Basements!!!

Wooden stairs leading to a dimly lit basement with concrete walls

I have often been asked, why do we even have basements? The largest single reason: frost. If our homes are not based upon a solid frost-resistant foundation they will shift, crack, settle and move in wondrous ways, demanding repairs at often great expense. The other benefit from earlier times, the cold cellar was necessary for preserves and other food storage to get through the winter.