Who has a storage unit

[Hillbilly Deluxe]

An air-conditioned 5x10 unit near me is $100 per month. We rented one last year for 6 months. Some of it was my daughter's stuff from college (she was out a year due to hospitalization) and some of it was my mother's (moved her to independent living. I told them I'd pay for it for 6 months and that was it.

We started cleaning it out with 3 weeks to go. Finished it out the day before it was up. Always seems like it takes 3x as many trips to get it emptied out as it does to put it in there.

 

[AZjeff]

So common here to see $100k + rolling stock sitting out on the driveway, garage full of stuff and more in a storage unit. No basements or crawl spaces.

We've rented a storage space twice, both when we were moving to stage so we moved the stuff as close to the new house as possible.

 

[Donald]

Don't you have a big empty crawl space?

The crawl space is really that on your hands and knees, and then in places you have to almost lie on stomach to get under beams or pipes. And the entrance opening is about the size of a basement window. No door. So not really usable for storing much of anything. I may store some garden hoses.

 

[Dinoburner]

Went to a storage units sale and noticed one unit had heavy wood containers full of nuclear test instruments and calibrating material. Tempting as was did not purchas anything based on not knowing.

 

[zzyzzx]

No basements or crawl spaces.

Why not in your area???

 

[Hillbilly Deluxe]

Why not in your area???

Because there's different geography in the US?

 

[zzyzzx]

Because there's different geography in the US?

I know that, but in AZ I wouldn't expect basement water intrusion to be an issue.

 

[AZjeff]

Why not in your area???

There was no need. Guessing way back they didn't need root cellars and getting below the frost line isn't a thing in most of the state. In Flagstaff they have stem walls and some basements in older houses, also in the eastern mountains and in nearby Prescott in the old houses. New construction is on slab with a few walk out basements if the topography is right and someone wants to pay for it.

 

[Hillbilly Deluxe]

I know that, but in AZ I wouldn't expect basement water intrusion to be an issue.

There's no basements in AZ because there's no frost line requirement, the ground is rocky and there's little to no need for foundation improvement.

There's lots of areas of the US where slab on grade is the popular method. There's areas where you might see a mix of slab on grade and crawl space in the same area.

My house is on a crawl space. I wish they had dug down more and made a basement, but I have serious doubts about whether or not it would have been done right - sealed correctly. My house was built in 1996 and I believe that was right before most high quality builders figured out to use better sealing products. My house was built by the homeowner, he is/was a commercial painter. He (and I guess his sons/family) did the electrical and plumbing and probably finish carpentry. The finish carpentry was done very well. We have some higher-end casings/crown moldings, but it's all clear pine stained to look like cherry. My wife wants it all painted to match current trends....

But what he is and was not is a plumber and electrician. All the CPVC water piping in the crawl space was installed TIGHT up against the joists and the hot water wasn't insulated. The pipes and joists POP when the hot water is running and subsequently cools off.

There's some WHACKED wiring. Just this past weekend I was re-wiring a receptacle in our bath and discovered his madness again - evidently they cut a power wire short when finishing and soldered in a pigtail and then twisted it with another power wire and covered it in electrical tape. It's held up since 1996.

I've come to realize that most of the ceiling light fixtures don't have boxes. They screwed the fixture to a board above the ceiling and just wired the fixture in out in the open.

They put what seems like hundreds of light switches in, we have no idea what half of them do in some rooms. This is a 2500 sf house, gas heat, gas hot water, gas stove. The breaker panel is full and there's 8-10 "mini" breakers. I've never seen anything like it. The fan/light combo in the master shower is on the same circuit as the receptacle for the above-cabinet lighting in the kitchen.


Anyway, I'm torn on wanting a basement or slab on grade. Slab is more appealing to me today because of the higher quality PEX available. I'd surely require that I inspect every single detail before the concrete was being poured.

 

[AZjeff]

There's no basements in AZ because there's no frost line requirement, the ground is rocky and there's little to no need for foundation

Mostly correct about no freezing ground as I noted, rocky soil not so much. Where we are because of the nature of the soil new construction requires a post-tension slab. Look it up. Our 1600 Sq ft house has around 120 cubic yards of concrete and a grid work of cables under tension. Very common.

 

[Nick1994]

I know that, but in AZ I wouldn't expect basement water intrusion to be an issue.

Water isn't an issue. But basements basically don't exist here.

 

[andyd]

Crawl -space is full of lumber for house stuff.

 

[Donald]

There's no basements in AZ because there's no frost line requirement, the ground is rocky and there's little to no need for foundation improvement.

There's lots of areas of the US where slab on grade is the popular method. There's areas where you might see a mix of slab on grade and crawl space in the same area.

My house is on a crawl space. I wish they had dug down more and made a basement, but I have serious doubts about whether or not it would have been done right - sealed correctly. My house was built in 1996 and I believe that was right before most high quality builders figured out to use better sealing products. My house was built by the homeowner, he is/was a commercial painter. He (and I guess his sons/family) did the electrical and plumbing and probably finish carpentry. The finish carpentry was done very well. We have some higher-end casings/crown moldings, but it's all clear pine stained to look like cherry. My wife wants it all painted to match current trends....

But what he is and was not is a plumber and electrician. All the CPVC water piping in the crawl space was installed TIGHT up against the joists and the hot water wasn't insulated. The pipes and joists POP when the hot water is running and subsequently cools off.

There's some WHACKED wiring. Just this past weekend I was re-wiring a receptacle in our bath and discovered his madness again - evidently they cut a power wire short when finishing and soldered in a pigtail and then twisted it with another power wire and covered it in electrical tape. It's held up since 1996.

I've come to realize that most of the ceiling light fixtures don't have boxes. They screwed the fixture to a board above the ceiling and just wired the fixture in out in the open.

They put what seems like hundreds of light switches in, we have no idea what half of them do in some rooms. This is a 2500 sf house, gas heat, gas hot water, gas stove. The breaker panel is full and there's 8-10 "mini" breakers. I've never seen anything like it. The fan/light combo in the master shower is on the same circuit as the receptacle for the above-cabinet lighting in the kitchen.


Anyway, I'm torn on wanting a basement or slab on grade. Slab is more appealing to me today because of the higher quality PEX available. I'd surely require that I inspect every single detail before the concrete was being poured.

Where I am in Delaware a few people who have basements had water issues due to a high water table. One person filled it in to make a crawl space after he gave up on pumping water from the basement.

I would prefer a crawl space with a cement floor where you could easily move around the crawl space. And a decent size opening.

For the most part service people (HVAC & termite inspection) are in my crawl space more than I am. Wife thinks it's my man cave. I have a non functional dehumidifier I need to get out of the crawl space. It looks almost too large for the access opening to the outside. New dehumidifier is much more compact.

 

[Donald]

Storage unit finally empty. Truck, well that's another story.