 Basement
A basement is a great asset
to have in a home. It offers major storage room and an easily accessible
center for the systems that make the house work. The power service
panel is there along with your main heating and cooling equipment
and ductwork. Usually the hot water heater, clothes washer and dryer
are also there along with plumbing. The basement makes troubleshooting
and repair work much easier.
Basements can come unfinished, partially finished
or fully finished. When fully finished it should functionally
and visually be an integral part of the main living space.
Traditionally a finished basement has a family room, a bathroom,
a laundry room and usually a bedroom or "sleeping accommodations".
A good measure is if you can see yourself spending time there, to
relax, sleep or work without feeling uncomfortable. You should not
see cobwebs, insulation, concrete, structural timber, bare sheet
rock walls and so on. Ducts and main drain pipes are usually not
concealed but they should not be eye sores or obtrusive.
A full basement has the same footprint of the main floor. In another
words a fully finished full basement will double the square footage
of a home.
Basement entrances and stairs must have adequate
clearing. You should not feel like you are about to bonk your head
going down the stairs. If you can picture yourself carrying large
objects safely up or down the stairs, it is probably okay. The local
building code will have specification for stairs, its width, angle
of decent, head clearance, and so on.
A point to keep in mind is that many home ads will include the basement
in the total square footage irregardless of the condition. The
square footage of a home should apply to actual living space and
not potential ones.
The big worry for basements is moisture and water
coming in through the floor or walls through hydrostatic pressure,
a tremendous force that will drive water through unprotected concrete.
That can happen with inadequate water proofing on the outside buried
surfaces or insufficient drainage of the soil around the house.
Any hints of mold, mildew, dampness, musty odor or green algae on
the edges of window panes are bad signs. An experienced home inspector
should be able to tell if there are signs for concern.
If the home does not have a basement then there must be an adequate
crawl space and entrance as defined by the local building code.
There has to be access and room to perform repairs. In northern
locations like Spokane, the crawl space needs to be completely
enclosed to stop cold air and wind penetration. In the
winter it will help keep the plumbing from freezing and the floor
to stay at a reasonable temperature.
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