ᐅ Costs of Partial Basement vs. Full Basement

Created on: 14 Apr 2015 00:53
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ezio80
We are currently working with an architect on the preliminary design for a single-family home. The architect recommends a partial basement for cost reasons. The planned partial basement would have a floor area of approximately 57m2 (613 sq ft) and would include a utility room, laundry room, and an additional storage room that could possibly be used as an office or hobby room. In terms of size, this would be sufficient for us. A full basement would have an area of about 118m2 (1,270 sq ft). We do not want to completely forgo having a basement.

Here in the forum, I have often read that a partial basement saves little cost because expenses for foundations, etc., must be offset. According to the architect, however, these costs are minor compared to the additional expenses for excavation and removal of soil, walls/masonry, doors, electrical work, windows, light wells, finishing, and so on.

The architect estimates the cost of the partial basement at around 50,000 EUR. For a full basement, his calculation adds about 40,000 EUR more, totaling approximately 90,000 EUR, which seems quite high to me. However, this would still represent a potential cost saving in my view.

What is your opinion? Does anyone have experience with the costs of partial versus full basements?
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Sebastian79
12 Jan 2016 21:04
That was the original plan back then – it ended up being a bit more expensive. We had around 300 cubic meters, where most of the sand was transported away, and in the end, the cost was just under 6,000 euros.

Earthworks here mean excavation, storage, backfilling, and removal.

No drainage work – that cost almost 2,000 euros extra.
sirhc13 Jan 2016 08:41
Okay, our scope includes drainage work. For an excavation volume, 540 cubic meters (cbm) was listed for a house footprint of 113 square meters (sqm), including removal and landfill fees. In reality, we only need a footprint of 91sqm (square meters), which would correspond to about 435cbm. Something doesn’t add up. What is the floor area of your basement? Thanks.
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Sebastian79
13 Jan 2016 09:05
11.50m x 9.50m (37.7 ft x 31.2 ft) - plus the workspace, which was very small.

However, we did not weigh anything.
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costa
13 Jan 2016 09:11
Sebastian79 schrieb:
11.50m x 9.50m (38 ft x 31 ft) – plus the workroom, which was very small.

However, nothing was weighed on our side.

Of course nothing was weighed, otherwise it would have been cheaper (: Based on experience, the workroom was already charged to you. Or did you prepare a separate calculation for it yourself?
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Sebastian79
13 Jan 2016 10:44
It certainly wouldn’t have been cheaper.

I haven’t calculated anything there.
sirhc13 Jan 2016 10:50
Sebastian79 schrieb:
11.50m (37.7 ft) x 9.50m (31.2 ft) - plus the workspace, which was very small though.

Without the workspace, I already come to 327.
I also checked again, and we have an additional slope in front of a basement window.