On Wed, 9 Dec 2020 20:27:40 +0000 (UTC), RJH
wrote:
snip


Here I think a basement is quite rare, except for some of the bigger
houses both in the town and country.

Quite a few houses have cellars.

Ah, are you being specific re a cellar rather than a basement as I was
referring to them as being the same sort of thing (some level of space
under a house). You see them in offices quite a lot in the city (I
worked in one for 5 years) with the glass panes in the pavement for
light.

"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, .."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basement

I've got the washing machine (with a suitable
drain pump), dryer and freezer down there.
Bit miserable to use as a work area
though - too cold for me.

But handy for the fridge and freezer. ;-)

And while humidity is quite high (it's far from bone dry, like most cellars)
nothing's rusted or been affected by damp. So far as I can see ;-)

Do you need a brighter torch to see better down there?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt8aAy_8Ub4

Cheers, T i m