# Does your house have a basement? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 27, 2021, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-house-have-a-basement/933902 "2021-02-27T16:21:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-house-have-a-basement/933902/61 "2021-03-02T13:00:45Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > A lot of it was no doubt good saleable stuff, but it would have taken more time and effort than I had. Last time I moved, I put a bunch of stuff out on the curb with a sign saying, “Free Stuff.” Every item I put out there got taken. It helped that I was on a corner that got a decent amount of traffic, though. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-house-have-a-basement/933902/62 "2021-03-02T13:18:23Z")
We just dropped 600sq’ of house and 600sq’ of basement and 1.75acres of yard. So I gave away a lot of lawn equipment. Sold my lawn tractor cheaply, Craig’s Listed and sold an Antique Pool Table, Pinball Machine, Piano & Lathe. I couldn’t give away my radial arm saw though, that came with me after all. > **basement storage & Goodwill stuff** > > So many trips to Goodwill with so much stuff. 300+ albums among them. > Now the new place still has a good size basement, so we have plenty of storage and have a bunch of my mother’s stuff down there up on pallets for my daughter. Also a secretary for my sister that she loves but doesn’t currently have room for. > > I have a smaller but well organized shop and a little overflow for lumber storage. The part of the basement with the washer & dryer I have a lot of heavy duty plastic storage racks. This is really helpful. > > Meanwhile I’m still getting rid of a little more stuff, now that we’re here. I dumped even more books shortly after moving in. They were packed up for almost 2 years and I finally _realized_ I don’t need to keep them. And then some miscellaneous stuff that when we were packing we wanted to keep but now realize we don’t need. Oh, and one large entertainment center that just didn’t fit where I thought it would and has no place in the house. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-house-have-a-basement/933902/63 "2021-03-02T13:33:25Z")
SE Michigan here, and my current house has a basement. My previous house had a basement, too, and only my first house was built on a slab, presumably below the frostline. It was late 1940’s post WW2 sub-1000 ft² house with galvanized pipes and 60 amp service. I had a house in Hermosillo, Mexico, that was built on a slab. All of my previous relatives in central Mexico that had houses were on slabs, too. The big family house had a weird vault for access to a cistern, though, and it was similar to a cellar. Curiously, my two houses in China both had basements, and both were fully finished. My current house has a hill in the backyard not all that far from the rear wall. I’ve considered excavating it to make a walk out, but I have yet to do all the research into seeing if it would be mostly cost neutral. Sometimes it seems easier to move, but honestly, I’m tired of moving. ---
**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:** [March 2, 2021, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-house-have-a-basement/933902/64 "2021-03-02T13:41:07Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I couldn’t give away my radial arm saw though, that came with me after all. You have to pay someone to take a Radial Arm Saw away. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-house-have-a-basement/933902/65 "2021-03-02T13:44:30Z")
I could cleverly disassemble it and throw it out a few pieces at a time. I did that to an awesome drafting board. Chunks of it went out in the garbage, the super heavy duty steel and aluminum went in a metal recycling run and a few small pieces stayed with me. Sadly, I think that is how the Radial Arm Saw will go at some point. ---
**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:** [March 2, 2021, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-house-have-a-basement/933902/66 "2021-03-02T13:52:38Z")
I have my Dad’s Radial Arm Saw, in a sense. The sense that it’s in my brother’s basement and I’m not driving down to PA to pick it up any time soon. If I ever do get it then it will get disassembled, but I’ll keep most of it for the scrap metal. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-house-have-a-basement/933902/67 "2021-03-02T17:29:49Z")
They are just not a thing in South Africa. I have never been in a house with one (I have been in houses with wine cellars, but not the same thing) ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-house-have-a-basement/933902/68 "2021-03-02T17:34:37Z")
Yes. Our basement has been refurbished (before we purchased the house) into a 1 BR apartment, so we became landlords for the first time in our lives (which, so far, has been a very positive experience). ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-house-have-a-basement/933902/69 "2021-03-02T19:00:30Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > > [@overlyverbose](#): > > > > We have a walk-out basement; > > What do you mean by this? Is it a split level home with living space below the ‘first floor’, or just that it’s built on a slope with some portion of an unfinished basement open at the lower end of the slope? It’s a basement with a regular door to the outside instead of bulkhead doors, and has some full length windows on the wall with the door. Mine also has a staircase to the kitchen. These basements can be finished or unfinished (mine is unfinished, sadly). However I don’t think many are less finished than a concrete floor and 4 concrete walls…dirt walls are found in a root cellar. I’m not sure why they have to be dug into a hill, but apparently they do. Here from the outside you can only see 2-3’ of the back wall above ground level, but the front wall is fully visible. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-house-have-a-basement/933902/70 "2021-03-02T20:50:58Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > > [@wolfpup](#): > > > > A lot of it was no doubt good saleable stuff, but it would have taken more time and effort than I had. > > Last time I moved, I put a bunch of stuff out on the curb with a sign saying, “Free Stuff.” Every item I put out there got taken. It helped that I was on a corner that got a decent amount of traffic, though. I did that, too! Mostly large items. And they did disappear quickly. But a whole densely packed dumpster was still needed. And yet somehow I still have a basement full of stuff. I’m convinced that junk breeds – it’s the only explanation. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-house-have-a-basement/933902/71 "2021-03-02T21:50:20Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I did that, too! Mostly large items. And they did disappear quickly. It’s such a great way to get rid of stuff, glad I’m not the only one who does it! > [@wolfpup](#): > > And yet somehow I still have a basement full of stuff. I’m convinced that junk breeds – it’s the only explanation. Yeah, I’m having a similar problem now. Fortunately, my town taxes pay for the occasional large-item pickup, and my wife and I are taking advantage of it this year. > [@What\_Exit](#): > > I dumped even more books shortly after moving in. They were packed up for almost 2 years and I finally _realized_ I don’t need to keep them. You’ve inspired me! When I read this, I looked at the big bookcase across the room and thought, “there’s a bunch of books in there that I **know** I’ll never read again, never even open up to look at a particular passage again. They’re going.” And I already have a 2-foot high stack of books that had been in the bookcase, and will go to the library’s used book sale, once things get normal enough for them to have one. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2021, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-house-have-a-basement/933902/72 "2021-03-03T01:46:20Z")
Yes. My flat is part basement, part ground floor. I realise you excluded apartments, but this was originally built as a house, and it’s only divided into two. Many of the other dwellings on my street are still houses. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-house-have-a-basement/933902.md?page=3)