Basements and attics are great additions to a house as these provide extra rooms for storage. Here are some points for consideration when you're planning to build one or both of these spaces.

1. Basements and Attics
One of the things to be decided early in the planning process is whether to build
with a basement or without it.
Photo owned by Jgrwatson
Many people find a basement a necessary part of a house while others think it
does them practically no good. It is largely a matter of what a person is
accustomed to. It is true that the volume of space added to a house by a
basement is large, and the cost is small, but is the space usable and desirable, or
is it largely waste?
What will it be used for? Heating plant? These are now reduced in size so they will
fit easily into a space 3' x 4' or even less, where gas is the fuel; the heating plant
may even be placed in the attic. Some of these new weathertron types of heating
and cooling systems function better when placed on a platform at the rear
somewhere.
Perhaps the basement is desired as a storage space. Of course, everything has to
be carried down into the basement, and up again. And do you need that much
storage space, or will it become just a junk pile before long? If you have plenty
of room, why not store the extra empty boxes down there and broken pieces of

2. furniture and equipment, and, oh yes, old magazines and newspapers? Why
accumulate so much worthless stuff? Why not give it to the "Good Will" or the "Boy
Scouts," or somebody and get rid of it? It is a human trait to keep many things
that we might need sometime even though we practically never use them. Even if
we need something, we can't find it under the layers of other accumulations of
time and living.
Pretty soon the basement is half full of worthless and broken junk, and the things
you want you can't find anyway.
Perhaps the basement is wanted for a rumpus room, or game room, or den, or
something of that kind. Then be sure to make the ceiling at least 8' high.
It is easy to make a dry basement in well-drained soil or on high ground where a
drain tile can be run around the outside of the basement, but in low, wet
ground beware of a basement.
Bedrooms or living space can seldom be arranged satisfactorily in a basement. If you
are on a side hill where one side of the basement is almost entirely above ground
so you can get full-sized windows and perhaps a door, then it is worth considering,
as it won't seem like a basement anyway.
Many builders feel that the money saved by not putting in a basement will provide,
not as much, but enough, and better storage space on the main floor level.
Remember you save the space required for a stairway, the expense of building it,
and possibly more important, the leg-weary motion of making "umpteen" trips a
day down and up the stairs.
If your lot is too small, then you will need to consider both a basement and a
second story as well.
Should you build one or two stories? That again depends largely on your experience

3. and background and the custom of the locality where you live. This question must
be settled before you begin to plan your house, as it will have a profound effect on
your house plan.
First, is your lot large enough to get the entire house you want on one floor
and still leave room enough for the outdoor activities you contemplate? Do you
really want or need an upstairs? Many people like to sleep upstairs, because it gives
them a greater feeling of security. If you have always slept upstairs, you feel more
exposed on the main floor. By putting high windows in the bedroom you can partly
protect yourself from this exposed feeling on the main floor.
Since for older people stairs are a formidable situation, they are best avoided. Steps
get higher and steeper as one grows older. First you take three at a time. Then the
doctor advises that they be taken not more than two at a time. Then a person
loses the desire to take them more than one at a time, and finally even that
seems too much.
Most new subdivisions in the West are being built on the one-story plan. Much
depends on local conditions and customs. In hot dry sections, where it would
seem that basements would be ideal, they are seldom used, while in wet, damp
sections, where basements may be a problem, they are used extensively.
There may be several conditions that determine whether a basement is desirable or
not. Is the water in the ground liable to be a problem? Investigate the site by
digging down to see how far it is to water during the wet season; note the natural
drainage of the site. What is the nature of the soil? Is the excavation going to be
difficult because of rock?
If the soil is not too difficult to excavate and water is not a problem, and you
want a basement, why not have one?

4. Do not attempt to build a basement that extends down into the ground below the
water table, that is, the permanent water level in the ground. Better keep a foot or
two above it. Although it is possible to keep water out of a basement that extends
down into it, the average home owner will find it very expensive to make the
basement waterproof, as it consists essentially of building one basement,
waterproofing it thoroughly with a membrane waterproofing, and then building a
second basement inside the first one.
Then you would have to put in a sump pump if you want drainage from your
basement.
If many difficulties seem to be in the way of a basement, it would be a good idea to
study the possibility of providing the necessary space on the ground level; even
if it is not as large as the basement, it could be better organized, and you would
save building the stairway.
This is not to say that you do not need the storeroom, because I firmly believe that
every house needs a storeroom, complete with shelves, hooks, and every
convenience to store and classify all materials and possessions; 12' x 20' in size, the
size of a garage, ought to be large enough for most families, if they carefully
scrutinize the things they store to make sure they are worth storing and get rid of
the things not worth keeping.
It is easier to live in a house on one floor; you don't have stairs to climb, and to
clean, you don't have to run up and down stairs 20 times a day on little errands,
call up the stairs to check on the children, or worse still to try to call downstairs to
find out what is going on, and to run to answer the doorbell.
Houses of one story are easier to build. The old argument that the same
foundation and roof will serve for two floors is partly true, but you have to make
the joists that support the second floor much larger to span the large first floor

5. rooms, and the children growing by "leaps and bounds" upstairs are more liable to
crack the ceiling plaster below.
Photo owned by David G. De Vries
The stairway steals considerable space from both floors, and this must be subtracted
from any benefits the two-story plan provides. A stairway is not the safest place in
the house, especially if toys or boxes are left on the steps. Of course, the bride
cannot make as grand an entrance in a one-story house as she can when coming
down a winding staircase complete with walnut railing.
There is no purpose in taking up the area of a stairway if the upstairs consists of
only one or two small rooms, as these could be provided more cheaply on the main
floor.
The average builder will find his problems simplified, if he decides to build with
neither upstairs nor downstairs. Just build on the main-floor level garages and
storage space are easy and cheap to build. The rooms in the house will be
easier to get to and to use, and much easier to build if they are all on one
floor. Stairways take a lot of work and considerable skill and expensive material
to make them satisfactory. Your planning on both floors must take into account
access to the stairs. To get to them and to get away from them is often the difficult

6. thing about planning.
Basements and attics are great additions to a house because they can provide
extra rooms for storage. On the other hand, they can be the door to potential
burglary especially when left unmonitored. To avoid this, you must keep them
well-lighted and clean all the time. This will keep from burglars from suspecting
that your attics and basements are ignored areas in your residence and perfect
venues for a crime.
Drop by our website to learn more about the different security options for these
parts of the house.