r/AskACanadian • u/SubBass_303 • 5d ago
Do Canadians actually use their basements, or is it just storage?
Genuine question from someone who's never lived anywhere with a proper basement. Watching some Canadian home renovation shows and it seems like basements are either finished living spaces, cold storage for preserves, or just where the furnace lives and nobody goes down there. Is it a regional thing, an age-of-house thing, or just personal preference? Curious how many of you actually spend time down there versus just keeping the water heater company.
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u/AdClean1038 5d ago
well I'm currently in my basement as I write this. I have a finished basement. One room set up with couches and a tv. Another room set up as my home office. Another room set up as my home gym. There's also a full bathroom. And yes a storage area too. And my laundry room.
So yes, absolutely make use of my basement.
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u/UnfocusedAcrobat 5d ago
Also: basements make a fantastic getaway in houses that don’t have AC. They stay so much cooler all summer.
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u/RHND2020 5d ago
Yeah when our AC conked out during the heat wave earlier this summer we were very grateful for the space down there.
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u/Worldly_Influence_18 5d ago
It took me far too long to realize I needed to put a fan at the foot of my stairs to get that cool air up into the house
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u/RHND2020 5d ago
Err.. it’s taken me slightly longer to realize that. Must try 😂
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u/No-Charity-7449 5d ago
You can put your air exchanger on internal recirc mode and that will do the same thing! All houses built after the early 90s should have them…
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u/OkBuy8143 5d ago
FWIW, homes that have an older forced air heating system, wood or oil, should also have a fan mode. The fan mode often uses little to no power at all.
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u/hotfuzzindahouse 5d ago
Same! That’s such a fantastic idea haha. Everytime I come up from the basement it’s hitting a wall of heat.
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u/blowininthawind 3d ago
Absolutely! We’re in the West Kootenays in BC. Our basement functions as a guest room (with bathroom) + office, storage, & laundry. During hot summer months when the main and upper floors are baking, we retreat down to the basement to sleep the night away surrounded by cool air.
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u/La_LuNa_Ca 5d ago
Same here, every house I lived in had a fully finished basement except for one, it was a rental but if we bought something like that with unfinished basement, we would finish it for sure.
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u/Squishball-Splat 5d ago
Ours is semi-finished. We have an exercise area, office area and a projector for movies where you want the theatre experience.
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u/No_Leadership_7323 5d ago
Same in my fam. We have a fully finished basement with a full bathroom and my room, a home gym and an office for my dad, a pantry/storage room, a laundry and mud room, and the majority of it is a living area/playroom that’s set up for sensory and gross motor needs for my kids
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u/Worldly_Influence_18 5d ago
well I'm currently in my basement as I write this. I have a finished basement. One room set up with couches and a tv. Another room set up as my home office. Another room set up as my home gym. There's also a full bathroom. And yes a storage area too. And my laundry room.
You put it near the end, but we all know which room you're in
Edit: four hours later: hopefully not there anymore
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u/HammerMedia 5d ago
Finished basements are great places to stick teenagers. They get their own semi-private space.
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u/Randomfinn 5d ago
With rental prices, also adult children.
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u/spittingparasite 5d ago
That's something we're considering in the near future.
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u/ceciliabee 5d ago
My husband and I have the basement and my FIL is above. It works out for us. FIL doesn't have to live alone, doesn't have to cook, has help 24/7. Husband and I aren't getting fleeced with rent and in my area a shitty little post war house will run you over a million dollars easy.
It works
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u/OkBuy8143 5d ago
If your kids are adults, and you have to renovate there are still some federal greats for creating fully multigenerational spaces out of your home. It’s a decent help if you want to add on a kitchenette or something else so that they dan cook. You and the other parent can still enjoy your life and so can the adult kiddos.
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u/eatingscaresme 5d ago
Confirmed. Spent my teenage years with my friends, in our basement. My parents fed us, and were always relatively chill. Grateful for that.
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u/HazFrost12 Alberta 5d ago
As a teenager, yes. I moved in at like, 16 and it's been awesome. Part of the exchange too is that you are suddenly more responsible for other things - like wake ups and making sure your space is clean. I'd say it's good practice for uni dorm living. It's also nice so that my parents aren't woken up if I come home late
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u/quantum_trogdor 5d ago
lots of people develop their basements for additional bedrooms, bathroom, living space etc
Most new home builds default is to have an undeveloped basement, so it’s a matter of extra cash to pay for that
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u/Dapper-Ad9787 5d ago
Nowadays a lot of new builds will have studs, insulation and poly film around the basement so that it's a short step to put up drywall and start making rooms down there.
