W
Watson A.Name - \Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\
Winfield Hill said:Jim Thompson wrote...
I never could understand why Western houses eschew basements.
A full basement is a VERY useful thing to have. Get double
or half-again the floor area of the house in one quick step.
Well, some areas of the coutnry have to have basements because of the
tornadoes. But here in So. Calif, we seldom have basements, I'm
guessing the reasons are:
Because the dwelling is on a sandy soil that has a shallow water table,
so the basement would be easily flooded.
Because most of the housing built after WW2 used a poured cement slab
for the floor.
Because in a bad earthquake, the rest of the house would fall into the
basement.
Because it's cheaper to build a second story out of wood than dig a hole
and pour concrete walls, needed for earthquake reasons. Also since it
doesn't get cold here, the insulation doesn't have to be that great, so
the second story is even cheaper.
Probably a combination of the above.
I think that this place has a cool basement.
http://www.earth-house.com/Homes_4_Sale/Atlas_E_Silo/atlas_e_silo.html