Man, I envy you guys with basements.

[SoCalSteve]

I really do. I find it tough to get enough alone time at the house to crank my gear as much as I'd like to. Can be a little frustrating to say the least.

[eberg15101]

attic?
garage that is empty enough?

I love my basement though... hehe;):JAM

[Blue Fin]

Basements are over rated...many are too damp and are also an excellent place to keep water.

[JohnnyK]

Basements are over rated...many are too damp and are also an excellent place to keep water.

:agree

[wstsidela]

I laugh at basements :rotflmao

[nezzjo]

I enjoy heading to my basement and cranking up the amp. Wife is very happy that I am not upstairs practicing.

Have a nice space down there for the laptop, recording gear, amps and other equipment. Nice and dried out. Just in case I do have a dehumidifier set to kick off in case humidity level go up. Basement stays nice and dry and warm even when it rains/snows for multiple days. Just in case have 2 sumps with backups. Guitars are stored upstairs in bedroom under bed so there is no chance of them drying out or getting too damp. There is nothing like having my own space to retreat to and play away.

[Trout]

Basements are not always a bonus.

Mine is unfinished and of course the heat/air ducting is exposed. It does 2 horrid things,

#1 Transmits the sound to every room in the house which of is actually fairly loud even on the second floor.

#2 While playing, if you slam a cord, you hear a metallic reverbish sound echo through the ducts. Nasty metallic yuck pooie!

Then there is the whole moisture thing, you must keep everything off of the cement floor, otherwise you risk mold or moisture damage.

[Archtone]

Basements are over rated...many are too damp and are also an excellent place to keep water.

Why would you live in a place with a basement like that??!?:huh

[DGDGBD]

I have an unfinished basement with a dirt floor. My amp room is on the 2nd floor and I am sure my neighbors hate me.

[Hangfire]

My basement is finished, waterproof, carpeted, and great to play in. Cooler in the summer, warmer in the winter, and did I mention the fireplace? I love the ability to crank it up whenever I want and never bother a soul... :rotflmao

If you have an unfinished basement I highly recommend you have it finished or finish it yourself. Great investment for your music and home!

[teleblaster]

Basements are over rated...many are too damp and are also an excellent place to keep water.
unless its a walk out basement like mine;)

[wstsidela]

"You're right. It is damp down here. Pull my guitar up"

http://www.impossiblefx.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/pit.jpg

[Jon Silberman]

I laugh at basements :rotflmao
He who laughs last, laughs best.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1600/682310/1133497/108322567.jpg

[Totally Bored]

Why would anyone buy a house that don't have a potential Basement / Man Cave ?

When we where looking in 1993 , that was my priority.

[Tony Foran]

He who laughs last, laughs best.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1600/682310/1133497/108322567.jpg

Nice setup, Jon!

[8mileshigh]

I have a love/hate relationship with my basement. First off, it gets VERY humid down there in the Summer. When we first moved in, the drainage lines around the foundation somehow got severed and the basement filled up with water. I lost all my pedals and my Bandmaster took a bath and promptly turned green with mold. Another thing I'm not crazy about is the hundreds of spiders down there, yuk !

On the positive side, the basement is great for playing guitar, excercising, watching TV and playing ping pong.

[SoCalSteve]

Why would anyone buy a house that don't have a potential Basement / Man Cave ?

When we where looking in 1993 , that was my priority.

Well, they're pretty much non-existent out here.

[Diablo]

Non existent here too. I don't think that I've ever seen a house with a basement other than on TV or the movies. I've lived in Fort Worth and Austin,Texas and Los Angeles, California. Never ran across one or heard mention of one.

[coldfingaz]

Basements are not always a bonus.

Mine is unfinished and of course the heat/air ducting is exposed. It does 2 horrid things,

#1 Transmits the sound to every room in the house which of is actually fairly loud even on the second floor.



This is exactly the same problem I ran into... to the point where playing in the basement is by far the worst area in the house as far as noise/isolation goes. I'm hoping for a room above the garage in my next house... a guy can always dream.

[CharAznable]

Bought a house this year. Prime requirement was a man cave/basement.
Got a nice, finished above-ground basement that's totally isolated. I can blast my amps in there and they'll be barely heard in the bedroom two floors up.