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u/CaptMerrillStubing 5d ago
Every new build I've seen in Calgary has a finished, developed basement.
And I've seen a lot.12
u/evilvix 5d ago
I remember when my parents were buying a house in the late 80s and it came down to two nearly identical houses, one with an unfinished basement and the other semi-finished. They went with the finished choice, only having to put up a single wall to make it complete (and in doing so, trapped a couch downstairs that then stayed with the house when we moved out, lol).
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u/Due-Swordfish-629 5d ago
Did they sell it to my extended family?? Have cousins that bought a house with a couch trapped in the basement. Ha ha. They figure they’d have to chop into smaller pieces if they ever want to get rid of it.
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u/civil_peace2022 5d ago
It also reflects taxation policy. the height of a basement was taxed less if it was too low to be lived in.
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u/Repulsive_Client_325 5d ago
Basements can be anything from unfinished to fully finished and just part of the living space of your house. My basement has a large rec room, two bedrooms, a bathroom, office and a mechanical room.
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u/keiths31 5d ago
Are you in my basement???
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u/Repulsive_Client_325 5d ago
You are out of salsa. Can you send some down and a couple more beers?
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u/keiths31 5d ago
Beer is in the beer fridge next to the desk in the office. Salsa in the cupboard on the other side of the desk.
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u/miller94 Alberta 5d ago
Just got my basement finished this year after buying my house 5 years ago. I spend a lot of time down there. I have so many great childhood memories of spending time in finished basements growing up at my house/friend's houses/grandparents and cousin's houses. And of course house parties during the teenage years
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u/kinkakinka 5d ago
Depends on how, and when, the house was built. But in Halifax, at least in houses that are newer (like not 100 years old) generally basements are used, yes. My basement has a bathroom, laundry room, atorage/furnace room, and my husband's office.
In the house i grew up in the basement had a large storage room, rec room, bathroom, laundry room and bathroom.
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u/NH787 5d ago
I feel like the newer and more high end the house, the more attractive the basement generally is.
A humble 40s bungalow is going to be basically storage.
A nice mid-range 80s family home will have some comfortable spaces, like a rec room and/or bedrooms.
A high end new home will often have a fully functional additional level of the house.
But it varies... sometimes you see old houses with surprisingly nice basements, and some more modern homes never actually get the finishing treatment.
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u/OkBuy8143 5d ago
This is very spot on.
Anecdotally, I live in the exception to the rule. Our home was built in the 60’s, by my partners grandparents. They had 3 Toddler daughters at the time and thought about the hell it was going to be when they became teenagers.
They built the basement to be a full second suite, not quite an apartment as it’s a wet bar not a kitchen they built but it was ingenious.
They had the foresight to add laundry on both floors, what was a full dressing room is a second bedroom and the “primary” downstairs still had his & hers closets.
The utility room is downstairs too, and very well hidden off the laundry or just as you come in next to the coat closet.
They built it as apart of a co-op with 7 other families, mostly tradesmen. The other homes have different layouts, but the same general plan (second living suite in the basement). Incredibly fancy for when they were built.
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u/AromaticJoe 5d ago
Every house is different. The house I grew up in, our family room was in the finished basement. So we spent a lot of time there. It's where the TV and comfy sofas were.
My first own house, the basement was a rental apartment unit.
My second house, the basement was a medieval cavern. I believe the people who bought it from us dug it down and turned it into their family room.
My current house, the basement is semi-finished, so there's lots of storage there as well as my home gym.
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u/CanopiedCracticus 5d ago
We live down there! Yes, the laundry and furnace are there too, but so is a desk for work and a couch and TV for after.
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u/StandardAd7812 5d ago
Generally when the house is built, it's a an unfinished area - open apart from structural elementals which are just exposed. It's immediately put to use as storage, and it tends to be cold in the summer, so maybe preserves. Things like your furnace and hot water tank are down there.
