Basements are great additions to a home and are often preferable to a normal above-ground room for a number of reasons: cool during summers, warm during winters, sound resistant, good for survival situations, etc. But before you hastily jump into your rear hoe or power shovel, you need to consider a few things. Basements can pose various safety and maintenance issues for the following reasons:

• Dangerous for earthquake-prone regions, for obvious reasons.
• It can flood or at least become a damp, unsightly, moldy part of your home that you never enter unless you have to, IF you have a high water table, and / or proper precautions are not taken.
• In warmer climates, basements will be colder than upper floors and therefore will have higher relative humidity. – Adding the moisture that enters through the basement walls and flooring on top gives you an overall humid and muggy environment, which is conducive to mold and rot. Are you okay with this? If not, do you have dehumidifiers and the like to combat these attacks?
• They are not legal as dwellings unless they have adequate ventilation, direct sunlight, and a direct exit to the outside. – As in basements with natural light.

These are concerns that arise “after the fact,” but need to be considered much earlier, which means they do not include those that arise before and during your basement excavation. If you have confirmed that you are not in an earthquake zone, your water table is not a threat, and you agree to the other “limitations” listed above, you can proceed to phase two:

• Could there be electrical and / or utility lines running under or through your basement?
• Do you know the dangers of subsidence during and after digging and how to prepare for it?
• Are you aware of the various ground forces that will act on your basement walls and floor and how to ensure that they will be safely resisted?

Ground forces during excavation and after basement construction, when it is time to backfill, are factors that you cannot afford to ignore. Bracing can be used to make sure the ground doesn’t cave in during excavation, or you can use the “stepping stone” method where you dig more than necessary and build steps that lead to the final basement area. This is a much more time-consuming option and does not guarantee safety, but it does reduce risk considerably.

Aside from the above safety and maintenance factors, cost factors should also be considered when contemplating the feasibility of a basement in your home. Isolating the reason for digging a basement will help determine this. Is it simply to provide additional space for storage, hanging out and recreation, or even someone’s home, or is it for specific uses, sensitive to temperature and / or acoustics, such as a cellar or study?

Why is this important? Because digging basements is not a cheap task, due to the need for soil testing, safety code inspection, electric shovels, removal of excavated material, and various waterproof / resistant barriers. These costs are in contrast to above-ground additions, where siding and flooring, etc., can be cheaper and less robust materials, not to mention the other technical considerations that involve planning and inspection.

In short, one must decide if a basement is the best course of action for their particular needs. Basements are, in essence, the foundation of your home and as such they should be strong and durable. Carrying out such a task without the proper foresight and knowledge can turn your dream into a nightmare, expensive and dangerous too. It is up to you to calculate the cost and make the most informed decision possible before embarking on such a project.

Once these various considerations have been made and the questions answered, you can more accurately determine whether or not you still want that basement. And if the answer is yes, and you’re still as eager as ever to get that new underground addition to your home, I seriously suggest that you hire professionals to do it for you. The fees incurred for backhoe rental, inspections, materials, and most importantly future problems and safety concerns due to improper construction add up.

A trained professional can do what could take weeks, in a few hours, not to mention the quality of the work. What you may end up paying in excess of what it would cost to do it yourself is minimal when you look at the big picture. Of course, if you are still determined to do it yourself, for whatever reason, it is not impossible, obviously. You will simply need a good working knowledge of the various phases of basement construction, most of which I mentioned earlier.

And for those who are thinking of adding market value to their home through such additions, think again. Most, if not all, basements are considered substandard simply by virtue of their being underground, with no sunlight, natural ventilation, and quick entry and exit. Of course, naturally lit basements with bay windows offer some of these features to varying degrees, but you may find that whatever market value they may add, it falls significantly short of construction cost.