ᐅ Built without a basement and regretted it?

We currently have a small house measuring 9 x 9.5 m (30 x 31 feet) on a small lot of 430 m² (4,629 ft²) with a basement, which is half open due to the slope of the land... and we have no regrets. The basement includes three rooms with natural daylight, some with large windows and an exit. We use these rooms well as an additional bedroom, an office, and a small workshop... if all this were not possible, I wouldn’t need a basement! Who really needs such large storage space of 80 to 100 m² (860 to 1,075 ft²)? And who really has that much money? Items unused for more than a year should be sold or disposed of (-:

The new house will be built without a basement since we have more land and can put everything on the ground floor level (-; so I don’t need a basement either.

Häuslebau3r schrieb:
I’ve also been thinking for a long time about whether to build with or without a basement.

For me, there are no clear pros or cons. Of course, the points raised by f-pNo cannot be dismissed. However, many people are probably in the same situation as me, and it ultimately depends solely on the financial aspect. I can’t estimate the costs at the moment, so I’ll base my decision on whether it exceeds my personal budget limit or not (despite the sloping site and possible walk-out basement). If a basement is not affordable, the house will simply have 180m² (1937 sq ft) of living space instead of 160m² (1722 sq ft), even though the lot is relatively small at about 800m² (8600 sq ft).

The basic prerequisite for a basement is, of course, that it fits within the budget.
The overview was only meant to be a “decision aid” that the original poster can use as guidance.

Point 2 already touches on this somewhat — if the basement needs to be built as a waterproof concrete shell (“white tank” construction), costs increase significantly and might jeopardize the basement option.

Regarding the sloping site, it should be added that some costs are unavoidable anyway, such as earthworks, removal of excavated soil, waterproofing the “earth wall,” etc. This somewhat balances the overall basement costs and may even make it a more attractive option.

Good morning f-pNo,

I completely agree with you on those points and did not mean to criticize if it came across that way.
It was more my personal opinion or assessment.

Häuslebau3r schrieb:
Good morning f-pNo,

I completely agree with your points and didn’t mean to criticize if it came across that way.
It was more my personal opinion or assessment.

I didn’t see it as criticism of the post but rather as an addition.
With my last comment, I just wanted to emphasize your point again – it doesn’t make sense to consider a basement if the budget isn’t available for it.
It also gave me the chance to take a closer look at and expand on the two topics "waterproof concrete structure" (commonly called a "white tank") and "slope" (site inclination). Sometimes you get additional comments after the fact.

That is of course correct f-pNo

I’m chiming in again and want to thank you all for your many posts!

Yesterday, we received the first drawings from the architect, and they look very promising!

The house (semi-detached) will measure 8.25 x 11.5 m (38° gable roof) with a ground floor, first floor, and attic, plus the garage at 7.5 x 9 m. This allows us to fit the planned four bedrooms (1 master bedroom about 13.5 sqm (145 sqft) on the ground floor; 3 children's rooms around 16–20 sqm (170–215 sqft) on the first floor) and a guest room in the attic, with enough space remaining for my home theater up there as well. The garage should provide enough storage space to compensate for the missing basement.

I’ve often heard from homeowners how I could even consider building without a basement and where to put all the stuff. But after seeing in black and white that our ideas are feasible even without a basement, and that there’s still some extra room for clutter, I can confidently do without one.