NationStates

I have seen quite a few random threads on this site, so why not a basement thread?

I was born in South Carolina and spent the first 7 years of my life there. Residential basements are a rarity in South Carolina, but the old house we lived in had a crawlspace. Although I wasn't allowed to go down there, I hid in there at times when me and my friends were playing hide and seek. It was pretty dark, wet, had a weird smell, and had lots of bugs. It is actually where I got my first spider bite. Later on, we moved to Florida where I stayed until I was 11. We lived in an apartment that did not have any basement. However, although residential basements are extremely rare in Florida, they do exist. I remember some of my friends from school would invite me over to their houses and two of them had basements. Both of those houses were old houses located in the same neighborhood close to mine. The basements in both cases were unfinished; meaning they were just wide open subterranean spaces without rooms, had a lot of exposed pipes and wiring. Aside from the water heater, furnace, washer and dryer, they were empty.

Later on, we moved to upstate New York which is where I still live today. At first we lived in a trailer park and then later in a run down apartment building. After I graduated high school, went to trade school, got a good job, and got enough money, I bought my first house 3 years ago and I still live in it. It has a basement and I find it to be an enhancing addition to the house. Unlike the two basements in Florida, it is a finished basement; meaning it has rooms, is conditioned, and most of the pipes and wiring are covered behind dry wall. From the outside, my house looks kind of small, but thanks to the basement it is really quite spacious. Aside from a mechanical room that houses the furnace and water heater and a laundry room, the basement also has a half bathroom, small bedroom, kitchenette, storage closet, and even a rec/second living room with a fireplace.

Basements are the norm here in New York, and my in experience the majority of them are finished (at least in my area) and used as extra living spaces while residential basements in the south are not only a rarity, but also treated as little more than an afterthought at best and an undesirable feature at worst. I know that basements are more expensive to build in the south because of the soil composition and high water table, but it can be done and it was apparently once the norm a long time ago.

So, what are your thoughts about basements? Do you think that they are a terrible place or do you find them to be a welcome addition to the house? Why?

Basements are just a basement there’s nothing great or bad about them. Just meh

I grew up in a old Victorian house. The basement was huge, dark dirty, had a coal shute and storage, and was a great place to play or hide out.

Never been in a basement, at least in a residential building. Weren't any places with basements in the small town in Utah where I'm from, and I've never known anyone down here in southeast New Mexico with a basement. A lot of public buildings here actually still have cold war bunkers underneath them, but not a lot of basements. Not sure if it's because of historical reasons, or because the ground can be hard to dig in here if you're not prepared to use heavy duty mining, drilling, boring, or fracking equipment. Which is too bad, because I've always dreamed of living in a house that was partially subterranean or, at the very least, had a huge finished basement.

Ankuran wrote:Never been in a basement, at least in a residential building. Weren't any places with basements in the small town in Utah where I'm from, and I've never known anyone down here in southeast New Mexico with a basement. A lot of public buildings here actually still have cold war bunkers underneath them, but not a lot of basements. Not sure if it's because of historical reasons, or because the ground can be hard to dig in here if you're not prepared to use heavy duty mining, drilling, boring, or fracking equipment. Which is too bad, because I've always dreamed of living in a house that was partially subterranean or, at the very least, had a huge finished basement.

They are definitely a nice touch in my opinion. Mine is almost like a second small house

Ethel mermania wrote:I grew up in a old Victorian house. The basement was huge, dark dirty, had a coal shute and storage, and was a great place to play or hide out.

That kinda sounds charming since it brings out the historical value of the house.

None of the places I've ever lived in or stayed at have a basement (UK: cellar). Not in the UK, Malaysia, New Zealand, and definitely not Hong Kong, Singapore or Japan. I can't recall ever having visited a basement in my entire life. I'm assuming underground levels in high-rise buildings aren't included?

When I think of a basement, it's one of several things:

The dark and creepy type from supernatural horror movies.

