ᐅ Building with or without a basement in southern Germany – experiences?
Created on: 14 May 2019 17:24
C
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!
I do like basements.
But if you don’t have a sloped site, you don’t have to build one.
It’s also much cheaper, as soil disposal costs in the south have skyrocketed and are hard to estimate.
Better to add a few square meters above ground instead.
Even here in the south, many houses are now built without basements, mostly prefabricated homes.
But if you don’t have a sloped site, you don’t have to build one.
It’s also much cheaper, as soil disposal costs in the south have skyrocketed and are hard to estimate.
Better to add a few square meters above ground instead.
Even here in the south, many houses are now built without basements, mostly prefabricated homes.
Camille1984 schrieb:
So, my question is directed to experienced home builders without basements in southern Germany. This applies to the north as well — we are just not as traditional as those in the south.
Camille1984 schrieb:
Do you miss anything? No, a compensation area must be provided. Utility room, freezer room, possibly built-in closets...
Camille1984 schrieb:
Are you worried about a potential resale value? No.
If you don’t want one, then simply don’t have one. If you find a sloped plot, you can design the basement level as living space, with secondary rooms built into the slope.
I hate basements too. I feel cluttered and want nice bright rooms with good livability everywhere. That works with proper planning.
I am happy now. And you will be too.
C
Camille198414 May 2019 20:22You’re all so kind.
Has anyone actually calculated this for themselves yet?
Requirement: about 150-160 m² (1600-1700 sq ft) of net living area plus a single or double garage.
Option A: increase the living area to about 180-190 m² (1900-2050 sq ft) plus a slab foundation and a storage room behind the garage – minus the earthwork costs for basement excavation.
Option B: smaller above-ground living area (meaning lower construction costs) plus basement costs plus earthwork costs – less storage space behind the garage.
I imagine (!) that Option A should be cheaper because I simply don’t need 80 m² (860 sq ft) of basement, and a partial basement would be even less cost-effective. How much does one square meter of basement including earthworks actually cost?
When I think about everything I currently have in our basement, I could easily fit it into the planned auxiliary rooms. Storage space is also planned under the stairs, plus a built-in closet in the upper hallway.
Has anyone actually calculated this for themselves yet?
Requirement: about 150-160 m² (1600-1700 sq ft) of net living area plus a single or double garage.
Option A: increase the living area to about 180-190 m² (1900-2050 sq ft) plus a slab foundation and a storage room behind the garage – minus the earthwork costs for basement excavation.
Option B: smaller above-ground living area (meaning lower construction costs) plus basement costs plus earthwork costs – less storage space behind the garage.
I imagine (!) that Option A should be cheaper because I simply don’t need 80 m² (860 sq ft) of basement, and a partial basement would be even less cost-effective. How much does one square meter of basement including earthworks actually cost?
When I think about everything I currently have in our basement, I could easily fit it into the planned auxiliary rooms. Storage space is also planned under the stairs, plus a built-in closet in the upper hallway.
Camille1984 schrieb:
Although I am still looking for a plot, of course I am already thinking about it. [...] Are you afraid of a possible resale value?Without a plot, you’re basically calculating without the host; the plot plays a big role. In case someone doesn’t yet know my two-part rule of thumb by heart: 1. Raising a concrete slab using terrain modeling and retaining walls is both technically and financially comparable to the effort of doing this the classical way with a basement;
2. for approximately every 20 cm (8 inches) of height difference (within the building footprint), about ten percent of basement costs are incurred (see point 1 for both constructed and unbuilt basements equally).
Taking side effects into account (such as the saved floor space ratio for secondary rooms hidden away), I see that around 140 cm (55 inches) of height difference within the (usable) building plot make a no-basement solution commercially unreasonable.
BW is not BY, traditions are not that strict after all, and a basement substitute above ground only harms the market value of the property if it negatively affects the floor space ratio due to the terrace, conservatory, or similar.
If your plot isn’t difficult, my tendency would be: with a pantry and utility room above ground, building a basement only for the boiler would generally not be advisable.
Camille1984 schrieb:
a partial basement is even less economical.A three-quarter basement is nonsense; a half basement costs three quarters. Several mini-basement manufacturers have told me they sell these almost exclusively in Stuttgart and Munich—that is, only where every above-ground square meter of technical room space is tightly rationed—otherwise, they don’t make financial sense.https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
I’m not familiar with building without a basement.
In the current plan, a basement is included. My main wish is to have a nice space for my hobbies and collection. I also want to have my workshop in the basement again in the future. Since I’m not planning alone, there are definitely other ideas as well.
But you already mentioned at the beginning that you don’t really like basements. In that case, I would follow that exactly. Just because it’s common in the family doesn’t mean you have to do the same.
That’s just my opinion.
Best regards
In the current plan, a basement is included. My main wish is to have a nice space for my hobbies and collection. I also want to have my workshop in the basement again in the future. Since I’m not planning alone, there are definitely other ideas as well.
But you already mentioned at the beginning that you don’t really like basements. In that case, I would follow that exactly. Just because it’s common in the family doesn’t mean you have to do the same.
That’s just my opinion.
Best regards
C
Camille198414 May 2019 20:37The plot I might apply for is located in a rural municipality on a plateau of the Swabian Alb. The current new development area offers only flat plots.
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