Hello,
what are your thoughts on the topic of having a basement or not?
Generally, most people advise against a basement because it’s expensive, dark (not necessarily), and often only used for a party room, sauna, or laundry room.
Has anyone had experience without a basement but with a large garage? Does that really work?
Where do you hang laundry? Where do you put a workbench, tools, bicycles, and so on?
Thanks for your opinions!
what are your thoughts on the topic of having a basement or not?
Generally, most people advise against a basement because it’s expensive, dark (not necessarily), and often only used for a party room, sauna, or laundry room.
Has anyone had experience without a basement but with a large garage? Does that really work?
Where do you hang laundry? Where do you put a workbench, tools, bicycles, and so on?
Thanks for your opinions!
We have a basement and would definitely build one again. Just having the washing machine out of the way, not having to sacrifice a room for the building services, and most importantly, not having laundry racks constantly cluttering up space makes a big difference.
We have traditional clotheslines stretched up for sheets and such, plus two large wing racks. Great setup. Plenty of room for at least two 9kg (20 lb) washing machines, and if one is just for sheets and towels, even three. That way, I can do two weeks’ worth of laundry in one day and then relax.
There’s also a small workbench and a room. My room. Just mine. No one else’s. Not a multipurpose room that’s partly mine. Mine alone. A decoration-free zone where empty beer cans can sit undisturbed in the corner for a year. In the future, it will be a classic room with a globe bar and a Chesterfield sofa. Lovely.
Unfortunately, I only get to use my retreat when I’m taking sick leave...
Addendum: Out of 13 newly built houses, ours is the only one with a basement.
We have traditional clotheslines stretched up for sheets and such, plus two large wing racks. Great setup. Plenty of room for at least two 9kg (20 lb) washing machines, and if one is just for sheets and towels, even three. That way, I can do two weeks’ worth of laundry in one day and then relax.
There’s also a small workbench and a room. My room. Just mine. No one else’s. Not a multipurpose room that’s partly mine. Mine alone. A decoration-free zone where empty beer cans can sit undisturbed in the corner for a year. In the future, it will be a classic room with a globe bar and a Chesterfield sofa. Lovely.
Unfortunately, I only get to use my retreat when I’m taking sick leave...
Addendum: Out of 13 newly built houses, ours is the only one with a basement.
H
hampshire9 Jan 2020 08:13I find the “barn” concept more appealing than the “basement.” Despite having the space and resources, we didn’t build either, except for a 20sqm (215 sq ft) utility room under the terrace, because we wanted to live with less stuff. In our old house, I had a basement and a double garage. About 70% of our belongings didn’t make the move, and almost nothing from the basement (except musical instruments and tools) or garage. It was a relief.
I would also say: it largely depends on the circumstances. We have a very small plot of land, so a large garage or garden shed isn’t possible, which makes a basement absolutely necessary.
However, our laundry and sauna are on the upper floor, because I don’t want to carry dirty laundry down to the basement, then take it outside on the ground floor to dry, bring it back down to iron, and finally carry it up again *phew*. I’m not a fan of house layouts that basically plan a gym into the house. I have a small utility room on the upper floor where dirty laundry goes directly when I take it off in the bathroom (just throw it over the hallway). I hang the laundry there when the weather is bad, and when it’s good, I can go from the upper floor onto the roof of our carport to hang laundry. I can also iron somewhere on the upper floor if needed (currently outsourced, thankfully done by my mother-in-law). Only table linens have to be carried dirty from the ground floor up and clean back down. But that’s manageable. I wouldn’t want it any other way!
The sauna is integrated into our bathroom (upper floor). I’ll never understand why people plan for a sauna to be in the basement right from the start. Then you need a separate shower, a relaxation room, etc. Why? I already have a shower in the bathroom, and for relaxing I go to our bedroom. I get fresh air on the carport roof. Perfect!
