Do you have a basement?

[marlasmom]

We don't have one here in Florida and I really miss it. At the big house in NH the basement was small and had a dirt floor and was mostly used for storing skis. When we moved we had a full basement that was finished in part for a family room. THe other part was a laundry and storage. We also had a first floor family room so the basement room was really a party room for the kids. We have a shed in the backyard, but the garage is so full of luggage, garden equipment, Christmas stuff (lots and lots of Christmas stuff) that it is an effort to put the car in there. I would not buy a house up north that didn't have a basement.

 

[Kitty 34]

Nope.....wish we did during tornado season.

 

[Snow Dog Mom]

We are in the process of building a house with a basement right now. Hopefully they are breaking ground next week! It is going to be an unfinished one for right now. We might finish it off later.

Kim

 

[cheyita]

Yep, we have one that was just "finished" in April. We left one area unfinished for storage, but most of the basement is drywalled, carpeted, etc. One half is the girls' playroom. The other half is the parents' playroom - pool table and foosball. I thought this would be the answer to all my messiness problems relocating the toys down there, but they still keep filtering up through the house! Eh...it still has been a wonderful addition to the house.

 

[poohbear1029]

We have one....its where the BIG spiders live! Ugh!

It;s unfinished and we use it for storage. We have to go thru it everyday though...our garage is at basement level.

In the future I would love to have another house with a basement (most have them in the Northeast) and have the garage be at first floor level.

 

[chrissyk]

We had one in our MA house. It was great! We don't have on in the new FL house. That's fine too, because the FL house has a garage.

 

[catsrule]

Yes, we have one. Yes, it is finished. I dis there, for one thing. We also have a big rec room that I have had baby and bridal showers in. Also have games in the rec room.

 

[DD2Disney]

yes we have a basement but it isn't finished. It is a future project that we will have to work on. I would love to make a large family room down there. My washer and dryer & my 5 million piece (lol) christmas collection are down there now.

Tricia

 

[Pluto2003]

we had a basement. Up north we had our train table set up and work bench in the basement. Our Children spent hours with their friends playing down there and since I did not have to see it, their creations could stay up for weeks......

 

[monkeyboy]

Where else would I hide the bodies?

 

[Crankyshank]

We have a cellar.
That's where my washer & dryer is and DH's wood shop. We have a fridge, fish stove, and our old living room set down there. We can't legally finish it, but we're planning on partially finishing it eventually

 

[Pin Wizard]

Nope...I keep moving to areas where we are at or near 0 sea level! <a href='http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb008' target='_blank'><img src='http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/28/28_1_15.gif' alt='Children Playing' border=0></a>

 

[coliebird]

How I wish. Due to our high water tables, if we had a basement it would just flood. It would be nice though, I could make a playroom for my daughter rather than my dining room being the playroom.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

We rent in a three family home. We have a large unfinished basement with a very nice storage area that is just for us. I really like the idea of having a storage area in your home so you don't have to rent storage space elsewhere.

When we do buy a home, I'd like to have a basement that is at least safe enough for things to be stored, maybe even enough for a game room or something.

My parents though, have a totally finished basement and it gets flooded every time it rains heavily.

 

[Nickunited]

Basement - its dedicated to the Men of the House! Finished - Big Screen TV - Cable - Direct TV for NFL, Computer, Sports collectibles, includes my HUGE picture signed by all of the 1986 Mets! WAHOO!

"We've got the teamwork, to make the dreamwork"

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

I live in ours

 

[puffkin]

That is all we have right now! (We are building and only have the foundation poured). Unless you are in a high water table area, it is really hard to find houses without basements in the Northeast. We plan to eventually finish off part of the basement in the new house for a rec/play room.

 

[mikeymars]

Originally posted by puffkin
That is all we have right now! (We are building and only have the foundation poured). Unless you are in a high water table area, it is really hard to find houses without basements in the Northeast. We plan to eventually finish off part of the basement in the new house for a rec/play room.

We have one of those "high water table" northeastern basements. I'm in the process of finishing it, but it hasn't been easy:

- first had to drop serious change on putting in a full sub-footing interior french drain (basement is as dry as a bone now -- even after all the rain of recent hurricane residue - but sure wasn't prior to the drainwork).

- then had to deal with getting a building permit. Building codes here are very strict and tightly enforced, so getting that permit has been a royal hassle (localities here are very concerned about people putting illegal apartments in basements, so they do NOT make it easy).

We had to request a state variance (due to low ceiling height), which took four months and had to go through some bureau up in Albany, and will also have to dig out a new well on one side to install an extra egress window (fire codes), which adds about $3K to the project. Also have to add hard wired heat, smoke and C02 detectors. The state variance just came through, so final local permit is being issued and work should start in a few weeks. Finally!!!

All the effort and expense are worth it, though. As others here have pointed out, there's no substitute for a nice finished basement as a place to isolate teens in; we're going through all this to get that in place far in advance of need (kids are still young).

 

[MB MinnieGirl]

Nope. Basements in Myrtle Beach would be called flood zones

We had one in the house I grew up in. My dad converted it to our family room complete with fireplace and a separate playroom. I loved it.

 

[SEAlla]

Yes, we have a basement and yes, it is finished. We have a guest room down there for the in-laws and it is quite spacious with its own bathroom and walk in closet. Another part of the basement has a playroom for the girls and the main room has a wet bar, sofa, tv, etc. for us to relax in. We really enjoy the basement and would want one in any future home we would get.

Dotto! Funny...we live in No. VA too.

Only two differences though, what is your guest room is a TV room where the guys can visit my DH and go to watch football or movies I don't like or just hang out.

Second, we don't have kids yet but I do have a "play area" planned for when we do.

Susan