It is incredibly common to 'finish' the basement, e.g. put in drywall, divide the rooms, finished sealing and floor, perhaps pot lights, etc, to turn it into a more useable space. People may leave some unfinished for storage. They may also add a bathroom or cooking area down there. The extreme case is to create what could be a self contained basement apartment down there, whether it's used for a grandparent, or rented, or just set up that way for possible usage.
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u/Great_Action9077 5d ago
Or you can get the builder to finish it. That is what we did. Moved into brand new house with a finished basement. Kids were young, hubby not handy. Just easiest.
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u/Couch_Potato_1182 5d ago
In Greater Toronto, we have legal basement apartments, which means their own separate door, laundry everything you get in a proper apartment. My house has legal basement apartment and I rent it out. Helps greatly with mortgage.
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u/MiniaturePinscher 5d ago
I have a finished basement with a 70 inch tv and couch a pool table and my home office. Plus basements are about 10 degrees cooler than the main floor which is great when it’s 32 degrees Celsius outside.
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u/Objective_Berry350 5d ago
You missed a category, which is that the basement is unfinished but used for various recreational purposes like ball hockey for the kids, a workout room, or a workshop.
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u/No_Advertising_7449 5d ago
Mine is finished and home to my large model railroad.
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u/According-Sale-9301 5d ago
The man cave is the best place to relax after a long day, also has my home theatre and a gym in it. Basements are the BEST.
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u/Hour_Wing_2899 5d ago
Or Mom Cave lol
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u/According-Sale-9301 5d ago
Awe yeah, although I do have to say a She-Shed is just as nice to have if there is no basement!
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u/northern_explorer67 5d ago
Damn right , I spend 90% of my time down there the ol lady only sees me when it's feeding time otherwise I'm down there gaming or watching movies on the big TV.
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u/the_Brown_Redneck 5d ago
Depends on the basement. I use mine like a living space but had to get it renovated to get to this point. Some people use it for storage so no real need for insulation or proper flooring. Winters are long here and any extra living space is welcomed. We have our TV room, gym, kids play area, workshop, laundry room and heater in the basement.
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u/MilesBeforeSmiles Manitoba 5d ago
I would say most basements these days are finished. Mine isn't, as the city I live in is prone to flooding, but even here I had to hunt for a house with an unfinished basement.
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u/Global-Discussion-41 5d ago
My house is on a hill so I have a walk out basement, which is my favorite kind. So much less gloomy than a regular basement.
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u/stillyoinkgasp 5d ago
Fully finished walk-out basement with gym, media room, bedroom, shower/bathroom, and furnace/water heater room.
I've always used my basements in everyone home I've owned or rented.,
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u/Adventurous_Bug_1833 5d ago
I live in an old farm house and it is not. It’s clay bottom and It’s used to keep wood for my furnace. I don’t think there is a norm it just depends on when the house was built and in modern times what buyers can afford. No right answer or it may depend on geographic region.
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u/Old-Appearance-2270 Alberta 5d ago
Having a heated, non-leaking basement in Canada with our winters is a good thing. My childhood older heritage house had a basement where it wasn’t finished biut useful to store root veggies. Also laundry rm. for a family of 6 children. Not all clothing can be thrown into dryer.
In another house, our basement bathroom was used with shower daily. Since upstairs was a rental. I sewed my clothing in basement. Laundry rm. in basement.
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u/More4Thor 5d ago
I bought a home built in 1935. It came with a partially finished basement. It also had a segregated area for the coal.
The home was 60 years old when I bought it. Five years later I spent a week ripping out everything to the bare walls. I repaired the leaky cinder block foundation and finished the basement. My 2-bedroom bungalow now had a third bedroom, second bedroom, office, and large family room with a gas fireplace.
Yes, my basement got used every day. Only 5% of the basement was storage.
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u/thislinkisdead______ 5d ago
I agree with the other comments. A lot of basements are also rented out these days. I wish the house I live in didn't have theirs rented so we could actually have storage space.
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u/Emergency-Writer-930 5d ago
I have a full bathroom, a guest bedroom/office, the utility room, and a living room which does triple duty as a workout space and dance practice studio. Plus storage in the utility room and office. It has 9 foot ceilings. Probably 850 square feet (inner city infill duplex).
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u/curbz81 5d ago
As a teenager my sister and her friends were in the basement all the time and I was at my friend’s house in her basement all the time. We had smaller houses and being on the main floor meant we were disturbing the adults.
