Hello,
we are planning to build a single-family house in Bavaria, and due to groundwater pressure in the soil, the fully waterproofed concrete basement will be quite expensive. The general contractor said, "the basement costs more than the above-ground living space." Is it really possible that increasing the size of the above-ground house by nearly the same usable area that is lost by omitting the basement results in cost savings? In other words, is a 150 m² (1,615 sq ft) house with an expensive waterproof concrete basement more costly than a house without a basement but with 150 m² (1,615 sq ft) of living space plus 50-70 m² (540-750 sq ft) of utility rooms (the latter with cheaper flooring, etc.)? The general contractor only had a few rough rules of thumb, which obviously didnât apply well in this case, and did not provide any actual cost calculations. Strangely, he also refused to calculate both options side by side, saying it would be too time-consuming.
Does anyone here have real experience with this? It would be very helpful, thanks in advance!
Best regards
we are planning to build a single-family house in Bavaria, and due to groundwater pressure in the soil, the fully waterproofed concrete basement will be quite expensive. The general contractor said, "the basement costs more than the above-ground living space." Is it really possible that increasing the size of the above-ground house by nearly the same usable area that is lost by omitting the basement results in cost savings? In other words, is a 150 m² (1,615 sq ft) house with an expensive waterproof concrete basement more costly than a house without a basement but with 150 m² (1,615 sq ft) of living space plus 50-70 m² (540-750 sq ft) of utility rooms (the latter with cheaper flooring, etc.)? The general contractor only had a few rough rules of thumb, which obviously didnât apply well in this case, and did not provide any actual cost calculations. Strangely, he also refused to calculate both options side by side, saying it would be too time-consuming.
Does anyone here have real experience with this? It would be very helpful, thanks in advance!
Best regards
Scout schrieb:
What I never understood about laundry chutes: they just collect the laundry in another location.I thought the same until I had one. Usually, it saves at least one long trip from the ground floor to the upper floor and then to the basement. Itâs also really convenient to have the dirty laundry right where it belongs instead of piled up on the upper floor.I can definitely recommend it to anyone who is unsureâwe were uncertain before building as well.
Bookstar schrieb:
Itâs simply nice to have the dirty laundry right where it belongs.Where exactly does it belong? In the laundry room. Some people have one, but itâs located where the laundry actually originates...
Itâs simply nice to have the
You can also place the laundry chute from the upper floor bathroom to the ground floor utility room, which is something I've seen often.
The point is that I personally donât want a laundry basket or something like that in my nice master bathroom, but prefer to have it in a less visible room, such as a basement or the utility room⌠everyone to their own preference.
The downside is that the laundry piles up out of sight there, and out of sight means out of mind. Since then, my husband hasnât been helping with the laundry as often (-;
The point is that I personally donât want a laundry basket or something like that in my nice master bathroom, but prefer to have it in a less visible room, such as a basement or the utility room⌠everyone to their own preference.
The downside is that the laundry piles up out of sight there, and out of sight means out of mind. Since then, my husband hasnât been helping with the laundry as often (-;
T
Traumfaenger30 Jul 2019 23:28The basement was offered to us for 120 sqm (1,292 sq ft) with a waterproof concrete shell ("white tank") at prices between 130,000-140,000 EUR, of course excluding excavation work. There was also the additional risk of water management, which would have completely blown the budget. Another risk factor was the disposal of the excavated soil at a landfill.
haydee schrieb:=> Absolutely, we planned more than enough storage space above ground and placed the laundry room with a patio door leading outside to the garden. It can be ventilated very well (through draft) and there are short distances for drying laundry in the sun.
Oh, itâs simply shorter distances. If itâs above ground, why not place it where itâs needed?
Bookstar schrieb:=> Laundry room behind the garage, far away from the living areas, so you donât hear anything. Not even if the machines run all night. Of course, this always depends on individual house planning.
I agree. If you donât hear a spinning washing machine, thereâs something wrong with your ears. Dryers with contents like zippers are also noisy.
Scout schrieb:Basically yes. In our old apartment, we had a laundry bin in the bathroom on the upper floor. Now we have a laundry chute from the upper floor to the utility room. The chute is located between the bathroom and bedroom. The result: laundry immediately ends up downstairs and is sorted for washing quickly. The threshold to do this is lower than having to carry the heavy bin down the stairs. But this can vary individually.
What I never understand about laundry chutes: they just collect laundry in another place. But whether I have a laundry basket in the bedroom or bathroom or in the basement hardly makes a difference.
Bookstar schrieb:Exactly, as mentioned above.
Yeah, I thought the same until I had one. You generally save at least one long trip from the ground floor to the upper floor and then to the basement. And itâs just nice to have the dirty laundry right where it belongs and not stored temporarily upstairs.
Snowy36 schrieb:Yes, we did that too, and it was a good decision!
You can also make the laundry chute from the upper floor bathroom to the ground floor utility room, I have often seen that.
Snowy36 schrieb:
The laundry chute can also be routed from the upstairs bathroom to the utility room on the ground floor. The laundry chute (singular) here means, according to previous contributors, one single-compartment chute?
How do you manage sorting the laundry then: collect separate loads to be dropped down all at once, or drop items individually and sort them only when loading the washing machine â and does the child, due to lack of sorting practice, perceive colors, delicates, and whites as âjust a mixed pileâ?
Or does mom pick up the socks from the childrenâs bedroom floor, and the child is not really among the users of the chute?
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