I have this layout and I agree with the PP that the windows in the basement family room are worth it. However, I don't think it's ideal, so I do plan to someday build an elevated screened porch or sunroom off the kitchen (on the back of the house), with stairs down to the yard, and with a deck landing just outside the sunroom where I can put the grill so it's close to the kitchen. Also plan to use the covered area under the sun room to store the woodpile and some yard tools.

Anonymous wrote:I'm wondering what it's like to live in a house that only has access to the backyard by going down into the finished lower level and out the back. This seems to arise when people do extensions on the back and don't recreate a deck or stairs or anything.

Is it completely inconvenient? I love our current deck and being able to pop in and out of the house and yard easily. Just wondering what others' experiences of this are. Would you buy a house like this?

Yes. I had a house like this. It sucked until we put a deck off the second floor that gave access to the back yard from the main living floor.

I mean, it really sucked.

My son was out in the yard all the time and we only had access through the basement. We lived there from the time he was born until he was 8 years old. For me, the fact that my basement had huge windows and plenty of natural light made up for any perceived inconvenience. It was a small house and the walk-out basement essentially gave me another 1000 sq. feet of really usable space.

Is it a pain if you have small kids who like to play in the backyard?

Our house has no access from the basement.

The access is out the kitchen which runs along the back of the house via steps.

The way the remodel by previous owners was done was a bathroom and then a separate laundry/utility room along the back basement wall. There is a bedroom and rec room too.

I always felt safer this way. I like there is no sliding door or way for kids to get out or somebody to really break in from down there. The windows are fairly small--lots of them but not really room for a person to get in.

i would hate it, myself. i would think that people who buy these houses are people who don't mind it. (so, most of their comments would be that it's not a big deal.)

We were looking to buy a house a year ago and high on our list was direct access to the yard/deck from the main floor. We like to "live outdoors" -- don't mind the hot weather -- and a extra set of stairs would have made that much harder. Especially with a toddler.

Not sure if it would have been a deal-breaker, but it was high on our wish list. For what it's worth.

Had it in a home that I lived in for 10+ years. Not a problem for me (pain for grilling -- but that's no big deal). We had an amazing yard, and used it all the time. Would do it again in a heartbeat.

We rented a house that was built into a hill so the 2nd story was ground level off the back. I found it super annoying and we rarely went out in the back yard. There was a small brick patio off the front corner of the house and that's where we had the grill. I don't think we would ever grill if we had to cart everything upstairs or around the side of the house. Now we have a house with a walkout basement but a 2nd story deck with stairs to the yard. We're on the deck all the time. Love being up in the trees and find we have less bugs than being at ground level.

Its OK, I agree with a pp its a bit of a pain for grilling and eating outside, but we're built into a hill, so there wouldn't be access any other way anyway. We also have a large screened porch of the lower level, and I wish we had decided to put that off the kitchen instead because for meals it would have been a lot easier than carting all the food and dishes downstairs. It would have involved taking out the exterior wall though in the kitchen though and DH didn't want that.

Fine. We have only basement backyard access. A bit of a pain for eating and grilling but not a deal breaker

I'm wondering what it's like to live in a house that only has access to the backyard by going down into the finished lower level and out the back. This seems to arise when people do extensions on the back and don't recreate a deck or stairs or anything.

Is it completely inconvenient? I love our current deck and being able to pop in and out of the house and yard easily. Just wondering what others' experiences of this are. Would you buy a house like this?