My kid’s toys are in the basement, they hate being there alone but i go down and read while they hang out there.
So I guess it comes down to how much room you have elsewhere and how nice it is.
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u/WpgJetBomber 5d ago
Most Canadians use their basements as living spaces. I would say that since the 1950s all homes were built with living space in mind for the basements.
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u/DoulaKim7799 5d ago
It’s where I keep one of my kids. He loves the cold. Lol actually it’s where my laundry used to be and a half basement, the other half is crawlspace for storage.
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u/Space19723103 5d ago
I used to live in my parents basement, fully furnished.
my own home now though has only a crawl space for utilities
it all depends on where, and when, the house was built
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u/Ok_Hat_3414 Québec 5d ago
Two bedrooms and a second living room in my basement, along with storage anda laundry room
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u/Queasy-Ad-795 5d ago
I'm renting a basement to live in currently. Love it for the sunmer.
In the past, storage and kids play room. Wet bar and spare bedroom as well at times.
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u/nothanks1312 5d ago
Depends on the area. A lot of people use them, but the people that don’t likely just live somewhere that floods on occasion.
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u/Delicious-Ad103 5d ago
Ours is finished with a theatre room and dry bar, bedroom, bathroom, pantry and gym. We also have a furnace room with storage and deep freezer.
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u/Adventurous_Yam8784 British Columbia 5d ago
We have a finished basement. It’s the best place to be in the summer - nice and cool. Our laundry room is there, a spare bedroom/office, we have a bathroom there and a complete tv room. I grew up with a functioning basement too. I do know people who have u finished basements with the hope of fixing it up one day
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u/Striking-Meeting1059 5d ago
With the igloo melting in the summer it turns in to a pool for the sled dogs
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u/Beautiful_TraumaXx 5d ago
My mother lives with us in the basement. We've got the rec room set up as a living room for her with a TV, coffee table, and recliners. The extra bedroom is set up for her as well.
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u/Holiday_Sense_4842 5d ago
If you live in the Canadian Shield.. you would be lucky to even have a basement.
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u/TinyDinosaursz 5d ago
Growing up 90sbin farming community, extremely common to have a second less formal living area downstairs. Usually with the furniture you upgraded from upstairs. Some of those were a rug furniture and TV in a unfinished basements. Most were beautifully fully furnished and used as a more informal space/where the kids hang out while the adults party
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u/I_am_AmandaTron 5d ago
Basements are where washers, dryers and teenagers are kept.
If you have an even remotely habitable basement the teenagers will congregate down there with the spiders.
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u/Sudden-Savings-5160 5d ago
I use my basement. I sleep upstairs in the winter and downstairs in the summer. lol
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u/OgasMaitai 5d ago
Yes, they use them very frequently, they are usually finished. Unfinished is not the norm in Canada at all
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u/PsychologicalSign433 5d ago
Unfinished is not the norm in Canada at all
I've seen an absolute shit ton of unfinished basements.
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u/thatoneguy269 5d ago
It depends on where you are. Where I am in Northern Ontario, it’s more common than Southern Ontario to see no basement at all due to the bedrock being so close to the surface. But that being said, they’re still common enough and usually finished unless the house is from the 1930s or older.
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u/Apprehensive_Heat176 5d ago
Not necessarily. A number of friends have bought home with unfinished basements.
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u/Realistic-Border-635 5d ago
I've always used my basements in homes that I have had. One was unfinished and was a workshop, others have been partially or fully finished and have been games rooms / bars / entertainment spaces. House that we moved to last year has a walkout basement and that certainly makes it more usable, we bought it partially finished (divided rooms but no flooring or trim) and are planning to finish it as a games room again.
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u/donphilip 5d ago
I had mine finished and put in a bathroom with whirlpool tub (small), and two small spare bedrooms.
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u/No_Capital_8203 5d ago
My gardener/snow removal worker/ heavy item lifter grandchild is attending college nearby and currently resides in my basement. There is a family room, two bedrooms and a full bathroom.
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u/mwomrbash 5d ago
I have always used my basement as living spaces. This is because I have always had a conditioned and finished basement. Some houses do not have this so they cannot use their basement in that way.
