What do u call it,

JayinNY · Feb 28, 2013

A cellar or a basement? And what's the difference! I use both terms,

rrlund · Feb 28, 2013

Cellar. If it was newer,concrete block or poured wall with a decent floor,maybe I'd call it a basement,but it's stone wall,a thin rough floor and I have to go outside to get there,so mine's a cellar.

Handyman · Feb 28, 2013

here a house sits on a basement, a cellar is for storing potatoes.

Harvey 2 · Feb 28, 2013

According to the dictianary the basement and cellar is aboot the same thang.

retired farmer · Feb 28, 2013

Cellar is made of mostly dirt where you store potatoes. Basement is concrete walled room under house. That is what I have always thought.

larrystinescorner · Feb 28, 2013

Ill second that answer

Nebraska Cowman · Feb 28, 2013

Depends where you live or how old your parents were. As a kid growing up on the farm it was always "down cellar" I never heard the space under a house called a basement until I was older. Out here in the west a "cellar" Is an underground room for storing garden produce and canned goods you don't want to freeze. But even that the old timers still call "the cave"

John B. · Feb 28, 2013

After reading all the comments I think thru time building procedures changed and so did the name.

oliver power · Feb 28, 2013

I've always heard of storing potatos, etc. in a "Root Cellar". From my dictionary: Cellar = apartment under ground used for storage. Basement = base floor of building. Never heard the frase "Root Basement".

fixerupper · Feb 28, 2013

Here's the way I've heard it here in NWIA. Root cellar or storm cellar is a manmade cave out in the yard somewhere. But a cellar can be under a house if it's just a dirt floored hole. People used to call it a fruit cellar. When dad moved on this farm in 1949 the house only had a shallow dirt floor cellar. He dug it out deeper and poured a cement floor, making it a basement.

One year when we were harvesting in Oklahoma one of the young guys on the crew asked why Oklahoma has so many bomb shelters. I had to explain to him that's where the garden vegetables were stored before refrigeration, and it was shelter from tornadoes. Jim

Adirondack case guy · Feb 28, 2013

I have a partial 30X60' cellar/basement below ground level supporting part of my house. In it I have a full woodworking shop, room to back in my Kubota B2150, and my Case 300 tractor. There ain't no tators stored in there though. I do have a concrete cave that extends under my attached garage with an access door in the back of my cellar, but there ain't no tators in that either. I store my tators in my unheated walk-in pantry which is in an enclosed porch connecting one door of my house and garage. (Bet you're confused now), HeHe.
Loren, the Acg.

Rick Kr · Feb 28, 2013

Agree with Fixerupper.

Then you can also have a Michigan basement. Thats a discussion for another day.

Rick

notjustair · Feb 28, 2013

My 100 year old house has a cellar. It had a dirt floor until some wise guy decided to pour 2 inches of cement of top and not use a trowel. It is also not tall enough to stand up in (maybe 5 1/2 feet tall). It may or may not have several snakes in it at any given point. Those things make it a cellar.

Or a shop of horrors as my mother calls it. She is just sure that a snake is going to crawl up those steps and get her if she stays the night. Works out in my favor in the end.

ralph1111 · Feb 28, 2013

You can"t park a tractor in a cellar.

wheat straw · Feb 28, 2013

Wow, this is like discussing breakfast, dinner and supper, or breakfast, lunch and dinner.

In my ancient world, lunch comes in a brown bag, supper is that big, wonderful meal at the end of the day that packs on the pounds. Please don't deprive me of my supper.

Wheat Straw

ShadetreeRet · Feb 28, 2013

I just looked it up on the online dictionary. Gave basically the same definition for both. But the way most people look at it, Retired Farmer's comment pretty well nailed it.

farmer boy · Feb 28, 2013

I've always called it a basement. Never really heard it called a cellar, though I know the term.

SweetFeet · Feb 28, 2013

My husband's childhood home had poured concrete floors and walls.

My childhood home had stone foundation walls and a plain ol' dirt floor... also plenty of toads, salamanders, spiders and as many crickets as there are flies on a poo pile. (Probably why I HATE crickets).

Both our families always referred to it as the basement, as do most other folks around this area.

oleclint · Feb 28, 2013

Around here a "celler" is refering to a storm celler. A good place to be when a tornado is comming your way. They are mostly in ground with a small part of them above ground.

RBnSC · Mar 1, 2013

Here it would be called a pool or cistern. Because it would definitely have water in it.
Ron

Anonymous-0 · Mar 1, 2013

Basement, under a house. Storm shelter, out in the yard. Who wants to try and get out of a hole with the whole collapsed house on top of you. I have heard they are putting storm shelters under the garage floors in new homes. WITH a hydralic lift jack to open the lid to the shelter in case the whole house and car are on top of you.

rustyacres sd · Mar 1, 2013

Man Cave. but in other words I call it a basement

Chris(WA) · Mar 1, 2013

Nebraska is "out west"? West-Midwest I guess!! LOL!

guido · Mar 1, 2013

Hello JayinNY,

A basement is under the first house floor,
and can be either dirt or concrete. A cellar is usually dirt floor. There are two kinds cellars that i konw of: One is a root cellar(SPELLING)
The other is a wine cellar.

Guido.

What do u call it,

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