Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most homes use the basement for something. A shed is very mildewy and not safe for personal storage. Stuff stored in the shed usually has a lot of insects as well.

And mice. Mice love sheds.

+1. Rented a house with a large detached shed in the backyard. Only thing we kept in there were yard tools and bikes...and I hated keeping the kids' bikes in there because of the insects and mice droppings. So gross.

Basement. Our house is tiny and I cannot imagine losing the storage. We are making a playroom and bathroom down there. We redid our ducts and got a new HVAC. We had limited heat down there. Our gas and electric bills have been cut in half by the new insulation and new system.

Anonymous wrote: You are really limiting your options if you don't want a basement at all. It is really nice to have for storage space and workshop space. (You don't think you want a workshop but once you become a happy homeowner, you'll really appreciate having a place you can use a saw and a hammer.)

I'm a female and I'm Team Husband all the way in this case. It's pretty dumb to limit your housing search to places without basements.

Absolutely you need a basement. Put the kids' stuff down there! Make it a teen hangout when they get older. Storage, too.

Is this house that you found without a basement significantly cheaper than other nearby homes with basements? Your resale will be a lot tougher without a basement, even if you don't like them.

The basement is our playroom (grownups and kids). The kids have a Foosball table, bars/ropes to climb and plenty of space to play soccer. For the grownups we use the space to work out and play pool. It is also our family movie place. It can be a fun place if you finish it nicely and make it what you want it to be.

There are houses in this area that don't have basements, but I prefer a basement for the extra space.

Just buy the one with basement, but you don't have to go down and use it, especially if the laundry is upstairs.

I wouldn't go looking for a house without a basement, but if k found one that I liked, I would buy it.

Convenient place to exile DH when he's being a jerk.

Houses without basements are usually cheaper builds.

Would never buy a house without a basement.

We have a walkout basement. It has plenty of light. The teenagers mostly hang out it and this keeps the rest of my house clean. We would never buy a house without a basement.

Anonymous wrote:I also think that basement would just rack up heating costs...

Are you OP? Mine doesn't.

You are really limiting your options if you don't want a basement at all. It is really nice to have for storage space and workshop space. (You don't think you want a workshop but once you become a happy homeowner, you'll really appreciate having a place you can use a saw and a hammer.)

Anonymous wrote:The only reason not to get a basement is if you live in an area where the water table is too high to have one. Northern Virginia does not have this problem.

Team husband.

Not a high water table but springs cause problems. Many houses do not have basements in these areas because those who built years ago understood springs cannot be stopped. Newer builders ignored the springs and tore down old houses without basements and built new houses with basements and multiple sump pumps which never stop running because they are trying to drain springs. In the winter we have problems on our street because the constant flow of water being discharged from new houses creates a wide band if ice along the gutters. The County is trying to come up with a solution and the owners of those houses are royally annoyed.