# A Poll and Thread About Basements **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 15, 2016, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-and-thread-about-basements/743271 "2016-01-15T20:35:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-and-thread-about-basements/743271/21 "2016-01-15T23:41:48Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I live in Dallas, and basements aren’t common at all. And FWIW, they’re not common in parts south either- I’ve never heard of one in Houston, Austin or San Antonio either. They don’t have one at the Alamo, either. ---
**Author:** ![stui\_magpie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stui_magpie/32/11010_2.png) [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-and-thread-about-basements/743271/22 "2016-01-15T23:48:11Z")
Melbourne, never seen a house with a basement. All new houses are pretty much built on a concrete slab laid on top of the ground. Older places are often on stumps, particularly where the block slopes. The house I grew up in was built in 1900 in rural NSW and had a cellar under the kitchen but that would have been more of a cool store in the days before refrigeration. ---
**Author:** ![vix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a88e4f/32.png) [@vix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vix)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2016, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-and-thread-about-basements/743271/23 "2016-01-16T00:16:37Z")
I live in south Florida: no basement. I grew up in RI and I am unaware of any houses there that don’t have basements. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2016, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-and-thread-about-basements/743271/24 "2016-01-16T00:21:48Z")
> [@vix](#): > > I live in south Florida: no basement. > > I grew up in RI and I am unaware of any houses there that don’t have basements. The houses along the shore and waterways don’t typically have basements. Where did you live here? And congratulations on your escape. ---
**Author:** ![vix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a88e4f/32.png) [@vix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vix)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2016, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-and-thread-about-basements/743271/25 "2016-01-16T00:28:19Z")
I wondered about shoreline homes. I have an aunt and uncle with a “beach house” in Narragansett, but I guess it’s far enough inland to have a basement. I grew up in North Providence, where my parents still live. I lived in Providence for nine years during and after college. I actually miss the northeast quite a bit. Are you still in RI? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2016, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-and-thread-about-basements/743271/26 "2016-01-16T00:44:05Z")
Yes, NY. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2016, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-and-thread-about-basements/743271/27 "2016-01-16T01:01:51Z")
Sunny San Diego, and most usually no. My grandmother’s house was built into a hillside, so there was a kind of semi-basement, where the (old!) oil-heater was, and the area was used for storage. But very few houses in this area have basements. Not many have attics, either. Crawlspaces above and below, but not real actual attics. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2016, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-and-thread-about-basements/743271/28 "2016-01-16T01:09:59Z")
30 years in Florida – no basements there. Now in Massachusetts – lots of basements. The creepy, dark, unfinished kind freak me the hell out. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2016, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-and-thread-about-basements/743271/29 "2016-01-16T01:16:47Z")
MA, and have one. In the 30+ years I lived in Texas I saw exactly one basement, and I found it fascinating. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2016, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-and-thread-about-basements/743271/30 "2016-01-16T01:29:30Z")
> **[Basements and Attics in North America](https://ask.metafilter.com/256754/Basements-and-Attics-in-North-America)** > > I've been wondering about this for a long time- how prevalent are basements and attics in houses in North America? It seems like I'm always hearing about people doing projects in their basements... In PA I have only known of one house without a basement. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2016, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-and-thread-about-basements/743271/31 "2016-01-16T01:42:23Z")
A lot of houses here in western Oregon have basements. My current house does not, but because it has 6 levels visitors assume that when they get to the lowest level they are in a basement, but it’s not. It opens to a deck and the woodsy hillside. The house I grew up in in Idaho had a basement, and the houses I owned in Seattle and Omaha both had basements. Our real estate agent in Omaha told us he didn’t think he could sell a house without a basement, so they must be almost universal there. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2016, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-and-thread-about-basements/743271/32 "2016-01-16T01:47:44Z")
In NJ most towns do, depending on the water table. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2016, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-and-thread-about-basements/743271/33 "2016-01-16T02:20:49Z")
> [@vix](#): > > Are you still in RI? Yes. In Cumberland. I came here 20 years ago. It’s an odd little state that suits my personality. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2016, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-and-thread-about-basements/743271/34 "2016-01-16T02:35:48Z")
Alabama and no basement; can’t think of a place down here that has them. Up in Ohio and Indiana it is custom. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2016, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-and-thread-about-basements/743271/35 "2016-01-16T03:15:39Z")
The reason for building a house with a basement is blatantly obvious; in cold climates it’s a given. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2016, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-and-thread-about-basements/743271/36 "2016-01-16T03:16:49Z")
No basements in Thailand. And I don’t think I ever saw any when I grew up in West Texas. ---
**Author:** ![Buttercup\_Smith](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buttercup_smith/32/473_2.png) [@Buttercup\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buttercup_Smith)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2016, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-and-thread-about-basements/743271/37 "2016-01-16T03:44:14Z")
Florida Keys at sea level. No basement. ---
**Author:** ![stui\_magpie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stui_magpie/32/11010_2.png) [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2016, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-and-thread-about-basements/743271/38 "2016-01-16T03:48:15Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > The reason for building a house with a basement is blatantly obvious; in cold climates it’s a given. I give up. Why?:o ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2016, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-and-thread-about-basements/743271/39 "2016-01-16T03:53:29Z")
> [@stui\_magpie](#): > > I give up. Why?:o You need to dig down below the frost line for the foundation. Once you do that the cost of a full basement isn’t much more. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2016, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-and-thread-about-basements/743271/40 "2016-01-16T03:53:58Z")
Virginia, and yes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-and-thread-about-basements/743271.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-and-thread-about-basements/743271.md?page=3)