"Mom's basement" where a lazy, pretzel-eating, fat, middle-aged slob with an exposed stomach, almost always a white male, with no aim or purpose in life, sits behind a desktop computer, which is pretty much the only light source, trolling forums just like this one. He has poor social skills and is perpetually single, sexually frustrated, and unemployed. At worst, he may also be a creep, a pedophile, an incel and a possible mass shooter. This second type of basement is derived from the worst dregs of American pop culture as received by someone who's never been to the United States, and may be regarded by some as an anti-white, misandrist stereotype that feminists love to joke about. Eminem is where I first encountered the term "mom's basement".

Alternatively, the basement is identical, but instead of a fat slob, picture a teenage, amateur hacker who's been "redpilled" and seeks to escape the Matrix and make his way to Zion by outrunning agents and throwing himself off the rooftop of his high school. Or he's slightly older and he's The One. This is obviously derived from The Matrix (first movie) and The Animatrix.

Then we have the basement of serial rapists, killers and all-out psychopaths. This one is derived from a combination of sensational news reports originating in the United States and Europe (mainly the United States) as well as psychological horror films such as The Silence of the Lambs.

Finally, tavern basements filled with kegs conjuring up imagery of the southern European or Californian countryside with nothing but fields, gently rolling hills and the occasional trees in every direction, or possibly a seaside riviera, with its warm, sunny Mediterranean climate. Or World of Warcraft, particularly Lakeshire in Redridge Mountains. Never been to any of these places in person. I can only imagine.

All in all, slightly more negatives than positives for the lowly basement.

New Bremerton wrote:None of the places I've ever lived in or stayed at have a basement (UK: cellar). Not in the UK, Malaysia, New Zealand, and definitely not Hong Kong, Singapore or Japan. I can't recall ever having visited a basement in my entire life. I'm assuming underground levels in high-rise buildings aren't included?

When I think of a basement, it's one of several things:

The dark and creepy type from supernatural horror movies.

"Mom's basement" where a lazy, pretzel-eating, fat, middle-aged slob with an exposed stomach, almost always a white male, with no aim or purpose in life, sits behind a desktop computer, which is pretty much the only light source, trolling forums just like this one. He has poor social skills and is perpetually single, sexually frustrated, and unemployed. At worst, he may also be a creep, a pedophile, an incel and a possible mass shooter. This second type of basement is derived from the worst dregs of American pop culture as received by someone who's never been to the United States, and may be regarded by some as an anti-white, misandrist stereotype that feminists love to joke about. Eminem is where I first encountered the term "mom's basement".

Alternatively, the basement is identical, but instead of a fat slob, picture a teenage, amateur hacker who's been "redpilled" and seeks to escape the Matrix and make his way to Zion by outrunning agents and throwing himself off the rooftop of his high school. Or he's slightly older and he's The One. This is obviously derived from The Matrix (first movie) and The Animatrix.

Then we have the basement of serial rapists, killers and all-out psychopaths. This one is derived from a combination of sensational news reports originating in the United States and Europe (mainly the United States) as well as psychological horror films such as The Silence of the Lambs.

Finally, tavern basements filled with kegs conjuring up imagery of the southern European or Californian countryside with nothing but fields, gently rolling hills and the occasional trees in every direction, or possibly a seaside riviera, with its warm, sunny Mediterranean climate. Or World of Warcraft, particularly Lakeshire in Redridge Mountains. Never been to any of these places in person. I can only imagine.

All in all, slightly more negatives than positives for the lowly basement.

Easy to say if you have never had any personal experiences with a basement.

On that note, my fiancee is Japanese and her parent's house in Japan has a basement. It's unfinished and just used for storage, but it is a basement nonetheless.

Basements in the "lowcountry" (a local term for swamp) of south carolina are like saying "I bet you $5000 the yearly hurricane wont happen for 20 years...."

Basements are also the major natural habitat of a non-insignificant amount of NSG and 4chan users.

There are no basements to be had in Florida. The water table is too shallow.

Grew up in a house with a basement, which was finished off and added a bedroom, which was mine till I graduated HS and left. The rest of the basement held the washer and dryer, a large deep freezer and a large work area for our firearms, reloading, and model airplanes.
The next two houses I owned had basements. The first house the basement was unfinished, which I added a bedroom, a game room, bathroom and a second living room, the second house the basement was finished off with 3 bedrooms and a full bath along with a large living room.
The house I own now doesn't have a basement, which I miss.

