ᐅ Built without a basement and regretted it?

We also clean out regularly and get rid of old stuff. Still, I couldn’t imagine living without a basement. We have the heating and laundry room there, and especially my workshop.
We also store a large quantity of apples and apple juice from our garden.

Sure, all these rooms and things could be located above ground if the building land were cheap. But at 700€/m² (around $65/sq ft) nowadays, that’s not really an option.

Best regards
Michael

We deliberately built without a basement because our house already offers enough storage space:
a large walk-in closet, a well-designed utility room, a storage area under the stairs, plenty of space in the home office, and an attic.
We honestly don’t know what to do with all the extra space since we don’t have that much stuff.

In our rural area, the land is very affordable (about €36/m² (about $3.35/ft²)), so we preferred to build a larger house above ground and have natural daylight in every room.

miho schrieb:

We store lots of apples and apple juice from our garden.
Of course, with cheap building land, you could also store all those rooms and things above ground. But with current prices of 700€/m² (about $750/yd²), that's not really an option.

At 700€/m² (about $65/ft²), it’s better not to calculate how much the apple juice or the apple itself actually costs.
Costs include the land share for the apple tree, proportional costs for the basement, interest expenses, and the costs of producing the juice.

HilfeHilfe schrieb:
chapou !

Thank you

Regards, Bauexperte

Musketier schrieb:
At 700€/m² (approximately $740 per sq yd), you better not calculate how much the apple juice or the apple itself actually costs.
Costs for the land share of the apple tree, proportional costs for the basement, interest costs, and the costs for producing the juice.

Both the basement and the apple trees were already there in the house we bought. So that question didn’t really come up.
The hammock between the old trees is priceless anyway.

Regards
Michael

kaho674 schrieb:
We faced the threat of groundwater and had run out of money – so, two problems at once. Therefore, we built without a basement and are managing well.

We had a similar situation.

Do I miss having a basement? Sometimes – especially when I see our overcrowded utility room (currently, there are still cement bags and irrigation system accessories stored there). However, I think this will change over the next two years. Once we have our garden shed, things like patio furniture for winter, bicycles, a large gas grill and a smaller charcoal grill, plant containers, a future lawnmower, and so on can be stored there. At the moment, we have to find space for these items in the storage room/utility room or outdoors (poor bike, poor grill, garden tools). Additionally, we pay 40 euros every six months to store the bikes at a workshop.

By the way, we plan to do the annual attic cleanout in winter. That will free up some more space as well.

When else do I miss having a basement? I had originally planned to hang a punching bag in the so-called “Mom and Dad relaxation room.” Well, that room doesn’t exist – nor does the bag. Just the desire for a bit more physical activity. But honestly, if I’m not exhausted from work already, the kids take care of that. If not the kids, then the garden does. So, no time left for exercise.

Also, a few months ago, I played table football (foosball) with my now 5-year-old daughter. She was very excited – and so was I – but unfortunately, I don’t have an adequate space to set up such a table. A proper table is quite large and heavy, so it won’t be moved often. Therefore, it should be placed somewhere it’s not in the way and always accessible. There isn’t such a place in our home. Maybe if we replace the old double bed in the office/guest room with a sofa bed, but that’s currently not a priority compared to other things.