too short and I couldn't get her collar off.:scared:

So tell your friend the basement is where we keep our children. :)

[kronk]

I live in a 2-story house with no basement... We find our selves storing almost nothing, as the only storage in the house is under the stairs. Lots of dump runs, but we never accumulate old crap. I like it now, but when we want to store things like Christmas stuff, and such, a basement would be nice.

[Scales]

As I opened the door a crack and peered through, I couldn't believe my eyes. There was green grass, and trees, and blue sky and birds singing and the smell of fresh air. It was wonderful. :):sHa_shakeshout:


One of Emo Philip's funnier bits!

[Redfrog]

That guy cracks me up/:sHa_shakeshout:

[Jimboy]

WHY THEY ASKED , BECAUSE IN THIS COUNTRY WE ARE CIVILIZED, DO THINGS RIGHT, AND DONT LIVE IN GRASS HUTS.
Basements are the foundation that makes the house stronger , keeps mice and ants at bay , cold storage , keeps house warmer , a place for the furnace and water heater out of living quarters , without a foundation your living in a trailer.

[kronk]

WHY THEY ASKED , BECAUSE IN THIS COUNTRY WE ARE CIVILIZED, DO THINGS RIGHT, AND DONT LIVE IN GRASS HUTS.
Basements are the foundation that makes the house stronger , keeps mice and ants at bay , cold storage , keeps house warmer , a place for the furnace and water heater out of living quarters , without a foundation your living in a trailer.

or a 1554 sq. ft. bi-level...you mad about something??

[alittlej]

and what is wrong with a trailer..... my is warm and the wheels are removed...and no car found in the tall grass last fall :sHa_shakeshout:

[winged1]

I think it has to do with the old days when everyone had a root seller for storing food for the winter/summer, warm in the winter, cool in summer, dark for veggies, canning etc. Then it became a tradition and that is just how we do today.

This is my thinking. If you look at home construction history on the prairies, you'll see quite clearly how the once distinct root cellar moved from outside to inside the home, then expanded along with family size. Adjoining central gravity heat redeveloped the space with cinder block shoring. More modern trenching techniques provided for vertical walls which began taking the load of the building. Sophistication of that lead to footings, foundations, and full load capacity.

I remember when I was a kid in Saskatoon, that the homes of the grandparents' generation where all dug outs, and it was the parents generation where fully poured basements became the norm.

[pesky672]

Gives us somewhere to put the furnace and hot water heater

[densa44]

The second reason, still relates to frost. If the building is "slab on grade" there will be a pool of mud around the house where the ground doesn't freeze because of the heat leaking out of the building.

In building senior's housing we don'r want stairs, anywhere, and this has to be addressed all the time.

[catnthehat]

The second reason, still relates to frost. If the building is "slab on grade" there will be a pool of mud around the house where the ground doesn't freeze because of the heat leaking out of the building.

In building senior's housing we don'r want stairs, anywhere, and this has to be addressed all the time.

With proper insulation water shouldn't pool however.

I know that without it, around a basement the ground is very soft even in the winter, but with good insulation it's frozen right up to the concrete.
I've done many houses on a small grade beam, but don't remember doing any slab on grade.
Cat

[r2d246]

to deep freeze mother in laws when they want to stay over?

[Snowdog]

With proper insulation water shouldn't pool however.

I know that without it, around a basement the ground is very soft even in the winter, but with good insulation it's frozen right up to the concrete.
I've done many houses on a small grade beam, but don't remember doing any slab on grade.
Cat

I pretty sure the frost wall/piling/4'foundation is only required for residential dwelling/human occupation. Shops/garages/weigh scales???? are a different classification. I believe Strathcona county allow houses on "approved engineered slab on grade" but i have never seen one. bi-level/splits still have the 4' below grade, just have 4' of basment above too. House im building right now is 3400sqft walk out ICF to the rafters, still needs 4' frost wall below the floor on the walkout side.

[gmcmax05]

WHY THEY ASKED , BECAUSE IN THIS COUNTRY WE ARE CIVILIZED, DO THINGS RIGHT, AND DONT LIVE IN GRASS HUTS.
Basements are the foundation that makes the house stronger , keeps mice and ants at bay , cold storage , keeps house warmer , a place for the furnace and water heater out of living quarters , without a foundation your living in a trailer.

WOW:scared0018: Stick to rescuing dogs, cause you know nothing about housing:snapoutofit:

[Redfrog]

WHY THEY ASKED , BECAUSE IN THIS COUNTRY WE ARE CIVILIZED, DO THINGS RIGHT, AND DONT LIVE IN GRASS HUTS.
Basements are the foundation that makes the house stronger , keeps mice and ants at bay , cold storage , keeps house warmer , a place for the furnace and water heater out of living quarters , without a foundation your living in a trailer.

Grass huts??? Really??