> > -Basements actually exist and, even more startling, are quite commonplace.*
>
> > -eric "Brr" sleator
> > Sun 26 Nov A.D. 2000
>
> > *This, I believe, has to do with the building codes and the fact that Washington is not all that susceptible to earthquakes.
>
> Actually, a basement helps to lock heat into a house (since heat can escape through walls and windows much more easily than it can through the dirt in a basement). In the winter, this helps to save on heating costs.

Really? This is the first time I've ever heard the explanation "a basement saves on heating costs"!


>In Edmonton, I've never seen a house without a basement, even though we're in the middle of the prairies and we never get earthquakes.
>

I'm just winging it here, but I believe the reason why you need basements in northern climes is that you *need* part of the house's foundation to extend below the three-foot-deep frost line in the winter. If you *don't* do this, the freeze-thaw cycles of contraction and expansion will knock the house off its base. That would probably count as "bad." :-) Earthquakes have nothing to do with the picture, although basements do come in handy as shelter in the case of hurricanes or tornados.

I'm sure there are other very good reasons for putting in basements, if only because digging and laying a proper foundation is one of the most expensive aspects of a building's construction.

Wolfspirit