ᐅ Is a Basement Practical for a Single-Family Home or Usually Too Expensive?

Hello everyone,

I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce myself briefly: my name is Michael, I’m 32 years old, married, (currently) no children, employed at an insurance agency in northern Bavaria, and my wife and I are planning to build a new single-family house in 2019. I will share more details in a separate thread once the concept is worked out in detail.

At the moment, we are getting inspiration from the catalogs of several general contractors and are considering which "type" of house is right for us. This raised the question: do we need a basement? And if so, for what purpose? I’ll explain this further with an example (both plots are level):

Single-family house 1: basement, ground floor, usable attic, footprint 100 m² (1,076 sq ft), living area (according to the Wohnflächenverordnung) 140 m² (1,507 sq ft).

Single-family house 2: ground floor, usable attic, footprint 130 m² (1,399 sq ft), living area (according to the Wohnflächenverordnung) 185 m² (1,992 sq ft).

Both options would cost roughly the same (~375,000 EUR turnkey). Single-family house 1 has a basement; single-family house 2 does not but offers significantly more living space. Both are heated by a heat pump.

In my understanding, there are three main reasons for having a basement: 1. as storage space, 2. for the heating system, and 3. for the utility/laundry room. Step by step:

1.) I can’t really think of much that I would need to store down there—at least not on a total area of about 50+ m² (540+ sq ft)...

2.) Since heating is provided by a heat pump, the "heater" itself would be located outside anyway. The basement would only house the controls (and the hot water tank?). I assume these could also be installed on the ground floor, right?

3.) If the utility room is in the basement and the bedroom is on the upper floor, my wife would have to go up and down two levels. Also, ventilation would be difficult when air-drying laundry. For these reasons, it might even make more sense to move this area to the ground floor.

I’m curious to hear your thoughts on basements—perhaps I am missing important points or have a wrong understanding regarding the "heating room." Thanks in advance for your help!

Even though the thread sounds more like a trolling provocation than a genuine request for information...

- Drinks pre-chilled
- Everything else you would usually store in the garage
- Heating on the ground floor requires space that could be put to better use on the most valuable living level
- Hobby room
- You need some kind of storage room anyway, either an attic conversion or just another room somewhere in the house
- Direct cellar (basement) access means you can skip the garden shed
- When you factor in all compensatory costs, a cellar (basement) is actually very cost-effective living space

That’s what came to mind after just 10 seconds of thinking. If you can’t think of any good reasons or don’t need any of the above: then don’t build a cellar (basement), no finished attic, no garden shed, and no storage room inside the house.

PS: Drying laundry in the cellar (basement) is a really bad idea. Have you never had a cellar (basement) before?

A basement used solely as storage space is, in my opinion, unnecessary.

A basement designed as fully usable living space is justified, especially for sloped or hillside plots.

A music rehearsal room, soundproofed in the basement, is fine. A workshop as well. Otherwise, the basement usually turns into a dead-end storage space for stuff you actually don’t need.

Typical household tools, winter clothing, scooters and balance/tricycles for children, Christmas decorations, original packaging for a few particularly valuable items, winter tires, outgrown children’s clothes saved for later, and so on. Where do you store all this? A basement is certainly not a must-have, but even without hoarding, there are always a few things to put away.

So, if not in the basement, wardrobes get larger, as does the utility room, bikes are stored at the dealer, the last corner in the garage is filled, or the attic is later converted.

I take the opposite view and consider the waste of (expensive!) living space, especially the most valuable on the ground floor, as unnecessary. In contrast, a square meter of basement space is actually quite affordable and provides freedom in the areas where you live.

@Fuchur

Thanks for your reply. But what do you mean by "troll-like provocation"...? Do you also call people outside the internet who have less expertise than you on certain topics a "troll" or a "provocateur"?

Regarding your points:

- Drinks pre-chilled: okay, they are certainly a few degrees Celsius (°C) cooler...
- I put things I need for the car in the garage. Why would I store them in the basement and carry them up and down all the time?
- There is more than enough space both on the ground floor and the upper floor – 7 rooms plus a toilet, 2 bathrooms, and hallways. I could easily spare one room for the heating control and at the same time use it as a utility room.
- Storage space: see previous point. Of course, it would be nice to store things in the basement – but not on 50 or 70 square meters (m²).
- What do you mean by "direct basement access"? As I said, this is not a walk-out basement.
- Sure, the basement area is cheaper than space on the ground floor or attic – but usually the basement is unfinished, unheated, and dark. I could imagine using it as a fitness room, but even then, the disadvantages I mentioned before apply.

Regarding laundry drying: we currently live in a single-family house as subtenants and use the basement. The house has existed since 1992, and since then laundry has been dried in the basement during bad weather. Where do you see the problem here (apart from the disadvantages I mentioned regarding the distance to carry laundry and suboptimal ventilation)?