Basement facts for kids

Wine cellars

The basement is the lowest room in some buildings, almost always below the ground. There is another type of basement, called a subcellar. A subcellar is just like a basement, but more below it.

Most basements have lights.

History

The first famous basements were made sometime in the 1950s. After that, many other kinds of basements were built and made. Later, most basements were used to have washing machines and other items in basements.

Soon, basements were used to contain or save water.

Images for kids

• 

  An unfinished basement used for storage and exercise

• 

  Chillon Castle (Château de Chillon) basement

• 

  A former Stasi basement hallway

• 

  Cellars are often used in pubs to keep beer barrels connected to the bar at ground level.

• 

  Old Town medieval basements in Warsaw

• 

  Townhouses with English basements

• 

  A walkout basement

• 

  A typical crawl space showing crawl space vents and concrete rat-proofing. Rat-proofing is a thin, irregular concrete covering applied over the soil to prevent rodents from burrowing under the foundation wall and entering the crawl space.

• 

  Basement of Diocletian's Palace

• 

  Measured drawing showing basement plan and structural foundations of the Amoureaux House in Ste. Geneviève, Missouri

• 

  Floorplan of Church of Tithes, Kyiv, prior to 1828 rebuild

• 

  Grocery department in basement of T. Eaton's company, Calgary, Alberta, Canada (1929)

• 

  Water can seep into a basement from elevated places nearby, such as a raised driveway. Solutions include re-mortaring bricks, putting silicone in cracks, elevating areas next to exterior walls, and sloping gutters so water flows away from the house.

• 

  Example of the result of houses constructed in the beginning of the 20th century in Dawson City (Yukon Territory) without a basement

• 

  A finished basement

See also

In Spanish: Sótano para niños