My house has the most boring basement of all time. It's finished, but there's nothing unusual down there. My grandparents live in an old farmhouse, so unfinished basement, that's mostly used for storage and utilities.

Saiwania wrote:There are no basements to be had in Florida. The water table is too shallow.

So the two basements I saw there were illusions?

I wish I had a basement because FUCK tornadoes.

The first house I grew up in had a finished basement divided into two halves. One side was my father's office and a storage space. The other was a big playroom for me and my siblings. When we moved into a bigger house a few years ago, the basement became a lot more boring - an unfinished storage area and a finished area with TV/couches, accompanied by a kitchenette for the guest room. We don't bother going down there very often.

Red Roja wrote:

Saiwania wrote:There are no basements to be had in Florida. The water table is too shallow.

So the two basements I saw there were illusions?

You where somewhere in the Panhandle which doesn't count as Florida really or along the stateline. You can get a basement if you really want to waste the money on pumps or the water table isn't that high in a certain area but the idea of basements in Florida is odd at the best of times.

Heloin wrote:You where somewhere in the Panhandle which doesn't count as Florida really or along the stateline. You can get a basement if you really want to waste the money on pumps or the water table isn't that high in a certain area but the idea of basements in Florida is odd at the best of times.

The panhandle counts more as Florida than South Florida in my opinion. Given that the state leans Republican ever so slightly. But yes, more often than not a basement is impractical in Florida. Miami and lots of south Florida is fixing to go below sea level and will get flooded because of climate change. The same might be true where I live. The moral is to not be too close to the coast or to get out when you can.

Saiwania wrote:

Heloin wrote:You where somewhere in the Panhandle which doesn't count as Florida really or along the stateline. You can get a basement if you really want to waste the money on pumps or the water table isn't that high in a certain area but the idea of basements in Florida is odd at the best of times.

The panhandle counts more as Florida than South Florida in my opinion. Given that the state leans Republican ever so slightly. But yes, more often than not a basement is impractical in Florida. Miami and lots of south Florida is fixing to go below sea level and will get flooded because of climate change. The same might be true where I live. The moral is to not be too close to the coast or to get out when you can.

The Panhandle is South Alabama.

Heloin wrote:

Saiwania wrote:
The panhandle counts more as Florida than South Florida in my opinion. Given that the state leans Republican ever so slightly. But yes, more often than not a basement is impractical in Florida. Miami and lots of south Florida is fixing to go below sea level and will get flooded because of climate change. The same might be true where I live. The moral is to not be too close to the coast or to get out when you can.

The Panhandle is South Alabama.

South Georgia, really.

Farnhamia wrote:

Heloin wrote:The Panhandle is South Alabama.

South Georgia, really.

No, that's North Florida were I am. South Florida is North Cuba. The only bit of Florida that is Florida is probably Okeechobee and Tampa. None of which you can build basements in.

Ive never been in a basement, id say most houses over here in NI dont have them.

There are hardly any basements in residential homes in Arizona. It's just nonsensical, it's far too hot most of the year in 4/5 of the state, and up in the mountains the only threat is Pacific Snowstorms, not tornadoes.

I remember living back East, our basement was absolutely massive. The house itself was fairly modest and middle-class, but for whatever reason the basement was nearly half the square footage of the home.

Major-Tom wrote:There are hardly any basements in residential homes in Arizona. It's just nonsensical, it's far too hot most of the year in 4/5 of the state, and up in the mountains the only threat is Pacific Snowstorms, not tornadoes.

I remember living back East, our basement was absolutely massive. The house itself was fairly modest and middle-class, but for whatever reason the basement was nearly half the square footage of the home.

My basement is about half the square footage of the whole house, yeah. Doesn't count in real estate listings, though. We redid it ten years ago, though it had been "finished" years before that. It's a good space now, with a few design flaws but nothing that can't be lived with.

Red Roja wrote:

Saiwania wrote:There are no basements to be had in Florida. The water table is too shallow.

So the two basements I saw there were illusions?

Most of south florida is slab construction