why do they have basements in N America and not here?

[brimfull]

I was discussing this with friend tonight.I think it has to do with colder countries needing the extra insulation,but I am talking out of my arse,

I'm sure mumsnet can come up with the real reason

so that manifestations of demonic powers have an appropriate place to hide, of course

nope,not good enough sorry.

The extra insulation of what?

lack of basement or basement?

Cos I am from a really cold country and every house has a basement.

And England is pretty cold in winter, so if basements are providing insulation we should really have it here too.

I want a basement. I want my own laundry room, I want six freezers (like my parents), I want a walk in cold storage, and a room for plain and simple junk.

well the basement would provide an insulating layer of warmth from the frozen ground iyswim.

I really envy my friends in Canada whose ;children have basements to entertain friend,a huge soace for crap,just all that extra storage.

Am sooooooo jealous!!!

Tornados . Seriously it's just how houses are built - modern ones over here in Colorado anyway. The older ones don't all have them for sure. And I'm sure it's not temperature related. In fact, they're great in the heat as they're always cool . You need Jabberwocky or someone like that to really answer this question. Mine is un-converted but brilliant for running around in and storing things.

Oh and for the record, my house in Scotland had a basement .

I am so with you GGIrl, I want a basement.

Funnily enough, where they really need basements for tornadoes, they are not traditional. Basements are fairly regional - northeast and midwest.

because a lot of houses in England seem to be made out of lego and cardboard.

most houses on the continent have basements too. it's obviously far too challenging for the average English builder though.

(can you tell I get really fucked off with the build quality discrepancies?)

...because 75% of American horror films rely on the basement to tip us over the edge into terror.

I would love one too - my house would be a vision of uncluttered joy and all the crap would be in the basement. I have friends in london who have one though - a massive one and it is absolutely stuffed to the gills - there must be a huge temptation to never chuck anything out because it can just go down there,

starry off topic what is it with parents and refrigeration units? DP's parents have 5, for two of them... one broke down recently so they replaced it - why...?

Geekgirl,

You obviously haven't lived in a relatively modern American house (eg something built within the last 40 years) - they shake!

ggirl - you really don't want a basement - they fill up with clutter (because I really can't be bothered to clear it out and am too scared of the spiders down there), they are damp, often flood (and cause flooding simply by being there), and last night, in my basement, I found a cockroach

oh kerrymum don't......

I hope that puts all of you off wanting a basement!

'Cos we're an island and the majority of houses are built in areas with a low watertable. Basements would get flooded in those areas.

a girl at work just built a house in england with one, it doubled the price of the house build, that's a good reason not to have one.