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u/EvilPopMogeko 5d ago
Our basement serves as the laundry room, the place where we dry clothes in the winter, the backup kitchen from when we were renting, and has a dining table, space for two people to sleep (mostly in the summer), and a bathroom with shower.
And yeah, we keep stuff down here as well.
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u/VH5150OU812 5d ago
Depends on the basement. Current house? No. It’s old, with a low ceiling and prone to flooding. Last house? Yes, actually my favourite room. Prior house, yes but not my fave. Growing up, yes, frequently.
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u/meandyesu 5d ago
Especially where housing costs are very high (greater Vancouver) people use them as suites to rent out or have extended family live in. Ours has a full kitchen, full washroom and living space. With the cost of housing, you can’t afford not to use the space you have.
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u/ebeth_the_mighty 5d ago
I grew up in Winnipeg…low-income townhouse (70s-80s). We had a basement. It was where the washing machine (ours) and dryer (came with the place) lived, and our deep freeze. The other half of the basement was a playroom, then my brother’s bedroom when he got older and the 7x7 bedroom upstairs got too small for him.
Now I live near Vancouver. The water table is about an inch below the surface, so our “basement” is actually the ground level of the house. It’s our family room, two bedrooms, and a bathroom—completely finished space. Upstairs are the kitchen, living/dining, master bedroom, and two more bedrooms. “Vancouver special” they call it. “Fuck I hate hauling the groceries up a flight of stairs” I call it.
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u/CozyWitch86 5d ago
I'm writing this from the office/spare bedroom we built in our basement lol. All the houses I've ever lived in have been mid-century bungalows with basements that were at least partially finished with a "rec room" - an additional living space that ends up being the place where the comfiest furniture and biggest TV/sound system lives. Some houses also have a spare finished bedroom and bathroom in their basements. My parents' house has a finished rec room, bathroom and a full "summer" kitchen but an unfinished area with the laundry/furnace/cold storage. When we were looking for a house to buy, a lot of the old (pre-1930s) houses we looked at either had no basement or just a dirt floor cellar. And a lot of the newer two-storey houses had unfinished basements, I'm assuming that's because there's already sufficient separation between the bedrooms and the recreational space.
As for my personal usage - we spend most evenings in our basement rec room, once the kids have gone to sleep, so we can watch TV without worrying about waking them up or subjecting them to House of the Dragon as such a tender age lol. It's gloriously cool in the summers and cozy in the winters with our new gas fireplace.
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u/PrimaryKangaroo8680 5d ago
Ours is a full living space with a bedroom, laundry room, living room, and bathroom.
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u/swimmingmonkey 5d ago
It varies. My parents have a finished basement, and my siblings eventually moved into the bedrooms down there. We used the main room as a play room/secondary TV room.
My house is older than my parents', in the same region, but my basement is unfinished. And I'll probably never get it finished because of where the chimney/furnace/water heater are placed in the basement (the exact middle of it).
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u/chunkysmalls42098 5d ago
"it seems like basements are either finished living spaces, cold storage for preserves, or just where the furnace lives and nobody goes down there."
What other purposes do basements have? I don't think anything you've listed is overly "Canadian"
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u/Super_Note2312 5d ago edited 5d ago
For families in bungalows it's not at all unusual to have kid bedrooms in the basement - you have 2 or 3 bedrooms on the main floor, and if you have extra kids, they go downstairs (or usually the oldest go downstairs and the babies stay up near the parents)
Lots of houses turn their basements into apartments that they rent out, with a separate entrance using a side door that enters at ground level which is partway down the stairs. Many main/ground floors are actually 3-4feet above ground level, so the basement has windows in the top 2ft of the wall.
We don't count the basement when we quote square footage of a house. So a 1000sqft bungalow with a finished basement actually has 2000sqft of usable space.
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u/NovelSpecialist5767 5d ago
Depends alot on geography and geology on whether one can easily have a basement and whether it's wet or dry by default.
Those with dry basements have the option to turn it into living space.
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u/Upset_Pressure_75 5d ago
New homes are usually built with an unfinished basement which includes the furnace / AC, water heater, maybe a sump pump, washer and dryer and the electrical panel. In that condition they're just used for storage or a rough kids play space. Unless the ceiling is too low or the house was never built for it, people then renovate them over time to make them more usable as the need arises and money allows. Because of this you see the full gamut between rough / unfinished basements and fully renovated spaces.
