I didn't grow up with basements. My grandparents had them; one creepy and one not. I have very definite opinions on them. As in, I have nightmares that wake me up yelling. Thankfully, my basement is not creepy. I couldn't have bought it if it was, my reactions are that bad.

Fires=scary. I can get the initial temptation not to leave because really, does this happen (but I have more warning, I'm thinking hurricanes) but...then I read up on Mt Stromlo and NO.

In my apartment block in Philly, I didn't find the laundry room to be creepy, but it was still cold, poorly lit and ill-provisioned, and a ludicrous distance from my apartment. I feel very comfortable with my current stance of refusing to live anywhere without a laundry and a dishwasher. (My apartment in Ivanhoe had a European-style laundry, which is perfectly acceptable.)

What is a European-style laundry?

Fires=scary. I can get the initial temptation not to leave because really, does this happen (but I have more warning, I'm thinking hurricanes) but...then I read up on Mt Stromlo and NO.

In the fires early this year around Melbourne, many people decided to stay and defend their homes, and wound up dying in their cars trying to flee once they saw how bad it was. However, it seems Emergency Services was negligent in not advising people of the extent of the danger.

Bec's farm was threatened by fire when she was growing up. Her parents opted to stay, with all their kids, and try to protect the place. It burned out some of their acreage, but they were very fortunate that it didn't reach the house. Seriously terrifying for small children.

What is a European-style laundry?

Instead of getting its own room, it was set into a cupboard area. Saves on space.

Oh! Why, I have one of those! Wouldn't call a space big enough to fit a full-size W/D a "cupboard", though. It's a, um, "laundry nook".

Like a harry potter sized cupboard maybe.

We didn't have a finished basement at all. The basement was where all the stuff went and we would occasionally play down there. My dad had a workshop, there was food storage including a chest freezer and the sewing machine was there, along with the washer and dryer.

But Ohio is damp and so even with a dehumidifier it was damp down there.

A friend of K's has to evacuate, but is considering not doing it because her house is "all I've got."

Is her staying going to save the house?

ita, of course not. It's not like her presence bestows some magical Save-The-House power. I think it's idiotic.

I'm really glad they painted my basement white. It isn't finished, per se. Concrete floors and cabinetry, but raw foundation plastered & painted white. I don't know if I could cope if it wasn't. It's a really visceral reaction I have to raw basements. And mine, while having a weeping wall, doesn't smell like basement. This is also critical.

Technically, parts of it aren't below ground. Front porch room is 3/4 below. To the back, well..it's 3 steps up to alley level.