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!
G
Grantlhaua16 May 2019 11:31Tego12 schrieb:
Stairs down for laundry.... Ugh... Hobby room in the basement... Yikes....We have a laundry chute directly from the bathroom that opens right next to the washing machine. I find that really practical.
What, in your opinion, is wrong with having a hobby room in the basement? If we had built all the basement rooms above ground, you would need a plot of land larger than 1000m² (12,000 sq ft).
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Grantlhaua16 May 2019 11:37hampshire schrieb:
If you want to have the basement for laundry, you might want to look at it differently – how many years of full-service washing and ironing could you get for the price of a basement? Just did the math.
If the laundry room costs, say, €20,000 (about $22,000) and you wash clothes 3 times a week at €1 (about $1.10) per load, and pay €15 (about $16) per laundry basket for washing and ironing, you would have paid off the laundry room after 10 years and would save around €2,000 (about $2,200) per year after that.
And that doesn’t even include the fuel cost for getting to the nearest laundromat.
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chand198616 May 2019 12:19Alternatively, you can place the laundry room above ground near the wardrobe, saving both the basement and the laundry chute. What "arguments"...
Exactly! We have the laundry room on the upper floor next to the dressing room (or walk-in closet, or whatever you prefer to call it), and that was the best decision ever!
No more carrying laundry downstairs and back up again; everything is washed and put away right there on the spot.
No more carrying laundry downstairs and back up again; everything is washed and put away right there on the spot.
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Grantlhaua16 May 2019 13:20chand1986 schrieb:
Or you could place the laundry room above ground near the wardrobe and save both the basement and the chute. What kind of "arguments" are those... And you get the above-ground rooms for free? Space costs money, whether it’s above ground or underground is almost irrelevant. Personally, I prefer having these rooms separated because it gives me more space for the garden and so on.
I don’t want a workshop or laundry room on the upper floor. First, it creates a lot of dirt and noise, and second, the space there is far too valuable to me. But washing laundry upstairs is certainly practical!
Like grantler, we have a laundry chute, and that is definitely very convenient.
Like grantler, we have a laundry chute, and that is definitely very convenient.
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