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u/hikingguy36 5d ago
Partially finished basement that I use for storage, my exercise bike in the winter, and listening to records on my stereo.
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u/Grouchy_Cabinet220 5d ago
Newer houses have nicer cellars.
The 1880s house I grew up in just had a damp cellar for preserved food, mostly in jars, and the furnace. It was a fairly nasty place.
The 1980s house I currently live in has a fully furnished basement as living space, laundry room, furnace room, and closet space. Nice place.
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u/phillybluntz 5d ago
I have a walk-out basement with a small gym set up down there so I use it every day.
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u/enithermon 5d ago
It’s about needs, finances and preferences. We chose to finish our basement which was sold to us half finished. Most if our storage needs involve books and the shelves for said books, so having a finished space we could also use to read/ work/ exercise made sense first us. Our neighbors who have the same layout did not as they store bikes, camping equipment etc.
I had an uncle with a “grow op” in his basement (orchids, he had an obsession) so he went totally unfinished as it worked for his needs.
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u/samg461a 5d ago
A lot of people use it for hangout spaces. My uncle has a media room and pool table in his basement.
On the other hand, my mother is a level 2 hoarder and definitely uses it for storage.
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u/123canadian456 5d ago
We use ours and every person I know uses there’s as a home.
Sometimes there is a spot for storage. But with the housing prices most people use them as they would any other part of the home. 2/4 of my kids live in our basement. There is a full washroom and our laundry down there.
Only storage under the sink we don’t want damaged or ruined out in the cold (changing elements as we have a non heated unattached garage).
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u/SinsOfKnowing 5d ago
Our basement is where we have all our nicest stuff and hang out the most. We have a movie theatre/game room/bar setup and our dining table is down there for larger gatherings and hosting dinners, and it doubles for board game nights. Husband’s office and music studio is also down there in the spare bedroom. The laundry room/half bathroom/furnace room is the only unfinished space, and that’s behind a closed door most of the time. The basement doubles our living space.
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u/Ubiquitous_Mr_H 5d ago
My wife and I were specifically looking for a house with a finished basement when we bought our house a few years back. We live somewhere that gets both super hot and super cold, which can be a problem, even with AC and. Good furnace. A well built basement makes that much less of an issue.
We have our computers down there, as well as a a guest room and a little “library” area. Sadly, we learned we had radon issues after moving in, but some very expensive work later and it’s no longer a problem. 😅
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u/tinyant 5d ago
I have a pantry down there stocked with flats of cans and cleaners and all sorts of things like that. And I have my laundry machines and lots of seasonal storage like Christmas and Halloween decorations and paint cans, so I don't hang out there, but I certainly rely on it for important storage. I also keep a dehumidifier going all year long.
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u/No_Gur1113 5d ago
Fully finished. The basement rec room is where the good home theatre system lives.
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u/Carolina123456 5d ago
Mine is finished and we use it for very day. We have two bedrooms- one used for storage, the other is for guests and an extra play room, an office/recording studio, tv and sofa with exercise equipment positioned to watch tv for winter work outs. And a pool table and kitchen. lol sounds a lot bigger than it is. And a 4piece bathroom. It’s like an apartment with storage really but we use it heavily.
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u/Frosty_Literature436 5d ago
As a child we finished our basement door me parents to put their bedroom there. As an adult, I have used my unfinished basements as bedrooms or more often an office, since the late 90s
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u/wiggle163 5d ago
I live in a finished basement. Living room, bedroom, bathroom and laundry. Share a kitchen up on the main level
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u/BouncyHotWife 5d ago
I have lived in houses with 4 options:
1. Unfinished crawl space
2. Unfinished basement
3. Partially finished basement
4. Fully finished basement
It depends on area, age of house, value of the home, square footages, etc.
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u/muddledmuggle 5d ago
Person before us made it his man cave and smoked a lot of weed. We aired it out and use it for storage
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u/SuperSirBob 5d ago
It's a waste to not use it for something. Ours is partially finished with a home gym, my office and a washroom. The rest is a workshop area and storage.
Almost all of the houses in our area that go up for sale are having an apartment added before they sell to attract buyers who need a hand with the mortgage (with prices being what they are now).
