Greetings All, Will be relocating to the Pittsburgh area over the next couple of months and I've been doing a little house hunting. I thought for sure when my company said we were relocating east that it would be a snap to find a house with a large, open basement. So far, that doesn't seem to be the case. Due to the terrain around the area it seems that the vast majority of the homes are built into the side of a hill, and the space that would normally be basement is taken up by the garage.. I know there's a pretty large model railroad community around the burgh, so.. where the heck are all the houses with full, open basements!? Mike C
In the Midwest... I live in Michigan, and it's an oddity NOT to have a basement. I think it's like that in the midwest. I know around the Chicago area is lots of basements too. Not sure about the north east coast.
Yeah, I grew up in East-Central Illinois and pretty much every house in my hometown had a massive basement under it. The ones in Pittsburgh pretty much all have basements as well, but they're "partial" basements. Like this one for example: Coldwell Banker Real Estate Inc. Pittsburgh They integrate the garage into the lower level, which completely kills half of what would be perfectly good real estate for layout building. MC
My parents lived near the Johnstown Airport on a slopping 10 acres . They had an attached two car garage on the side , and a basement that was big enough for a large O scale layout . The up hill side on the ranch house looked like a normal foundation , on the down hill side the foundation stuck up 7 feet , that it was a straight wal out from the cellar to the grass . Geez , I wish I had that spread . Bring the lumber straight in to the cellar . High cellar ceiling .
As a guy who has been in a lot of basements....I work as a telephone company installer....one of the things I noticed is how low the ceilings are in finished basements. And if they drywall the ceiling its a nightmare to do any kind of mainainace on plumbing or electrical work. And they are usually so low you can almost hit your head on them.When I bult my house I had them make the basement walls 9 feet instead of the standard 8 feet. Also designed the subfloor in such a way as to maximze the headroom in the basement. The slight extra to do this was well worth the money now that the basement has been finished. I also used a false ceiling for easy access to do an work above.
Keep looking dude, got to have some place to build the "New Family Lines" empire. Or you could always move back to Hooterville and commute, can't be more than 8 or 10 hrs one way :tb-tongue:. Besides, then I could over and play trains all of the time , just like in High School. Have you looked at any of the places we have looked at online? Gonna have to tell Carla and her friends to get on the ball out there. Must have basement, house optional:tb-wink: BTW: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!
This is how my basement is in Michigan. The back of the house is grade level, and the front side is 9 foot off the ground, with the basement door under my deck. It is what they call in Michigan as a "Walk Out" basement. The front of my house "appears" to be a 3 story, but it's not in reality, unless you count the basement. I also have a drop ceiling in my basement for access to mechanics. My ceiling is low for me, but then again, I am 6'5". My ceiling height in the basement is almost 7.5'.
Howdy! Flying out to PIT on Friday again to look at a few. You're right, "must have basement..house optional" LOL! MC
I live in Pittsburgh and you are correct that houses built here usually have a basement with the garage taking up a portion of it. The lots are usually smaller here than in other areas so incorporating the garage into the basement allows the largest possible house to be built on any given size lot. My house was built about 55 years ago and sits on a lot with 50' frontage. You will probably have to look in the surrounding counties Such as Washington, Butler or Westmoreland where most of the new development is for something with an attached garage. That being said there are a number of home layouts as well as several clubs here. Pittsburgh is a great model RR town but unfortunately O scale is very dominant and HO is well represented. We do have one hobby shop that caters to N gauge, Esther's hobby in Millvale, PA.
I would recommend getting a real estate broker or agent looking for you. They should be able to dig up something with a basement, unless you get someone who isn't paying attention to your needs at all, in which case you should switch real estate professionals and go with someone else. You don't pay them a dime until close, and the seller pays their fees anyway so don't worry about it. Yes, you do INDIRECTLY pay their fees since you are buying the house, but if the seller is selling the house using an agent anyway you'd be paying all those fees to that one agent (and also have no representation in the transaction) anyway. (NOTE: I am not a real estate professional nor do I have any financial interest in any real estate business.) In my town, a lot of the houses with basements were built prior to World War II. A lot of post-War houses have crawl spaces. A lot of houses on hillsides have basements on the downhill sides and crawl spaces on the uphill sides. Good luck! Adam
Holly cow man, he will have to beat off agents in this market!!!!! You are looking to buy..magic words these days.
Hi mike. I've about 40 miles from Pittsburgh, Ive been house hunting lately, so I think i can speak from experience. It is an oddity to find an house without a basement. However, there are so many old homes in this region that have basements that are low (less than 6'-0" headroom) or wet. I don't think you have a problem finding a basement, it will be challenging to find a dry basement with good headroom.
Hi, FLS. Am also from Pgh.(20 miles north off I-79 corridor). To add to Inkaneer's info, new homes tend to be LARGE(3000 sq. ft. and UP) spec and developer plans. These have full, generally finished basements and attatched garages(to add to the $300k + prices). Older homes built to fit narrow lots with front and side setbacks, integrate the garage(s) for access-the basement USED TO BE mainly a storage area.Might look out for onre with room and access to ADD an attached garage. Also, not many LEVEL lots(lots of hills) so exposed rear or side of bsmts is common. PM me if I can be of any help. Bob C.
Thanks for the message. I'll be working out around the airport/Ewing Road area so I'm hoping to find something in the Moon/Coraopolis area. I have been looking the Beaver County area as well. Esther's is great! The last time I was there a couple of weeks ago I made my first visit to Esther's where I promptly liberated some cash from my wallet. :tb-biggrin:
Mike, I'm down here in Coraopolis, just down the hill from Ewing Road, and my neighbor has a nice place for sale - she has to move south due to some serious health reasons. The house is a little pricey for Coraopolis, but it does have a new furnace, new siding, newly renovated attic with electricity, fairly new privacy fence in back, and has generally been very well taken care of. Best of all, it has a detached garage, and the greater balance of the bassement would be good for a layout. Give me a mesage at chris@dataviewbooks.com and I'll send you a link - if it looks interesting, I can pop up and take some shots of the basement (and whatever else you'd want to see) Chris
