The origin of the term “English basement” dates back to at least the mid-19th century. Building codes in most cities use neither of the phrases, stating that any floor partly below grade-level is simply a “basement” and a floor more than 50% below grade-level is a “cellar”.

Amongst the estate agents and property professionals in the UK, the term ‘cellar’ is often used to describe residential projects while the term ‘basement’ is used to describe new build and commercial projects alike. A cellar is often a smaller space than a basement.

What Is an English Basement? An English basement is an apartment on the lowest level of a building. This type of apartment is partially below ground level and will have its own entrance, which is separate from the rest of the building.

In cold climates most homes have foundations that begin several feet below grade, meaning below ground. So since they have to dig that far below ground anyway, many people in cold climates decide to utilize that space and put in basement foundations.”

Originally Answered: Do all American houses have basements? NO! Basements are common in the Midwest and Northeast, and a few elsewhere. Many homes are built on a raised foundation giving them a crawl space under the house.

Not all US homes have basements (some areas are just not good enough for a basement because of drainage issues). However, for the most part, it’s taken for granted that they do. Here, you will only find basements in older homes and there are not too many of those around.

THE WEST. The Western part of the country (including the Midwest) is the area where basements are most popular. One region in particular – the West North Central States – is the heartland of basements. This region consists of the states west of the Mississippi and east of the Rockies.

When moving to the sunshine state, many may inquire about homes with basements. While you may still find a home or two with basements in the central or northern areas of Florida, most Florida homes do not have a basement.

When Texans think basements, they don’t often think they’ll find them in Texas. Unlike many northern regions of the United States, homes in the Lone Star State don’t typically have these underground-level floors.

“Essentially, the expansive and hard soils in the Valley do create challenges for basements to be easily built, and that can often make them expensive,” said Jacque Petroulakis, a spokesperson for PulteGroup. So basically, builders don’t want to spend the extra time and money.

In addition, fear of earthquakes was often cited as a reason for the dearth of basements in the Golden State. Building a basement to code upgrades your home to the safest level of protection for earthquakes, because you have a much stronger foundation for the whole house.

There are some commonly held explanations for the lack of basements in Central Texas. Some people say basements here are at a greater risk of flooding. Others say it’s just too difficult to dig through the limestone that makes up much of the bedrock in Central Texas.

If Peewee had known just a little bit about Texas real estate, he would have known that most homes in Texas don’t have basements. In other parts of the country, home builders must dig deep to make it below the frost line and since they are already down in the dirt, they may as well put in a basement.

The chief culprit of most missing basements in the South is damp soil. Even in drier climates, the clay composition in the soil can make basements impractical or even dangerous. While this kind of soil doesn’t have enough water in it to cause flooding, mold, or rot, it can play havoc with the basement walls.

A Texas Basement is floored attic space that is typically accessible via a hallway or closet on the second floor. In some homes, the Texas Basement is accessible via a separate stairways in the garage and the floored attic space is the space above the garage.

There are some older homes in the city with basements, but the vast majority of homes in San Antonio do not have basements.

In fact, in the state of Texas, the average cost per square foot when building a finished basement is around $30-$100 per square foot. You are likely to spend $30,000 to $100,000 to build a 1,000 square foot basement in Texas.

1. basements in many commercial buildings in Houston–they’re very common, in fact. 2. no basements in parts of the state that do not flood or have water table issues.

There are about 133 million housing units in the United States, not all of them occupied, according to the Census Bureau. About two-thirds of those are 1-unit buildings — standalone houses. About 42 percent of those standalone houses have basements, either full (32 percent of the total) or partial (9.8 percent).

The reason is simply geography and geology. As any gardener knows, our soil is loaded with clay, which is not great for gardening but is excellent for brickmaking. There is a large vein of clay that stretches across the United States from Central Texas, across Oklahoma and Arkansas, and up into Virginia and Maryland.

A sump pump is a pump that removes water from a damp or flooded area. Although most houses in Houston do not have sump pumps, there are some homes that do – and for good reason.

Hyde Park. Montrose fared well during Harvey overall. However, structures located in the northern part of the neighborhood along Buffalo Bayou (including the KHOU 11 news studio) experienced flooding. Lower parts of the neighborhood, especially Hyde Park in central Montrose, suffered no flood damage from the storm.

Short of moving to another city, you can take a number of steps to protect your home:

1. Tip 1: Grade soil away from your house.
2. Tip 2: Install a sump pump and maintain it.
3. Tip 3: Raise your house.
4. Tip 4: Dry floodproof your foundation.
5. Tip 5: Install flood vents.
6. Tip 6: Install and maintain a backflow valve.

The best solution to protect your home from a Houston flood is to elevate it. At a very minimum, the City of Houston requires homes to have a one-foot elevation above the 100-year floodplain.

During a flood: Protect

1. Shut off electrical, furnace, gas and water, and disconnect appliances if safe.
2. Move to higher ground.
3. Move valuables from the basement to upper floors.
4. Raise large appliances up on wood or cement blocks.
5. Stay calm and listen for evacuation, boil-water or other advisories from authorities.

Here are some methods of flood control to protect your home from rising water.

1. Raise your home on stilts or piers.
2. Install foundation vents or a sump pump.
3. Apply coatings and sealants.
4. Raise your electrical outlets and switches.
5. Install check valves on your pipes.
6. Grade your lawn away from the house.

7 Ways to Flood-Proof Your House

1. Evaluate your risk.
2. Buy flood insurance.
3. Elevate your boiler.
4. Install a sewage water backstop.
5. Change your landscaping.
6. Consider relocating.
7. Demand change.

Disadvantage of Flood Barriers Human intervention – flood barriers do not offer passive protection, and instead require a humans to deploy the system. This can lead to errors and requires people to present when a flood risk is imminent.

From rain gardens to absorbent pavement, urban communities are proving that nature’s toolkit can often provide the most innovative solutions.

1. Rainwater harvesting.
2. Permeable pavement.
3. Green roofs.
4. More trees.
5. Rain gardens.

Whether you’re a prepper by nature or not, you should always be prepared in the instance a flood should occur and threaten to damage your home. However, with a little bit of time and the proper materials, you can construct a successful flood wall that will keep your home safe from rising floodwaters.