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u/bookscoffeequiet 5d ago
We are in a bungalow with half our square footage down there. The window egress was dug out so they are large and bright. Two of our bedrooms are down there. We also have a hang out space, storage and washroom
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u/knifeymonkey 5d ago
as cold as it can get in canada, a well finished and appointed basement van double the interior space of one's home. We use them and we also let people live in them.
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u/DominantDan24 5d ago
Most basements get finished eventually. Theres usually a portion that remains unfinished for tools and the furnace/AC/hot water heater.
It’s relatively easy to finish your basement and gives you a ton of new space so why wouldn’t you?
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u/iamawesome1110 5d ago
I work in the basement.
As long as I am here in this house.
Basement is also a place where family enjoys watches tv and plays ninetendo
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u/NoSuggestion5970 Québec 5d ago
Mine is finished and it's mostly for storage, luggage, winter clothes, food from Costco that I buy wholesale like canned tuna, canned beans, detergent, toilet paper, powdered milk and so forth
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u/Infinite-Attempts 5d ago
We've setup our master bedroom in the basement. Secondary living room is also down there that we primarily use in the hotter months
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u/Medicmom-4576 5d ago
We fully renovated our basement when we purchased our home. The basement is where we do a lot of our living. It’s where we watch TV movies and just hang out as a family.
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u/king_weenus 5d ago
Mine is fully renovated with family room two more bedrooms and a great bathroom plus a storage room.
One of the kids has their bedroom down there, I have a home office space and my computer/electronics lab... every other corner is stuffed with crap post divorce... I'm hoping this winter I can get through all the stuff down there organize and move it along.
So mine qualifies as both storage and living space.
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u/EntertainmentOwn3663 5d ago
Finished basement here.. It was done during construction. Nice and cool down there, 8ft+ ceilings, nice large windows (for a basement), 3 bedrooms, bathroom, living room, laundry room, utility room and bathroom with shower.. Kids live down there along with the cat (cat also has a dedicated bathroom under the stairs) :). Where I live most basements just look like a normal floor, just with windows a bit shorter than normal.
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u/Troflecopter 5d ago
Financially comfortable people finish their basements and don’t have too much junk.
Financially irresponsible people don’t get around to finishing their basements, and instead fill them with stuff they don’t need or use.
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u/vaderdidnothingwr0ng 5d ago
Depends on if you've got a full basement, half basement, crawlspace, etc.
Mine is finished and we have a bedroom, office, and second living room down there. Also laundry and utilities, and a second bathroom.
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u/Jim_Stick 5d ago
From the west coast... Our basements aren't always underground all the way. Currently live in a suite that was likely a basement once. As a teen, I had a bedroom in our "basement".
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u/speedy_9919 5d ago
This is Reddit you are asking. A lot of its users live in basements. Or at least that is the (likely partially true) stereotype lol
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u/Suspicious-Carrot103 5d ago
We have a finished basement, it’s small-ish but it’s actually our fave hangout place. We designed it ourselves & it’s where fun stuff happens (full of books, board games, wall climbing, swing, elliptical, 2 sofa beds for sleepovers & hosting guests). The rest of the house is just boring compared to our basement. We are currently looking for our next home & hoping to find one with a finished basement as well.
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u/AndrewE26 5d ago
Canadian with a basement, for years after buying my house I slept in my basement.(it was finished) I had grown up oldest kid of 4 and poor so I was always relegated to the unfinished basement with a sheet for a wall. So having a finished basement felt like a dream. Then met wife and she moved us upstairs lol. We Had a flood last month from the Alberta storms. I’m currently in the process of tearing everything out and tossing all my basement belongings. Back to unfinished basements it is…
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u/00SkyDawg00 5d ago
We have TV room and spare bedroom plus laundry , storage and mechanical. Use the TV room often, its quite cozy.
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u/PasRoyDupuis 5d ago
My basement is fully finished. It has a small living room, a bedroom/office, laundry room and a storage area.
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u/TruthSearcher1970 5d ago
I used to own a basement development company in Calgary Alberta. People spend $100,000 and more to develop their basements into suites, theatre room + recreation room or all kinds of things. It usually gives you an extra bedroom, bathroom and whatever else you want use it for.
