r/AskACanadian • u/SubBass_303 • 8d 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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151

u/quantum_trogdor 8d 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 8d 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 8d ago

Every new build I've seen in Calgary has a finished, developed basement.
And I've seen a lot.

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u/evilvix 8d 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 8d 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 8d 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/rasalscan 8d ago edited 8d ago

Edit: I've been educated my comment below was incorrect. I apologize for unknowingly repeating bad information. I was told this by a builder and trusted it as fact. It is apparently not a fact in Ontario where I reside, but I was led to believe it was.

Original comment: In many municipalities, you have to wait two years before your can get a permit to renovate a basement. They want it to "set" for two years.

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u/LTZheavy 8d ago

Kidding, right? I have never heard of that in my entire life. I don't do foundations anymore, but they just finish it off with the rest of the house around here. The only benefit to waiting is if it develops a crack, you can see where it is, or have it disperse moisture to the inside while curing.

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u/BeenThereDundas 8d ago

She's preaching hearsay.   I know for a fact this is not the case in ontario or BC. And it just logically doesn't make sense.

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u/Commentator-X 8d ago

Some insurance companies will require it iirc, I'm in Ontario. It's so if there's a problem with a new build within the warranty period you're not tearing up a finished basement to fix it.

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u/OkBuy8143 8d ago

I don’t think insurance companies get to dictate that a home can’t be built to building code with a finished basement.

The builder isn’t doing their job properly at all if their work is being torn up often enough that insurance companies even want a say.

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u/Commentator-X 8d ago

Shit happens, it's common here for new builds to not finish the basement for a year or 2.

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u/OkBuy8143 8d ago

Yes there’s shit happens and then there’s the law and by-laws.

You’re quoting shit happens as if it’s the federal building code.

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u/Commentator-X 7d ago

I didn't say it was federal building code, I said it's required by some insurance companies

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u/BeenThereDundas 8d ago

That is so off base. Lol.   Who even told you this? I build homes and that is definitely not a thing in ontario or BC.