The Florida Basement

The Florida Man is always in the news nationwide. Just, this week, I Googled “A Florida Man”.

South Florida man named John Publix, arrested after stealing from Publix. South Florida man who made headlines for climbing atop traffic pole, at it again. Florida man gored by bison in Yellowstone National Park. Florida man arrested for having 3 wives in 3 different counties. Florida man sold his dream car and then five years later found it abandoned so bought it back. Florida man tried to kill another man over $5 beer police say. Florida man pulls some strings at the Ukulele Club of Gainesville. Florida man with cardboard license tag arrested. Florida Man on Meth is Bitten by alligator …” He growled at me”. Florida man buys mask at gas station to burglarize bank across the street. Florida Man had hours long junk food feast inside closed Walgreens.

Enough!

But there is one dumb thing the Florida Man will not do. And that is build a basement in south Florida…..

Sure enough, every few years some dingle dork from Jersey does one of two things…. (1) Swims in a lake to cool off – you know what happens next. (2) A Jersey contractor comes down south and builds a basement.

There is a good reason not to build a basement and it’s because of our water table. A few firms now claim there are some methods to get around this. I wouldn’t want to be the guinea pig to find out though.

If you want a Florida basement, you generally have three options…..

One is renting a storage unit. The second is to add a bonus room. The third is to use your garage.

The problem, especially for those coming from up north, is that you have far less storage space than you are used to in your northern home. So, option one really isn’t practical. If it goes in the storage unit, it will stay in the storage unit. To prove that point, I’m fair game to my Jersey brethren. Chicago Man (that would be me) brought our pool table down here, which promptly went to the storage unit for a year and a half. Not only did I pay to have the pool table taken apart, but I paid for the moving of it and then the storage of it. That’s stupid.

The second option for a Florida basement is a bonus room. A bonus room can be any combination of an extra bedroom, den, playroom…. you name it. A toy room if you have kids. Etc. This is a great option if you can afford to pay for the extra room and the extra living square footage.

The last Florida basement option is your garage – which is the most popular Florida basement option. Before 1980, garages were deep and wide. Builders wised up and figured out that Buyers never actually measured the space and drove their car straight into the garage before purchasing. Instead, they realized they could take some of that extra square footage and give the owners more primary closet space. People shop by living square feet (not total square feet so much) and the extra profit will then be for the builder as skimping on garage depth and width never gave them a good return on investment anyways.

Resale Buyers look to Living Square Footage (under AC) as well when shopping. Even if you have an oversized garage, garage space is part of total square footage and many never even look at total square feet. Some ask, if you invest in a garage, do you get your money out? A decade ago, I’d say pass on putting money in the garage. There used to not be a lot you could do. But today there is.

Epoxy, ployaspartic floor coating, or racetrack tile will turn an ugly floor into something cool. Slatwall storage systems, garage wall storage, cabinets, and overhead storage are all great options today – meaning you can put stuff that would normally go in the basement, on your walls. Garage doors with window panel inserts are in style and bring light in. I did this in my home to differentiate it. It looks pretty cool at night. So, today, go ahead and drop a few dollars in your garage. It’s the one thing this Florida Man did smart.