I currently live in a basement room. Actually, previous to my tenure here I lived upstairs in a normal room. However, circumstance was that I either move here or out. Since I needed a room for only four months I elected to move here.
Experiences? Well, in my first week here I came back after a weekend home and upon opening my laptop I found each and every key pooled with water from condensation. Yep. Bought a dehumidifier that day and haven’t had a problem since (the landlord is paying me back for that). (Laptop is fine. Good ole Delly.) Every so often the basement smells a bit musky, but that is just par for the course. I live here because I pay $190 a month and get cable, high-speed internet, and a 5 minute walk to school. Upstairs I paid $515 for those luxuries.
Oh, and as for the dirt, well you just have to clean a little more often. Upstairs I cleaned 4 times in 8 months, which was 4 times more than the other 5 guys I live with. Downstairs I clean fortnightly. And by clean I mean vacuum, dust, and hunt down the insect enemy (usually by means of the vacuum).
If the place is perfect for you, go for it. I can’t imagine living anywhere else but here. Right next to campus, everything I need within walking distance and for a great price. If you do move in, however, just be prepared for it to have it quirks - like all places do.
Before moving into our condo, I was in the top floor of a garden apartment building for six years. There were two efficiency apartments in the basement that was being used for storage for the eight other units. This building is situated in a low spot at the bottom of a large hill and these basement units flooded a couple times a year.
Check out the lay of the land. If it’s in a low spot, pass.
Humidity problems, things will rust and yellow. Hot summers will be cool. Winter can be like standing on a frozen lake. Spiders and bugs will be regular company, along with smells and cobwebs. If no cushioned padding, YOUR padding around the hard floor will have your feet, back and legs sore and feeling arthritic quickly. Like, a day or 2. Run the water, flush the toilet & listen. Check beneath sinks, sniff.
Mold, mildew, flooding. If not carpeted, your legs will suffer. If carpeted, you will smell mildew. Bugs were a constant problem & no one ever kept any of the posters they had taped up on the walls after the semester was over for fear of what was stuck to the tape behind them. :eek:
Most times when you turn on the light at 2AM, the roaches will scurry off and leave, but if you see a Big one and it stays and just spits at you? Turn off the light & you leave.
Was crime ever mentioned? Never have anything expensive looking anywhere near a window; thieves are lazy, jealous, & rarely carry ladders.
I lived in a basement apartment for a year. They are very common in DC and most students spend time in one at some point.
It wasn’t that bad. I saw a few extra bugs and it may have gotten a little musty at times, but nothing unlivable. I wouldn’t make one my forever home, but for a year as a student it’s fine.
Winter can be like standing on a frozen lake.
Spiders and bugs will be regular company, along with smells and cobwebs. If no cushioned padding, YOUR padding around the hard floor will have your feet, back and legs sore and feeling arthritic quickly. Like, a day or 2. Run the water, flush the toilet & listen. Check beneath sinks, sniff.