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Retrograde

(10,494 posts)

19. Money

Reply to diabeticman (Original post)

Tue May 21, 2013, 01:52 AM

May 2013

My c. 1910 California house has a small basement - about 10'X10' - and my neighbors' slightly older houses have full but unfinished ones. But during the post-war building boom it was cheaper to just slap up houses on slabs.

Now that real estate prices have gone through the stratosphere in my city, we're seeing new construction with basements to get an extra-large house still within zoning limits.

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why do people/or locations like Oklahoma and general out west do not have basements? [View all] diabeticman May 2013 OP

I suspect it depends upon the geology of the region, tradition, the economics... NRaleighLiberal May 2013 #1

as others have pointed out, a lot of places there is limestone, or other rock. other areas, the niyad May 2013 #2

Oklahoma sits on an aquifer and has a high water table - basements flood! TheDebbieDee May 2013 #3

So we don't end up with out kids living in them and on Free Republic all the time! n/t brewens May 2013 #4

I'm trying to be serious. Western PA does get tornados from time to time. We are always diabeticman May 2013 #9

Frost. Or lack thereof. jeff47 May 2013 #5

thank you this is helpful for me to understand diabeticman May 2013 #10

No basements dem in texas May 2013 #6

Pacific Northwest has basements. grasswire May 2013 #7

many of which smell like mold and dry rot 0rganism May 2013 #16

The Weather Channel was wrong justcommenting May 2013 #20

Most houses like in Dallas/Houston are built on concrete slab foundations... Tx4obama May 2013 #8

Mostly slabs here, too GoCubsGo May 2013 #11

We have one. X_Digger May 2013 #12

No, because they're cheap to build. n/t Egalitarian Thug May 2013 #18

Why not at least a small storm shelter? Doesn't have to be a full TwilightGardener May 2013 #13

I live on the Texas Gulf Coast. Llewlladdwr May 2013 #14

Fatal tornados are extremely rare events. Average of 40 a year. n-t Logical May 2013 #15

Real estate developers and corrupt politicians. Egalitarian Thug May 2013 #17

Money Retrograde May 2013 #19