We have storage, technical rooms, a workshop, and a guest room/second office in the basement. The workshop and guest room have natural light because of a slight slope. I don’t want to give up the storage space—we definitely need it! Just for all the gear for our various mountain sports hobbies, it really adds up.
As I said, we wouldn’t have had any other option on our property, but I could also imagine living without a basement if I had gotten storage space elsewhere.
You first need to be clear about what you logically(!!!) want to put in the basement and whether it could be done more cost-effectively somewhere else. Then you can make a well-informed decision. There is no one-size-fits-all solution that works for everyone.
However, our laundry and sauna are on the upper floor, because I don’t want to carry dirty laundry down to the basement, then take it outside on the ground floor to dry, bring it back down to iron, and finally carry it up again *phew*. I’m not a fan of house layouts that basically plan a gym into the house. I have a small utility room on the upper floor where dirty laundry goes directly when I take it off in the bathroom (just throw it over the hallway). I hang the laundry there when the weather is bad, and when it’s good, I can go from the upper floor onto the roof of our carport to hang laundry. I can also iron somewhere on the upper floor if needed (currently outsourced, thankfully done by my mother-in-law). Only table linens have to be carried dirty from the ground floor up and clean back down. But that’s manageable. I wouldn’t want it any other way!
The sauna is integrated into our bathroom (upper floor). I’ll never understand why people plan for a sauna to be in the basement right from the start. Then you need a separate shower, a relaxation room, etc. Why? I already have a shower in the bathroom, and for relaxing I go to our bedroom. I get fresh air on the carport roof. Perfect!
We have storage, technical rooms, a workshop, and a guest room/second office in the basement. The workshop and guest room have natural light because of a slight slope. I don’t want to give up the storage space—we definitely need it! Just for all the gear for our various mountain sports hobbies, it really adds up.
As I said, we wouldn’t have had any other option on our property, but I could also imagine living without a basement if I had gotten storage space elsewhere.
You first need to be clear about what you logically(!!!) want to put in the basement and whether it could be done more cost-effectively somewhere else. Then you can make a well-informed decision. There is no one-size-fits-all solution that works for everyone.
Basements and garages offer completely different possibilities for use. We need both and do not want to do without either.
Nowadays, basements are designed as living spaces, which makes them my favorite rooms. Bright and cool, they provide plenty of space. A basement like this doesn’t end up as a storage mess—that’s more likely the garage...
Nowadays, basements are designed as living spaces, which makes them my favorite rooms. Bright and cool, they provide plenty of space. A basement like this doesn’t end up as a storage mess—that’s more likely the garage...
Climbee schrieb:
Laundry […] is done upstairs since I don’t want to carry dirty clothes down to the basement first, then take them outside on the ground floor to dry, bring them back down for ironing, and finally carry them back up *phew*. Laundry chute from the bathroom upstairs directly to the washing machine in the basement, with a second opening near the kitchen on the ground floor. From there, clothes go to the dryer, then onto drying racks in the basement room with the washing machine. With underfloor heating and controlled ventilation system, there are no issues with this setup. After that, the laundry is folded and carried upstairs. Shirts come out wrinkle-free and are hung on hangers next to the rain shower in the bathroom for two or three days. Since we’ve been doing this, nothing needs ironing anymore.
Anyone who irons their bedding has no other problems left... also enviable.
fragg schrieb:
Laundry chute from the upstairs bathroom directly to the washing machine in the basement, with a second opening by the kitchen on the ground floor. From there to the dryer, then onto the drying racks in the basement room with the washing machine. With underfloor heating and controlled mechanical ventilation, there is no reason against it. Then just take the clothes down and carry them upstairs again. Shirts come out wrinkle-free and are hung on hangers next to the rain shower in the bathroom for two or three days. Since we started doing this, no ironing is needed anymore.
Anyone who irons bed linens must have other problems... also enviable.Cool, that’s exactly how we do it too, and it works great. We wouldn’t want it any other way. Washing in the living area is not an option due to noise.Similar topics