[jaydub69]

Basements are over rated...many are too damp and are also an excellent place to keep water.

Basements are not always a bonus.
Mine is unfinished and of course the heat/air ducting is exposed. It does 2 horrid things,
#1 Transmits the sound to every room in the house which of is actually fairly loud even on the second floor.
#2 While playing, if you slam a cord, you hear a metallic reverbish sound echo through the ducts. Nasty metallic yuck pooie!

Then there is the whole moisture thing, you must keep everything off of the cement floor, otherwise you risk mold or moisture damage.

Yep and I'm grateful every day for it!
http://i869.photobucket.com/albums/ab256/jaydub69/IMG_1627.jpg

PS It smells bad and my water heater is leaking.
PPS. I couldn't possibly play loud enough to bother anyone but myself.

[Totally Bored]

Well, they're pretty much non-existent out here.

Okay, my Bad.


Then I would have thought of something. A Man needs a Man Cave. The wifey poo was well aware that I needed a place to hide and get lost in.

A small shot of The Control Room. If I had a urinal in there I would never come out.

http://home.roadrunner.com/~theoutpatients/desktop%20%28528%20x%20396%29.jpg


The other side of that wall.

http://home.roadrunner.com/~theoutpatients/The%20Collection%20IF%20%28Small%29.jpg

Theres more BTW. I have a Bar, a Drumset and some keys in that room.

[Dr. Tweedbucket]

Basements are over rated...many are too damp and are also an excellent place to keep water.


Maybe some of them are in old houses.

I have my music room down there and it's great for loud cranked up jams with drums. I insulated all the walls to help contain the noise. :JAM

[Frankee]

SoCal basements are cool.....because they're in Socal. :D

They aren't non-existent.........they're just in older neighborhoods.

[2leod]

When we moved 7 years ago I was looking for a smaller place with a garage or barn, but this basement has served me well...

http://www.harboursounds.com/images/studio1.jpghttp://www.harboursounds.com/images/studio2.jpg

It's cut into a slope so the front of the house (the couch side) is at street level and with the walls inside of walls on the desk side and a sound lock with two exterior type doors, it's pretty quiet.

We ended up with more square footage too - go figure.

[zekmoe]

I managed to finish my basement, with double wall construction, and have a dedicated mixing room, with wires thru the walls for the vocal/isolation room (it's really a wider hallway to most, but it works for vocals and/or amp blasting), and a jam & recording room, which holds a full, large drum kit, my amps, bass amp, PA with moniters and room for 4 or 5 to move around comfortably. Wouldn't fit a 12 piece band and SPL might be too high for a metal quartet, but it's perfect for me. The other 3 rooms in the cellar are playrooms for the kids and utility/storage. Even when I built the house, I paid a bit extra for a taller poured concrete foundation, so that I can have 8ft ceilings down there. I live in NY, on the top of a hill of rocks, so there's no water leakage possible, plus I installed the central air ducts there for AC and Heat. I spent like a year planning it, and would probably have change a few minor things with hindsite. But for the amature musician in me, it's perfect.
Now, someone else here has this stand alone studio in the backyard that they posted construction pics a while back. THAT puts mine to shame.

[Hendrix99]

I love my basement. I have my guitar gear, desk/computer, books, and TV down there. The dehumidifier keeps it dry enough, even with the summer humidity. Put a pergo floor down for $1/sqft. Totally suits my needs. Dog loves hanging out down there, too. The best thing is that after finishing down here, it really cleared out the rest of the house. My wife no longer complains about my guitars or other stuff lying around. Best money and time I have invested in my house so far.

[puckhead]

yeah, i love my man cave too.
the sound holds very well, my bar is right outside.

I told the wife I didn't care what she did with the rest of the house
if she didn't bug me about the downstairs.

[amigo30]

Here in Atlanta, almost every house has a basement.

A lot of them are completely finished with a full-size home theater, a billiards room, a bar, a 2nd kitchen and a couple of guest bedrooms. Most of them have a walk-out door onto another patio in front of the pool. They add a lot of room to the homes around here.

[JMintzer]

Basements are great!

