There has been some serious talk going around lately about whether or not we need basements for our houses. The number of them that have filled up with water over the last little while has been making people wonder if we need them at all.
I don’t spend a lot of time in my basement. We have the laundry down there, and a few power tools I like to play with occasionally, but it’s not finished. It could be. I’ve just never felt the need.
A lot of people have bedrooms, rec rooms, family rooms and many other types of room in their basements, and it certainly would be interesting to see how we compensate for this space, but I suppose, if you’re building new on a slab, it would be pretty easy to add a room or two at the time. But for those who decide they just need a man cave to spend Saturday evenings watching the hockey game after their house has already been built, it would reduce your options. Or at least make if more difficult.
I can see limits on where basements might be used. Maybe for those that build in low areas or near water would be better off with no basement. But if you’re on a hill with good drainage, maybe it should be allowed.
Basements weren’t always a thing. I’ve been in many houses that have crawl spaces or small dirt lined pits below them. I’ve known people who have gotten industrious enough to take those small dirt holes and turn them into full on basements, complete with pool tables, dart boards and big screen TV’s. But there are many basements that started as a root cellar of sorts.
We don’t tend to see many root cellars these days. Food storage has evolved a bit. So do we even need basements?
I wouldn’t want to give mine up. For one, I think other members of the family may object to a table saw in the living room. I can’t remember the last time I got more than just a little dampness in there, so it doesn’t seem to be much of an issue. But not everyone can say the same.
For new construction, maybe it is something to be looked at. Although I kind of like hanging out below ground.
