ᐅ Is a Basement Practical for a Single-Family Home or Usually Too Expensive?
Created on: 30 Jun 2018 21:56
A
Abzug86
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!
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!
We have 450 sqm (4844 sq ft), of which 84 sqm (904 sq ft) are used for the house, about 55 sqm (592 sq ft) for the driveway/front garden strip, and approximately 54 sqm (581 sq ft) (?) for the double garage with storage room. That leaves around 200 sqm (2153 sq ft) for the garden. I had hoped for more, but not including the storage room (~21 sqm / 226 sq ft) and instead building a basement was not an option.
No, the space has to be enough. Whatever doesn’t fit will simply have to go. However, I’m not very attached to material things anymore anyway.
But logically, as has been noted several times before, no agreement will be reached on this. And it doesn’t have to be.
No, the space has to be enough. Whatever doesn’t fit will simply have to go. However, I’m not very attached to material things anymore anyway.
But logically, as has been noted several times before, no agreement will be reached on this. And it doesn’t have to be.
Snowy36 schrieb:
As I said, I understand the "unfairness" of the whole situation, but in cities like London, this has unfortunately been the case for a long time....
People working in social professions commute there daily for at least 2 hours.... I also often use the example of London when people tell me, "Prices can’t possibly go up any further"... But they can.
Hello,
Fully agree. The argument that you could buy a bigger plot for the same price and build a bigger ground floor there is, in my opinion, somewhat flawed.
In this residential area, very few have built without a basement. And they honestly admit that they only skipped the basement due to budget constraints and now deeply regret it.
I honestly don’t know how we would manage without a basement; otherwise, we would have needed at least a 70 sqm (750 sq ft) extension on the ground floor. And I seriously doubt that would have been cheaper than building a basement.
But everyone has their own way…
Best regards,
Andreas
face26 schrieb:
If I do it the way it is often suggested here, I would have to make our garage 30 sqm (320 sq ft) larger, the house itself would also need more floor area, and I would have to plan for an attic, which we are currently avoiding. Aside from the fact that you don’t get that extra space for free, it would simply take up more of the lot, which unfortunately isn’t very large to begin with.
You could say that we should have just bought a bigger plot... sure, but first you have to actually find and acquire one, and then you also have to consider that the extra square meters come with a significant cost.
Fully agree. The argument that you could buy a bigger plot for the same price and build a bigger ground floor there is, in my opinion, somewhat flawed.
- First, you need to find and acquire a bigger plot: We managed to get 650 sqm (7,000 sq ft) in our preferred area. Of course, 15 km (9 miles) further out in the countryside, we probably could have bought two plots for the same price. But we simply did not want to live there!
- Even if you have a bigger plot, the zoning plan / building permit must allow for a bigger house, garage, or extension in the first place.
- Planning to use the garage as storage space is a bit tricky. According to most fire safety regulations, nothing may be stored in a garage. That means only cars (with filled gas tanks!) are allowed in there, but no bicycles. The usefulness of this rule is certainly debatable, but it is a regulation for now. And if a spiteful neighbor reports you or an overzealous fire officer notices, you’ll have to find alternative storage for your stuff. This has already happened locally.
In this residential area, very few have built without a basement. And they honestly admit that they only skipped the basement due to budget constraints and now deeply regret it.
I honestly don’t know how we would manage without a basement; otherwise, we would have needed at least a 70 sqm (750 sq ft) extension on the ground floor. And I seriously doubt that would have been cheaper than building a basement.
But everyone has their own way…
Best regards,
Andreas
B
Bonnie_Ham5 Jul 2018 12:02Hausbauer1 schrieb:
The rental and purchase prices in Munich are already insane. But you don’t have to live in Munich. And I find the purchase prices elsewhere are becoming insane as well. Of course, this has a lot to do with the Euro and refugee crises. Because of the Euro crisis, many people are trying to secure their money in Germany. And refugees and migrants in need of assistance also require housing. This naturally drives up prices. The financial crisis, in turn, has led many to invest their money in real estate, while also causing interest rates to drop significantly, which further increases prices.Where are all the Munich nurses, hairdressers, care workers, administrative staff, police officers, etc. supposed to go?
For several thousand of Munich’s social housing units (!), city employees already have occupancy rights, but the existing stock is far from sufficient. This is truly a problem. And just because things are even worse elsewhere doesn’t make this any better.
You are absolutely right that purchase prices are currently insane everywhere.
B
Bonnie_Ham5 Jul 2018 12:08andimann schrieb:
- Planning to use the garage as storage space is a somewhat sensitive idea. According to most fire safety regulations, nothing is allowed to be stored in a garage. That means only cars (with full fuel tanks!) are permitted, but no bicycles. Whether this rule makes sense is debatable, but that's the regulation for now. And if a disgruntled neighbor reports you or an overzealous firefighter finds out, you'll have to look for storage space for your stuff. This has already happened here in town.
However, fire safety regulations only apply if the garage is not detached. Even if the garage is attached, you are generally allowed to store items related to the car, such as tires or roof racks.
But from what I see with my neighbors, no one seems to know these rules. Some garages are so full that the cars hardly fit inside anymore. The problem is simply that the more space you have, the more you tend to use it.
andimann schrieb:
Hello,
Full agreement. The argument that you could buy a larger plot of land for the same money and build a bigger ground floor there is, in my opinion, somewhat flawed.
- First, you have to find and secure a larger plot: We got 650 square meters (7000 square feet) in our preferred area. Of course, about 15 km (9 miles) further out in the countryside, we probably could have bought two plots for the same price. But we simply did not want to live there!
- Even if you have a bigger plot, the zoning regulations must allow a larger house/garage/extension first.
- Planning to use the garage as storage space is a bit problematic. According to most fire safety regulations, nothing may be stored in a garage. That means only cars (with a full gas tank!) are allowed, but no bicycles. Whether this rule makes much sense is debatable, but it is the regulation. And if a hostile neighbor reports you, or an overzealous firefighter notices this, you will have to find alternative storage for your stuff. This has already happened here in town.
In this residential area, only a few houses were built without basements. And those owners honestly admit that they only skipped the basement due to lack of money and now regrettably miss it.
I also don’t know how we would manage without a basement — the ground floor extension would have had to be at least 70 square meters (750 square feet). And whether that would really have been cheaper than the basement, I seriously doubt.
But everyone to their own...
Best regards,
Andreas Of course, it’s a matter of money. But it’s more a trade-off consideration than a decision out of necessity. I’d say you could afford your dream house with a basement well. I would have had to significantly downsize my dream house or take on more debt.
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