What’s a Florida Basement And Do I Need One?

What’s a Florida Basement And Do I Need One?

When homeowners move to Central Florida from other states, one of the first things they ask, where are the basements and where am I going to store all my stuff?  Since we can dig a hole and hit ground water at 3’ in most locations, a basement isn’t practical in the Orlando area. Even in areas that have higher ground elevations, basements are not recommended due to our high humidity. Fear not, there is another solution, a Florida basement!

The difference between Orlando and northern basements, we locate ours up in the attic instead of under the house. Of course, we have to add air conditioning but a large accessory  space is possible if the home is designed with an additional storage area in mind. That’s where custom home building come in.

Do I need a Florida basement? Why can’t I just store items in the attic space above the garage like I did up north? Although that sounds like a great idea, not much will survive in an Orlando attic where temperatures can reach 150 degrees. Holiday decorations won’t even last  a year with those temperatures. Our attic spaces are only good for storing old, car tire rims. 

Oh sure, almost every garage has a disappearing stairway up to an attic space but few women have the courage to actually use the “stairway to heaven”. Besides, you’ll have to pull the car out of the garage and move all the junk first. A Florida basement is just more practical.

The air conditioned storage spaces are easily accessible, well lit and designed with convenience in mind. Many have built in shelving and finished out with painted drywall. Now you know where Orlando homeowners store all their stuff!