Here is my unfinished basement:

http://pic90.picturetrail.com:80/VOL2270/702387/1177246/86711405.jpg

And how it looks today:

http://pic90.picturetrail.com:80/VOL2270/702387/1177246/86713186.jpg

http://pic90.picturetrail.com:80/VOL2270/702387/1177246/339131616.jpg


http://pic90.picturetrail.com:80/VOL2270/702387/1177246/339131615.jpg

It's dry as a bone, well insulated, relatively sound proof and it even comes with Ron Thorn as my live-in guitar tech!


Jamie

[PUCKBOY99]

Put me in the "I'd LOVE a basement" camp.

Of course, they ARE non existent down here....you'd really have way too much water :D

I'm looking at buying a house right now & one that's high on the list had the garage enclosed.....PLENTY of room to get some drums in there, some soundproofing & crank it up :aok

[Bluedawg]

Not many basements here either .... we had a lead on a house here with a basement, but they pulled it off the market and we never had a chance to look at it.

I've heard of only a handful in the phoenix area ... they can be a good place to escape the heat, but they're rare there as well

Maybe because most of the builders here are from CA ... maybe because the ground is so hard it costs too much.

Had a great split level house with a finished basement in MD ... I miss it very much


:JAM

[DonW]

I can't imagine owning a home w/o a basement. Shop w/bench & tools. Laundry room, band rehearsal space. Too darn practical & fun to go without for me.

[TommyGuitar]

My basement just flooded. I came home and the power was out. The septic pump stopped working so the basement was flooded with septic or water, I don't know which. It doesn't stink though. It's drying out, the wet spots were lifted and there are fans underneath.

[jcmark611]

Aren't there cities that charge extra taxes if people finish their unfinished basements?

[WurstBurst]

#1 Transmits the sound to every room in the house which of is actually fairly loud even on the second floor.


I agree. When I was set up in the basement, my wife was constantly complaining about the volume. Now that I am on the main floor (behind a closed door), the volume levels aren't near as high for my wife, even though I am playing much closer to the living room.

[jaydub69]

My basement just flooded. I came home and the power was out. The septic pump stopped working so the basement was flooded with septic or water, I don't know which. It doesn't stink though. It's drying out, the wet spots were lifted and there are fans underneath.

Dude I am so sorry. Happened to me twice. My goal this week is to put in a sump pump. Absolutely wash everything with bleach at the slightest hint of mustiness.

Aren't there cities that charge extra taxes if people finish their unfinished basements?

I'm not sure about that. All I know is that a finished basement is counted as living space, thus expanding the square footage of the house. Hence, property value/taxes and insurance will rise. Definitely worth it for resale value. Typically, cost benefit is greater than say a patio deck.

-john

[FenderBigot]

Why would anyone buy a house that don't have a potential Basement / Man Cave ?


Because there AIN'T no basements in Florida man... I want to move where I can have a finished basement for MY needs!!!

[jcmark611]

So what areas of the US have the most basements?

[Don A]

Half of my basement is finished and has an acoustic tile ceiling. I get to play fairly loud.

My family can hear the difference when I play through an amp that I'm working on at my bench on the unfinished side!

My band practices at full volume in our drummer's finished basement. Our harp player/singer also has a finished basement that we jam in.

[johnrea_77]

two words : sump pump.

[Don A]

I have a dry basement- no sump pump needed!

[JMintzer]

Aren't there cities that charge extra taxes if people finish their unfinished basements?

Yes, it can effect your property taxes as it adds value to your home...


Jamie

[scottlr]

My basement is finished, waterproof, carpeted, and great to play in. Cooler in the summer, warmer in the winter, and did I mention the fireplace? I love the ability to crank it up whenever I want and never bother a soul... :rotflmao

If you have an unfinished basement I highly recommend you have it finished or finish it yourself. Great investment for your music and home!

unless its a walk out basement like mine;)

Yes, mine, too! I practically live down here.

"You're right. It is damp down here. Pull my guitar up"

http://www.impossiblefx.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/pit.jpg

:roll It puts the lotion on its skin.

[Polynitro]

basements kick all kinds of ass! Perfect for brewing beer. Give me a basement, a stoop, and an afghan and I'm good to go. :dude

[Archtone]

two words : sump pump.

In FLA, your sump would have to be powered by a bigblock.

[Amp360]

I build a lot of things like guitars and furniture, so my basement is where I keep my tools.