Pool nightmare

[PeterD]

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1. Most in Florida!

1. Steve, this house is in Florida, where NO houses have basements. Crawlspaces are not favored either for many reasons.

[PeterD]

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Only for you, which makes it less common than one might expect. Many, many places don't build basements, and there are good reasons to not do so. As well, there are few advantages and many disadvantages to basements in many places, including increased costs over a simple slab.

I have to ask WHY? They are not necessary in that location...

[PeterD]

That won't fly, the seller's disclosure would make that guy the one holding the 'bag' for the problem! IOW he now knows, so he must disclose it. The prior owner likely didn't know and therefore can't be held liable in that case.

[Kurt Ullman]

But I am thinking if you don't and she is found, the disclosure is going to be least of your worries.

[aemeijers]

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There is always a need for a basement. Supply lines and ducts in slabs or crawls SUCK, as does HVAC and water lines in attic spaces.

Down in western Louisiana, where I spend a couple weeks a year and own property, current fad is to build concrete basement, build house above it, then build up the lot to create a house on a hill. Only rich folks can afford that extreme, of course, but it works- flood protection, and nice cool breezes on the veranda.

[Vic Smith]

Any place I've been to down there near the Atlantic or Gulf the ground is sand and shells right under the grass. My dad lives a bit west of Ocala, about 40 miles from the Gulf, and there's mild hills there. Ground is still sandy with shells. Somebody mentioned Phoenix not having basements too. Probably a lot of solid rock. Basements are probably more cost-effective when you can dig them out with a back hoe. If you have to blast, maybe it's best to not have basements, and spread out and up instead.

--Vic.

[EXT]

That would be Love Canal in Niagara Falls, NY.

[Vic Smith]

I don't have any, but always browse similar - they're better now - postcard racks while my wife looks for stupid souvenirs for the kids. Florida postcards beat Jackalope postcards every which way but loose.

--Vic

[Kurt Ullman]

Overall, from 1979 to 1996, Love Canal residents got cancer at about the same rate as people of similar age and sex in both Niagara County and in upstate New York. These comparisons are based on the actual number of cancers among the Love Canal residents (304 cancers) compared to the number of cancers expected if they had the same cancer rates as Niagara County (332) or upstate New York (325).

2005 study showed Love Canal residents died at the same overall rate as other New Yorkers. Love Canal residents were diagnosed with slightly less cancers than other New Yorkers, with some cancer sites being higher and some lower. For example, bladder, kidney and lung cancers were reported more often for Love Canal residents than others in New York. More girls than boys were born to Love Canal women. In the general population, typically more boys are born than girls. Women with childhood exposures were more likely to have girl babies than women who did not have childhood exposures. The reproductive message was somewhat mixed. Low birth weight, prematurity and small for gestational age occurred less often to Canal mothers than to upstate NY or Niagara County women. Mothers that lived near the Canal during their pregnancy were more likely to have a premature or small baby than mothers who had moved off the Canal prior to their pregnancies.

[Vic Smith]

I never paid any attention to the mechanical systems when I've been in a slab house. I've read stories of tearing up the slab because of leaking water supply. Seems having the water supply come through a wall should take care of that. A sewer line going bad is bad news even with a basement. I was surprised to see they put HVAC and water lines in attics in some parts of the country. All the slab houses I've been in have a utility room for HVAC. HVAC ducting in the attic shouldn't be a problem.

Best way to do it, as long as you have enough land to get a reasonable slope up to the house. A woman I worked with was having leg problems before she retired. Her husband was too. She told me if I bought another house, just get the biggest ranch you can afford. No stairs anywhere. Though I've always loved my basements, there's some merit to that.

--Vic

[HeyBub]

Florida has several things to commend it, not the least of which is no state income tax. VERY many of our troops who will be deployed overseas for a year change their state of residence to Florida (or Texas) for this very reason.

[Don Klipstein]

I am under the impression that most houses in Wildwood, NJ do not have basements.

[jamesgangnc]

With the equipment thye have these days they very seldom tear up a slab because of a leak. My inlaws had a slab house in NM. Had a pipe leak. The plumber had a detector and they cut a hole about 8" by 8", fixed the pipe, filled with concrete, and put th eflooring back down. Done in a day.

[Randy333]

I think that goes for any location near the shore. All of Florida is near the shore! Been to the Jersey shore twice this spring so far, the whole state is sand. A few miles past the PA state line into jersey you just start seeing sand for ground.

Makes me want to be a heavy equipment operator in NJ. It would be like like playing in a giant sand box. Leave the rock drill and TNT at home, just put on the biggest hack'n bucket you got and start digging.

Remove 333 to reply. Randy

[willshak]

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A basement in Florida is known as an indoor swimming pool.

[dpb]

...

Perhaps (perhaps not). It's certainly nonsense to claim every locale should include one. Clearly you've not suffered through the issues in the areas that aren't well-suited and that would require well more than some minimal extra cost for intial consturction and high probability of problems down the road...

"Commonsense" is to make decision based on local conditions and other contributing factors such as budget constraints and/or occupational use as opposed to claiming one size fits all from a keyboard...

[willshak]

willshak wrote the following:

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BTW. The IBC says: Footnote "a" of Table 1805.4.2 refers to Section 1805.2 for footing depth, which specifies a minimum footing depth of 12 inches or the depth of the frost line, whichever is deeper. There are exceptions for Occupancy Category I buildings or buildings sited on solid bedrock.

There is no frost line set for Florida since the average frost depth is

6 inches or less.

[chaniarts]

not too much real rock. caliche instead. that requires blasting usually.

[krw]

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With no frost, why a deep foundation?

It's a *lot* more than a couple of thousand. An unfinished basement generally runs about 1/3 that of finished above-ground space. ...IF a basement is even possible.

[krw]

Not usually a huge deal. Sewer lines can often be repaired without even digging them up. Sure, it's not the piece of cake it is with full access to the pipes but it's not a big disaster, either.

With no frost, why not? My HVAC ducts for the first floor go between the floors and in the attic for the second floor (heat pump for each).

No utility room. The air handler for the first floor is in a hall "closet" and the second floor's is in the attic space, along with the water heater.

Yes, in KY they did that, where possible. The houses built into hills like that were about 50% more than the other houses in the same subdivision.

That's what my wife wanted. Our current house has a couple of bedrooms and bathrooms upstairs and I'm building my workshop over the garage (where a "bonus room" would be.

I really wish I had a basement but only one house (of perhaps 50) we looked at had a basement. They are quite rare here.