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Building a new home- basements
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My hubby and I are trying to decide on a lot for building. The one we found that we like has a slope towards the back/side, and we thought we could do a basement type floor plan. But, I am leary of basements due to moisture control, etc.
Do any of you have experience with building one or living with one. What do you think?
Thanks!
A basement is great if it’s done correctly and you would have the opportunity to build it correctly since you’re starting from scratch. I’m sure it would depend a great deal on the building lot though. We built a new basement when we lived in Iowa. We put in a poured foundation, we put in tiling around the foundation and put in a sump pump hole. We never even put a sump pump in the hole however since we never had one speck of moisture down there. We put in large egress windows, about 3′ x 4′ which really brightened it up. In the summer we ran a dehumidifier down there for humidity — I would consider that a ‘must’ for any basement. Typically a basement will double your living space and be much less expensive to build, so if it works on your lot I would definitely go for it.
We love our basement, we do the same as jeaninpa, we have a sump pump with a battery back up, run a dehumidifier in the summer, and our basement is bone dry. We have an egress window for escape and light, and part of our basement is finished, we spend a lot of time there in the summer to get away from the heat and humidity here, also tornado sheltering, which we get a lot of. So I love it and would not want to be without it – if you build it right and depending on what the moisture level is put in a sump pump with a backup, you will love it too. Linda
Yeah, but you live in Arizona! I’ve lived in houses in Kansas, Missouri and Iowa with basements, and every last one of them has leaked. Sometimes a LOT. Our current house floods regularly, from the sides, from the floors, through the egress window . . . ARGH. I think I’d rather have a tornado. OK, just kidding, but I don’t really know anyone among my friends and families who doesn’t have a damp basement. Newer houses are damp, older houses are usually WET. You could go waterskiing in mine at times.
We love our finished basement! And as mentioned, at least one egress window is nice for escape…we have our guest room down there. So much extra space for cheap:) We’ve always bought homes with unfinished basements and waited at least one rainy season before finishing to see if there are any issues. We also have a sump pump and back-up sump pump, whole-house humidifier…all helps, as said:) Gina
We live in IL near ST Louis in a house close to 30 years old and have a dry basement!
We put in carpeting several years ago and love our basement!We live in SW Illinois and we also have a dry basement but our house is only 6 years old, we do run a dehumidifier in the summer, but it is bone dry, and our sump pump rarely has any water in it. Hope it stays that way….Linda
We’ve live in IN and IL in 6 different homes and have never had issues. However, friends have. I think the back-up sump pump is very important, just to be safe:) Gina
When this house was built we specifically asked for a sump pump, back up and a radon mitigation system, so that we could have our hobby/craft/room down there and a comfy place for the frequent tornado warnings we have, so we could continue school. I guess it depends on area, but we have been very pleased.
We are in MN. We have a basement, finished, and it’s been perfect. We have a sump pump to keep the extra moisture out. The house I grew up in, my dad built in 1984, and it never has leaked. If it has a sump pump, I’ve never heard of it. 🙂 My grandparents’ house also does not have a sump pump and has never leaked. My brother’s house leaks a lot, but he and my stepdad just redid it a few weeks ago, and a week later we had a very heavy rainfall – no leaks!!! 🙂
Thanks ladies for the input. I’m personally like Bookworm on this issue and don’t want to take a chance on building something that could leak. But hubby really likes the idea, so I am trying to get comfortable with it. Most of you sound like it has been good overall, so I should not be too concerned as long as we find a good basement builder. :0
I lived in STL for a little while, and I do remember a lot of basements built around there. They probably have very good builders there for that kind of thing. Not many choices around my neck of the woods here however.
We are thinking ours could be a walk-out basement and lead out to a large deck area outside. Not sure if that would cause more problems or not though. Decisions, decisions… 🙂
My dad is a builder/remodeler contractor here in MN. He is great. I would trust him in a heartbeat. There was a builder here in my little town who was caught shortcutting basements, and most of them flooded. But he was caught, charged, etc. If you do your research, and get referrals, and check references, you should be fine.
Btw, here, you rarely find a house without a basement because of tornadoes. Where are you planning to build? Depending on your area, and what the vast majority of houses have, that may be more of a deciding factor. Your builder, or even just a search of new houses on realtor.com, could tell you that info.
Btw, there are many reasons a basement will leak. Commonly it’s due to the run-off. If the dirt or whatever slopes toward the house, you will get a flooded basement. If the drainspouts don’t have the long drainage part attached, the basement could leak. If the walls of the basement have cracks in them, it could leak. If you don’t have a sump pump and live in a clay-ey or sandy area, it may leak. There are lots more reasons, as well. In pretty much every single case, it is fixable. It may not be cheap, depending on the problem, but it can always be fixed. In my brother’s case, it was both a matter of where the sump pump drained (to a spot that flash floods) and the drainage around the house itself. My stepdad and my dad both helped get it all fixed up, so he was able to save a lot of money. So far, no leaks, but they’re waiting till spring to make sure they got it all. They would get like 6 in. of water in there! This was a case of a bad builder, not of the fact that it was a basement.
We put in carpeting several years ago and love our basement!
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