ᐅ Building with or without a basement in southern Germany – experiences?
Created on: 14 May 2019 17:24
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Camille1984
Even though I am still looking for a plot of land, I am already thinking about the house.
In the south of Germany (Baden-Württemberg), it is quite common to build houses with basements, and my family also owns homes with basements.
However, I have always hated basements. As a child, I disliked having to go down to the basement to get something—the stairs, the darkness, and so on. Now, in my rented apartment, we have a shared laundry room in the basement. I hate it! If the washing machine were in the bathroom, I would probably prefer doing laundry.
I am fairly certain I don’t want a basement—also for financial reasons. But of course, everyone has their opinion. In an initial design plan, I included a utility and storage room of almost 10m² (100 square feet), an office of 15m² (160 square feet), a laundry room on the upper floor of just under 10m² (100 square feet) with a sloped ceiling, and a storage room behind a garage. When I think about the things currently stored in the rented basement, everything fits into these planned rooms, and the rest is basically junk…
So my question is for experienced home builders without basements in southern Germany: Do you miss anything? Are you concerned about potential resale value? What are your thoughts?
Thank you!
In the south of Germany (Baden-Württemberg), it is quite common to build houses with basements, and my family also owns homes with basements.
However, I have always hated basements. As a child, I disliked having to go down to the basement to get something—the stairs, the darkness, and so on. Now, in my rented apartment, we have a shared laundry room in the basement. I hate it! If the washing machine were in the bathroom, I would probably prefer doing laundry.
I am fairly certain I don’t want a basement—also for financial reasons. But of course, everyone has their opinion. In an initial design plan, I included a utility and storage room of almost 10m² (100 square feet), an office of 15m² (160 square feet), a laundry room on the upper floor of just under 10m² (100 square feet) with a sloped ceiling, and a storage room behind a garage. When I think about the things currently stored in the rented basement, everything fits into these planned rooms, and the rest is basically junk…
So my question is for experienced home builders without basements in southern Germany: Do you miss anything? Are you concerned about potential resale value? What are your thoughts?
Thank you!
H
hampshire16 May 2019 10:32lastdrop schrieb:
@Camille1984, I know your city and the surrounding area very well. Building without a basement is generally frowned upon there, that’s just how it is.Then people will just occasionally give a sideways glance. That doesn’t make for a bad neighborhood. If building without a basement could cause neighborhood issues: avoid the region extensively and consider relocating. But that probably isn’t necessary for you.
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Grantlhaua16 May 2019 11:08I’m a big fan of basements myself, and we built one too, but why should anyone look at you askance? I live in the deep countryside of Bavaria, and even here most people build without a basement for cost reasons.
However, you have to keep in mind that you can’t compare today’s basements with those from 20 to 30 years ago. If I only plan the basement as a storage room, of course it’s not worth it; but if I move above-ground rooms downstairs (laundry, hobby, technical room, storage) and can possibly use a smaller plot of land as a result, then the basement becomes interesting economically again.
debaser schrieb:
On the contrary, I’ve heard from several people (who built 20 to 30 years ago) that they would build without a basement nowadays.
However, you have to keep in mind that you can’t compare today’s basements with those from 20 to 30 years ago. If I only plan the basement as a storage room, of course it’s not worth it; but if I move above-ground rooms downstairs (laundry, hobby, technical room, storage) and can possibly use a smaller plot of land as a result, then the basement becomes interesting economically again.
H
hampshire16 May 2019 11:29Anyone who wants the basement for laundry purposes might want to consider a different calculation – how many years of full-service washing and ironing would you get for the price of a basement?
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