ᐅ Building With or Without a Basement – Experiences

Hello everyone

We keep having disagreements about this topic.
How did you build your house? With or without a basement?
On one hand, I think: More space just means more room to store more stuff.
I have also considered compensating for the space by having a large double garage.
An attic would "also" be available then.

Hmm.....

I would appreciate your experiences.
I’ve also heard that not having a basement can be problematic because of moisture?
And cold from below?

I would always base the decision to build a basement on the ground conditions. If these are favorable, it is possible to construct a basement relatively "inexpensively." Otherwise, building a basement can quickly become very costly.

A basement is always a personal and, not least, financial decision. Building a basement is usually an expensive way to create additional space.

I wouldn’t want to miss having our basement and wouldn’t want to build without one, but in our basement, besides the utility room and storage, we also have a music room and a combined library/fitness room. So it’s not just “space for stuff.”

Consider what you really need the basement for and whether there are alternatives (which you have already mentioned). Once you know the additional costs involved, you can decide if it’s worth it for you.

What Koempy wrote also plays a part in this, of course.

Yes, usually for houses without a basement, the utility room is planned "upstairs"...
I don’t really know... we currently have (still renting for now) a basement room that is about 5m² (54 ft²), and that is enough for us. Everything else is stored outside in the garage, mostly garden-related items.

A basement is actually more expensive storage space but more affordable living space. We are building with a basement because, in addition to a utility room and a storage room, we also want a 40m² (430 sq ft) guest room / second living room for the kids later on. We are building relatively small, but completely sufficient (135m² / 1,450 sq ft), and fully basemented with additional living space reserved. In our budget with the home builder, this was cheaper than a 150m² (1,615 sq ft) house with a double garage plus attic storage in the garage. And this is despite the fact that, due to groundwater, we need a waterproof concrete shell (often called a "white tank").

Our house has approximately 134 m² (1,442 sq ft) of living space. With the basement included, the total floor area is just over 200 m² (2,153 sq ft). A project without a basement but with 200 m² (2,153 sq ft) of living space would have been significantly more expensive—and the remaining available plot area would have been smaller as well, which should not be overlooked. The difference between the foundation slab and the basement also plays a role. Additionally, we have a slight sloping site, which works perfectly with a basement. The intended use is also very important. For example, in the basement is the utility room (heat pump, controlled ventilation system, washing machine, dryer, etc.). One basement room has a nice large window letting in natural light and is planned to be used as a guest room. The large basement area is used as a hobby room and storage. For this “secondary” use, a basement is ideal—especially since we have a ceiling height of 2.20 m (7 ft 3 in). A fully finished living basement, of course, would be considerably more expensive.