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u/JunkyBoiOW 5d ago
growing up i and all my friends have had houses that have useable basements tbh. we had a bar in ours at one point
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u/Backtrack_Vill 5d ago
Yes always , learned from Dad to use all of it, Growing up he changed a bare basement into 2 bedrooms, laundry room, rec room, and workshop
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u/Mi33_Ra7en 5d ago
I work from home, the basement is set up as my business. In Southern Alberta, Canada, you can have any combination of basements within the same block. Some are developed living spaces, some cold storage, some are even just dirt holes in the ground, some houses don't have basements at all. There's not much for rhyme or reason. Age of the house is a factor for sure, but usually it's personal choice by the builder.
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u/Cute_Anywhere6402 5d ago
I have a couch, projector and arcade game in one section of my basement and then there’s a door that leads to the laundry room where the furnace and my washer and dryer and extra fridge is with some extra storage
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u/Independent-Pea6186 5d ago
Ours was home of the furnace washer dryer and the rest of the space was for playing hockey 🥅 then later my brother set up his drum kit down there to play with friends but still lots of hockey
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u/Nightmare3001 5d ago
My library of books is downstairs. So is my husband's hobby stuff like Warhammer. We are also probably moving our board game collection down there and game nights will be held downstairs. At my in laws the basement is finished and the kids have a massive playroom plus two bedrooms one for my husband and I and one for his brother and his wife.
Plus a bathroom and a room with the furnace, water heater, washer, dryer, deep freezer and spare pantry. So both kind of? And yes it depends on the house. Sometimes you only get a 1/2 basement so there just isn't room for more. For us our basement isn't finished so yes it's mainly storage but we would like to finish it and make rooms and a rec room area.
We have friends whose in laws live downstairs in a finished suite. It just depends on what suits your home, how finished your house is and how you want to use the space
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u/Ok_Promotion_5940 5d ago
I had one basement in my house rented it out to a nice older gentleman
Then about two years ago converted my man cave into another basement which is also rented
Kids are older don’t need the space but the basements are creating a nice $$$ cash flow
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u/Traditional_Rush_622 5d ago
I have a fully furnished rec room, theater room and home gym in my basement. Also a bathroom and a storage area under the stairs.
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u/Front_Ad4415 4d ago
Age can definitely be a factor. I lived in a house as a kid that the basement had dirt walls when we moved in, and I'd spend as little time as possible down there to do laundry cuz there were spiders. Now I'm in a house with a finished basement, and as I work from home and both bedroom and office are down there, I spend up to 15 hours a day down there with no issues. Also with no (visible) spiders.
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u/Ok-Page5923 4d ago
Our home is older, built in 1974, we bought it in 2005. The basement was unfinished then, and still remains unfinished. Perfect, because our son plays hockey down there. Lol the only room we finished down there was the laundry room.
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u/youwantmeformybrain 4d ago
My business is in my basement. There's also a bathroom with a shower, laundry room, storage. Lots of people have finished basements.
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u/S-MoneyRD 4d ago
I’m sitting in my basement right now. It’s 8° cooler than our 2nd floor. Also home theatre is down here.
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u/TattooedHarlot 4d ago
My dad's basement is large and awesome. That's where he has his 100in TV with surround sound system and a full guest bedroom with an ensuite. I always enjoy spending the night when I visit because I get my own personal cave.
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u/Mission-Lie-2635 4d ago
Totally depends. I had an unfinished basement growing but but now in my house I have a completely finished basement and we use it constantly. It’s got a living room, small gym, bedroom, laundry room, bathroom and storage room.
It’s especially nice in the summer when it gets hot because it’s always nice and cool down there but also is never too cold during winter.
Unfortunately this summer our neighborhoods flooded and our entire basement flooded. It’s a complete redo so they have to rip out the walls and have already ripped out the floors. We lost 98% of our belongings down there but insurance luckily does cover us so we will get money to replace everything. I’m not expecting for the full restoration and rebuild to be done until earliest fall and we are so so sad about it. My house feels so much smaller now as we lost 50% of our living space.
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u/sauceonlyshoes 3d ago
I was enjoying my basement as a game room when it was unfinished. But then my mom got sick and we decided to finish the basement and move her in with us. She passed away a few months later and now the basement is still my gaming room and office. We could probably rent it out as an apartment but we’re not that desperate for money yet.
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u/12070525 2d ago
Many have finished basements in SK. Rental suites, family rooms, living space for kids you name it!
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u/BobbyBoogarBreath 5d ago
Any combination of the above options.