Comments on: From The Flickr Pool: A Well-Organized Basement Shop

By: Perry Jones

Perry Jones — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 22:51:58 +0000

In my part of the Southeast the water table is a big reason we don’t usually have basements. You’ll hit water around 3 feet down, and in some places I’ve hit water just 1 foot down.

By: Tim Wildeboer

Tim Wildeboer — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 19:24:01 +0000

In the North a basement is more about getting the foundation below the Frost line. Generally everything within 4′ of the surface is subject to freezing. Things like water pipes need to be deeper then 4′.
The South and West don’t get ground freezing to the same depth.

Although the basement does make a great place for a shop.

By: Sean O'Hara

Sean O'Hara — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 14:37:05 +0000

Well I know that here in our corner of Texas there’s bedrock about 3 to 6 feet down so people here just got used to not having basements. The expense to make one was way too high when you could just make more house on top of the dirt for less.

However out in New Jersey real estate is so expensive the best way to get more house is to build up or down. So as a result, a lot of homes have an awesome basement that is sometimes nicer than the house above it. I think you hit it on the head when you said regional/cultural expectations. That’s my two cents anyway.

By: Ray

Ray — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 14:17:33 +0000

Judging by the size of the beams and the ceiling height I would say that this is some sort of commercial building (If it is a basement I’d love he see the house!) Still a nice shop however!

The post brings to mind a question I’ve had for some time. Maybe the tool monger guys can provide a suitable answer. Why don’t homes “Out West” have basements as general rule?

As I write this I am sitting in the Pocono Mountains of PA (an area not blessed with deep well drained soil) laying out a subdivision of 200 homes each of which will have a basement, preferably walkout. This will required a fair amount of earthwork and some homes will have have of their basement walls half out of the ground but the buyers expect basments. So I suspect that the answer has more to do with cultural reasons (i.e. What the buyer/builder expects in a given region) than engineering or geology. Anyone have any thoughts.

By: Don

Don — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 21:48:21 +0000

That is great. Lots of headroom. In my basment shop I have to duck under ducts every now and then.

By: Steve Thompson

Steve Thompson — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 18:05:57 +0000

I want. I hate you.

Ok, just jealous. Although, here in Los Angeles, my driveway makes a pretty good shop most of the year. The garage is mostly for tool storage. Having everything on rolling stands sort of sucks tho.