Text 7247, 82 rader
Skriven 2006-11-03 18:16:00 av JOAN MACDIARMID (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av JIM WELLER
Ärende: Home basements
======================
 Hi, Jim,

 JM> Northern US assumptions include a basement
 JM> for homes because you used to keep the
 JM> furnace there along with the winter's coal
 JM> delivery, and because the basement served
 JM> as a "root cellar" for the preservable
 JM> vegetables and home-canned goods. It isn't
 JM> so necessary now, but habit seems to demand
 JM> it.

 JW> There is another, more modern reason. Developed basements are a
 JW> cheaper way to get more space than building a second floor or a larger
 JW> house. Locally: foundation $25/sq ft, full basement $50 (just $25
 JW> more), developing a basement into rec room, bedrooms, extra bath
 JW> $25-$50 more. Total $50-$75. Main floor $150, second floor $125.

 I defer to your expertise! Yours is local, but
 your estimates might vary for the basements
 based on the geology. If you can just dig a hole
 that doesn't fill with water, it's probably
 cheap enough. If you have to blast through a
 few layers of rock, probably not. My (Northern)
 Mom wanted to build a house in north Alabama
 with a basement, but the contractors wouldn't
 do it on the lot we'd bought because of the rock
 formations, which endangered other properties if
 they had blasted out the rock. Too much
 liability. We ended up selling the lot, and
 bought an existing home.

 JM> I think it would be better to skip the
 JM> basement in soggy areas like mine, put the
 JM> gas heater at surface level like my Mom's in
 JM> Alabama, just off the garage, and eliminate
 JM> the need for sump pumps!

 JW> Agreed.

 JW> One thing I used to see back where I grew up was to build the basement
 JW> at ground level and lay out the septic tank and drainage field on top
 JW> of the ground then bring in enough fill to raise the lot.

 That seems a little silly. Mom sort of
 got a bit of basement in the house she
 bought, which was a "raised ranch" set
 into the side of a hill. The garage and
 furnace were at ground level on one side,
 but the rooms at the other side were 3/4
 underground as the hill rose. That's nice
 in the hot Alabama summers, as the semi-
 buried rooms were always cooler.

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05

      Title: Skillet Bread
 Categories: Breads
      Yield: 6 Servings

      6    Short strips of bacon
      2 c  All-purpose flour
    1/2 t  Baking soda
  2 1/2 t  Baking powder
      1 t  Salt
  1 1/2 c  Milk or buttermilk

    In the bottom of a medium skillet, put 6 short strips of bacon in
  the shape of a wagon wheel.
    Make a dough: Sift the dry ingredients together thoroughly. Stir in
  the milk. Spread the dough evenly over the bacon. Cover the skillet
  and cook slowly for 10 minutes. Pour off the excess grease, turn the
  bread over and cook for 10 more minutes.

  From the "Old Huntsville Book of Recipes" by Catharine Carney. Typed
  for you by Joan MacDiarmid.

MMMMM

 Joan MacDiarmid
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