A basement or cellar is one or more floors of a building that are completely or partly below the ground floor. It generally is used as a utility space for a building, where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, car park, and air-conditioning system are located; so also are amenities such as the electrical system and cable television distribution point. In cities with high property prices, such as London, basements are often fitted out to a high standard and used as living space.
In British English, the word basement is usually used for underground floors of, for example, department stores. The word is usually used with houses when the space below the ground floor is habitable, with windows and (usually) its own access. The word cellar applies to the whole underground level or to any large underground room. A subcellar or subbasement is a cellar that lies further underneath.
Purpose, geography, and history
A basement can be used in almost exactly the same manner as an additional above-ground floor of a house or other building. However, the use of basements depends largely on factors specific to a particular geographical area such as climate, soil, seismic activity, building technology, and real estate economics.
Basements in small buildings such as single-family detached houses are rare in wet climates such as Great Britain and Ireland where flooding can be a problem, though they may be used in larger structures. However, basements are considered standard on all but the smallest new buildings in many places with temperate continental climates such as the American Midwest and the Canadian Prairies where a concrete foundation below the frost line is needed in any case, to prevent a building from shifting during the freeze-thaw cycle. Basements are much easier to construct in areas with relatively soft soils and may be avoided in places where the soil is too compact for easy excavation. Their use may be restricted in earthquake zones, because of the possibility of the upper floors collapsing into the basement; on the other hand, they may be required in tornado-prone areas as a shelter against violent winds. Adding a basement can also reduce heating and cooling costs as it is a form of earth sheltering, and a way to reduce a building's surface area-to-volume ratio. The housing density of an area may also influence whether or not a basement is considered necessary.
Historically, basements have become much easier to build (in developed countries) since the industrialization of home building. Large powered excavation machines such as backhoes and front-end loaders have dramatically reduced the time and manpower needed to dig a basement as compared to digging by hand with a spade, although this method may still be used in the developing world.
For most of its early history, the basement took one of two forms. It could be little more than a cellar, or it could be a section of a building containing rooms and spaces similar to those of the rest of the structure, as in the case of basement flats and basement offices.
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- 2 tablespoons butter, divided
- 1 small onion, thinly sliced
- 3/4 pound ground beef
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
- 4 slices rye bread
- 4 slices Gouda cheese
- 1/4 cup Thousand Island salad dressing
- In a large skillet or grill pan over medium-high heat, melt 1 tablespoon butter; saute onion 6 to 8 minutes, or until it starts to brown. Remove to a bowl and cover.
- Shape beef into 2 oval patties; sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
- In the same skillet over medium heat, cook patties 5 to 7 minutes per side, or until no longer pink in center. Remove from skillet and keep warm.
- Spread remaining butter over one side of each slice of bread. Place in skillet buttered side down, and toast until lightly browned.
- To assemble a sandwich, place a slice of cheese on a piece of toast, top with a beef patty, half the onion slices, and half the salad dressing. Top with another slice of cheese and piece of toast; repeat with second sandwich, then serve immediately.
1905 – Marlin Perkins, American zoologist and television host (d. 1986)
1948 – Dianne Wiest, American actress
1955 – Reba McEntire, American singer and actress
1970 – Vince Vaughn, American actor
1986 – Lady Gaga, American singer and songwriter
HOW TO OBSERVE
- Master eating with chopsticks.
- Serve each meal on a stick. French toast for breakfast? Serve it cut up on toothpicks. Salad for lunch? Slide all the fixings on a skewer. The same goes for supper. Be creative and involve the whole family in the planning. Just don’t serve soup.
- Challenge the family to create a name as many foods on a stick as possible.
