Is a Finished Basement a Good Thing?
It was a different time, but when I was a kid, our unfinished basement served many purposes, which today's finished basements would only partially fulfill.
The house came with tiled floors and, yes, Dad did enclose, with Knotty Pine, the toilet which otherwise just sat in the open, but otherwise our basement was unfinished.
Of course, one part of the basement included the utilities, such as the furnace and the water heater. I have learned from being in the business, that if these items had been walled off, that if not properly ventilated, could cause a problem whereby carbon monoxide could be sucked back into the house through the flue pipe.
Another portion of the basement was for the washer and dryer and wash tub. As long as the floor was tiled, there was no real reason to finish this part of the basement, although a table (picnic table) was added which was good for folding clothes, but, which, also, turned out to be a good place to set up and do homework, which I understand many schools do not even assign anymore.
We did not always have a dryer, which meant that clothes were hung on a line to dry. This line was outside, however cold and damp days made it impractical to hang the clothes outside, so lines were strung across the basement. It would not make much sense to have the wet clothes dripping on a carpet, so the tiled floor was sufficient for this. There are still some people who prefer to hang dry their clothes. They use less electricity and their clothes last longer.
In another area of the basement, there was a work bench, which had a vice and a grinder bolted to it. This was a great place for storing tools and for doing small projects.
On those cold or damp days or when night time came early, the kids still needed to be entertained, which led to the basement once again. What could we do in an unfinished basement? Roller skate, ride bikes, bowl with our plastic bowling set, play hockey in our stockings, play jacks, and for the neighbor, play pool.
Around Christmas, and this was very much a Baltimore thing, there was the train garden. During most of the year, this was neatly stored in the corner taking up about a 5 foot by 5 foot section, but when it was opened for the season, it was expanded into a 10 by 10 platform for an amazing train display.
And, let's not forget Rover, or, in our case, Stomper. What a great place to play fetch without having to worry about ruining furniture, carpets, knick knacks or whatever.
We could have had the basement finished, but why? So we would have to worry about damaging the walls?
On the other hand, if you wish to watch television, play on the computer, or sit around talking with friends, then a nice cozy finished basement might be a better option.
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