Anonymous wrote:op here sorry I guess i meant in ground basement where you can only exit by climbing up the interior stairs
thanks

Legally (and in terms of safety) , you need a secondary egress to have any bedrooms as there are fire safety concerns. Are there are windows that qualify? They have to be x inches or lower to the floor and be x wide - so that an adult and a child can crawl out of them in an emergency.

op here sorry I guess i meant in ground basement where you can only exit by climbing up the interior stairs
thanks

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having to go downstairs to go outside instead of just being able to walk outside from your main level.

Sorry, I misunderstood this as asking about a walk out basement, didn't realize there was a difference

Walk out basement usually is on a steeper lot, and you literally walk out the basement to your yard. Often these home have a deck off the main level and the front yard is higher than the backyard (or side yard, wherever the walk up is).

Walk UP basement means, literally, you walk up some stairs after you exit the basement. The stairs are dug into the ground, and your lot is often more level than the homes with the walk out basement.

There are plusses and minuses to both. I grew up in a walk out basement with a large deck, but our yard was too sloped to really enjoy it. Now we get water in our door (walk up) when it rains heavily, and the stairs are very slippery/mossy when wet. But our lot is pretty level which we enjoy more.

Anonymous wrote:Having to go downstairs to go outside instead of just being able to walk outside from your main level.

Sorry, I misunderstood this as asking about a walk out basement, didn't realize there was a difference

Anonymous wrote:op here so is an in ground basement better? I am looking at home where there is no exit from the basement level. thanks

I wouldn't want a basement without an exit. When we renovated we specifically had the basement dug out a bit to relocate the exit (the 1st floor addition went over the existing stairs). the main reason for us was that there is no way to get furniture or appliances in/out via the interior stairs -- they are narrow, steep, and have a 90-degree exit into the kitchen.

If you don't have a basement level exit, take a very realistic look at the interior stairs.

The drain can be an issue for us but we just keep an eye on it and clean out leaves etc. regularly.

Anonymous wrote:op here so is an in ground basement better? I am looking at home where there is no exit from the basement level. thanks

NP: Hi OP, I absolutely did not want a no-exit basement. I am freaked at the idea of getting stuck in the basement during a fire. I would never feel comfortable down there. The security aspect of a walk-out (or walk-up) is valid, but you just have to weigh the pros and cons. To me, I'd rather have a basement escape.

Teens sneaking in and out when you are asleep. Bringing booze or drugs in the back way.

op here so is an in ground basement better? I am looking at home where there is no exit from the basement level. thanks

Moldy steps because they don't get the sun and are sheltered from the win. Which is no big deal. It just means you have to powerwash them more often.

Other than that, they are a lot better than having a totally encased basement. They make a basement feel a lot less like a basement and also give you another entry into your house if you want to turn the basement into a rental or MIL suite. But that also means it's another drawback in terms of having another entry into the house from a security standpoint.

The drain gets clogged up really easily and then water comes pouring through the door. We just have an in-ground basement, no walkup or walkout. I don't miss it.

Our drain doesn't get clogged necessarily, but if it pours rain, sometimes it can't keep up and we get water in the door. Along with worms.

Also if there's no gate at the top of the stairs, it's a set of concrete stairs your toddler can fall down. We never ever use it, so I wish it wasn't there.

We have a walkup basement as well as a back door, so we don't have to go downstairs just to get outside.

The eaves on our house are deep, so we've never had trouble with the drain getting clogged--it doesn't even get wet, in our case. We rarely use the basement door to the outdoor stairs, but they're there for an emergency. They also prove handy for hauling furniture into the basement in our case, since the indoor stairs have a steep angle and low ceiling.

Having to go downstairs to go outside instead of just being able to walk outside from your main level.

The walking up part, but you do get a same level backyard when exiting from the rear of the house. There are tradeoffs. Some people complain about the drain getting clogged but we have never had that issue.

What an drawbacks of the walkup basement