What is a Yankee basement?

They call it a “Yankee basement” or, well, sometimes a “root cellar,” where basically you take the interior perimeter of the foundation wall, move in about 2½, 3 feet and then dig down there. So you leave this sort of berm of soil to support the foundation that's under the footing.

What are the three types of basements?

There are a lot of different materials that can be used for basement construction but categorically, there are 3 main types: poured concrete basement walls, masonry basement walls, and precast panel basements.

What are the different kinds of basements?

What do you call a basement that is half underground?

In architecture, a semi-basement is a floor of a building that is half below ground, rather than entirely such as a true basement or cellar.

Which is better crawl space or basement?

Additionally, basements have a higher clearance than crawl spaces, and are thus much better suited to be livable space in the home. Knowing the difference between crawl spaces vs. basements is helpful, but you may also be wondering about the purpose of each of these structural elements.

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What is the strongest foundation for a house?

Foundations are generally made of sturdy materials that can keep the home standing even during earthquakes and cyclones. As a result, they are often built of concrete, the strongest building material. Concrete foundations are either poured into place or placed in excavated holes.

What is a house without a basement called?

Slab homes are often built closer to the ground than homes with basements or crawl spaces, thus reducing the number of steps required to enter the home.

What is an English basement in a house?

Definition of English basement

: a high basement that is usually mainly above ground, is often adapted to living quarters or domestic offices, but does not contain the principal entrance of the house.

What is a lookout basement?

A daylight or lookout basement

These are also called lookout basements, Benach says. They generally have windows that come down to about your chest, and the space is the same height as a standard floor in the home. These basements are also regularly finished to provide extra living space.

What's a walkout basement?

Most simply defined, a walkout basement is exactly what it sounds like: a basement you can walk out of. Typically, these basement designs incorporate a wall with windows and a door that you can walk out of on the ground level.

What is a house with a basement called?

A bungalow is usually a small one floor house that can be expanded by adding a bedroom down in the basement or up in the attic, so it is more the name of a one story house with room to grow.

Is a basement better than a slab foundation?

When space is limited (with total footprint and height restrictions) a basement foundation may be the best option, but if space allows there is a strong case for avoiding basements altogether and choosing to build a slab-on-grade instead.

Are walkout basements safe in a tornado?

If you don't have a basement, the safest place to be is in a small, interior room, a closet bathroom or an interior hallway on the lowest floor of your house. It's also important to realize that not all basements are safe, especially walkout basements with sliding glass doors.

What's the difference between a basement and a cellar?

The one telltale difference is the level this space is on. A true basement is below grade and can be half a level above the street. A cellar, on the other hand, is below ground. A basement may have windows.

What is a small basement called?

Subbasement. A basement floor beneath a walk-out or daylight basement is called a subbasement. This type of structure sits completely underground and does not have windows or exterior doors. The subbasement connects to the rest of the house by way of a staircase.

Why is a basement called a basement?

basement (n.)

"lowest story of a building, wholly or partly underground," 1730, from base (v.) + -ment.

What is a sunshine basement?

Daylight basements are considered semi-basements. Semi-basements are ones that are partially below the ground rather than entirely. This means that semi-basements aren't fully above-grade nor fully below-grade either. And that's precisely what a daylight basement is.

Are walkout basements worth more?

Increased Home Value

A realtor will include the overall square footage of the house. Additionally, they will indicate the additional “liveable” space in the basement. Generally, a walkout basement is simply more desirable as it adds to the liveable space of your home.

What is a daylight basement vs walkout basement?

Daylight or Walkout Basement

A daylight basement offers one or more full-sized windows on its exterior walls. Walkout basements, however, often have these windows plus a door that opens to ground level outside.

What is a fancy name for basement?

In this page you can discover 33 synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic expressions, and related words for basement, like: cellar, vault, storage room, boiler room, , storeroom, wine-cellar, ground floor, attic, root-cellar and subterranean apartment.

What are basements called in England?

Amongst the estate agents and property professionals in the UK, the term 'cellar' is often used to describe residential projects while the term 'basement' is used to describe new build and commercial projects alike. A cellar is often a smaller space than a basement.

Why is it called the garden-level?

A garden-level apartment is considered to be generally situated between a basement and first floor, so that people standing up inside it would find their heads at or around street level. Found in brownstones and buildings across America, street-level homes have come in and out of vogue several times over the years.

Why don't they have basements in Texas?

According to Texas Monthly: In some parts of the state, the water table is too near the surface of the ground, making leaking and flooding an issue. Sometimes the bedrock is too close to the surface, making digging more difficult and costly. “Expansive” soils can make a basement unworkable.

Why California has no basements?

With no danger of frost in much of California, foundation footings don't have to be nearly that deep. As for getting extra storage space, it's generally cheaper to build at ground level, unless real-estate prices are extremely high where you want to build.

Why don't they have basements in Florida?

Damp soil is the major culprit in most cases of missing basements in the southern states. Most parts of Florida, Louisiana, and eastern Texas have swaths of wetland or swamps or significant coastlines. So, there's just too much water underground to make basement construction feasible.