habitable Basement/cellar
Hi, could anyone clarify for me what is meant by habitable basement? We have a basement which is not used apart from the fact that it the meters and fuse box are located there. Would this be regarded as habitable? There may now also be the issue of whether it is a basement or cellar?…
Hi, could anyone clarify for me what is meant by habitable basement? We have a basement which is not used apart from the fact that it the meters and fuse box are located there. Would this be regarded as habitable?
There may now also be the issue of whether it is a basement or cellar?
If anyone could help with any of these issues, I would be very grateful, thank you
I know this is an old topic- but I’d rather put this here instead of starting a new thread.
With respect to the 50% above grade- I thought you can classify as habitable if you dug a wide/deep opening around the windows- so basically a cement pit- thats big enough to provide egress. Is that not enough?
Check your CO to see how the DOB has classified the space to date (whether cellar or basement). If you don’t know how to do this, go to: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dob/html/bis/bis.shtml and enter your address number and street in the column on the far right. At the top right of the next page that opens, you will find a link to your CO. If the building was constructed prior to 1938, there is a chance it will have no CO.
…that’s not to say that you can’t have an AWESOME wine cellar!
If your basement/cellar is 100% below grade (or more than 50%), it isn’t habitable. Not legally. All over NYC people live in sub-subterranean basements, some with little casement windows, some with no windows. But it isn’t legal to do more than lift weights or shoot pool down there.
If you can’t live there, legally, it isn’t a story. But when you list the building? People say all kinds of things on listings. Including “habitable basement” when what they really mean is “carpeted dungeon that you can’t legally live in or rent out”
This place:
http://www.prudentialelliman.com/Listings.aspx?ListingID=981100
Is listed as two stories even though the lower level is 100% subterranean. From the street, you look down through a grate to the windows of the bottom level. So the downstairs bedroom has windows but they don’t even reach the street.
Soo: maybe you could fine tune your question (do you mean “can I call it three stories?” or do you mean “can I put a unit down there?” or do you mean “can i put a bedroom down there?”) because I think the question is different in each case.
On the whole though, I’d be peeved if I showed up to look at a “three story building” and only two of those stories were actually above ground.
The basement has to be at 50% above grade or “curb level” as the DOB and the NYC.gov pamphlet describes it. Which is the sidewalk level. So count how many steps down from sidewalk level you go into the basement at its front entrance — that’s what the DOB did at our house.
It’s not just about size or type of windows or “air”. As you see in the pamphlet, the definition of “basement” to NYC does not include requirements on number or size of windows. Because depending on the designs of the fronts and stoops of some houses, a basement may have no windows in front, only in back, and yet the interior space is still 50% above grade or curb level. There are houses like that in our neighborhood, that have a raised cement platform in front instead of windows to the basement. Our house has both a raised cement platform and windows both. Also there are such houses in Brooklyn that have larger, garden-size windows but to enter you have to go down below curb level, and it’s not fully at ground level like a true garden level should be. So windows alone don’t tell you everything and it’s not how the DOB determines it.
Here’s a link for HPD’s FAQ on basements and cellars which should help answer some of your questions:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/hpd/downloads/pdf/PreservationSvcsBrochure_BasementCellar.pdf
Hry, thanks for that, our basement/cellar has no windows or anything like that so I’m guessing it’s probably regarded as a cellar. I’m interested if it would be classed as habitable in terms of of the property is rented and would it be classed as 2 or 3 storeys.
Thanks again for your help,
I’m not an expert, but from what I’ve learned a basement is distinguishable from a cellar by the fact that the windows have more than 50% above the curb line. It’s al about light and air. Because of this, you can legally convert the basement into a bedroom or perhaps even into an apartment. You could frame out and hide your meters. Cellars are less valuable because you can’t have a legal bedroom and perhaps not a full bathroom. (Not sure on that.) Hope that’s a good starting point.