ᐅ Is a Basement Practical for a Single-Family Home or Usually Too Expensive?
Created on: 30 Jun 2018 21:56
A
Abzug86
Hello everyone,
I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce myself briefly: my name is Michael, I’m 32 years old, married, (currently) no children, employed at an insurance agency in northern Bavaria, and my wife and I are planning to build a new single-family house in 2019. I will share more details in a separate thread once the concept is worked out in detail.
At the moment, we are getting inspiration from the catalogs of several general contractors and are considering which "type" of house is right for us. This raised the question: do we need a basement? And if so, for what purpose? I’ll explain this further with an example (both plots are level):
Single-family house 1: basement, ground floor, usable attic, footprint 100 m² (1,076 sq ft), living area (according to the Wohnflächenverordnung) 140 m² (1,507 sq ft).
Single-family house 2: ground floor, usable attic, footprint 130 m² (1,399 sq ft), living area (according to the Wohnflächenverordnung) 185 m² (1,992 sq ft).
Both options would cost roughly the same (~375,000 EUR turnkey). Single-family house 1 has a basement; single-family house 2 does not but offers significantly more living space. Both are heated by a heat pump.
In my understanding, there are three main reasons for having a basement: 1. as storage space, 2. for the heating system, and 3. for the utility/laundry room. Step by step:
1.) I can’t really think of much that I would need to store down there—at least not on a total area of about 50+ m² (540+ sq ft)...
2.) Since heating is provided by a heat pump, the "heater" itself would be located outside anyway. The basement would only house the controls (and the hot water tank?). I assume these could also be installed on the ground floor, right?
3.) If the utility room is in the basement and the bedroom is on the upper floor, my wife would have to go up and down two levels. Also, ventilation would be difficult when air-drying laundry. For these reasons, it might even make more sense to move this area to the ground floor.
I’m curious to hear your thoughts on basements—perhaps I am missing important points or have a wrong understanding regarding the "heating room." Thanks in advance for your help!
I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce myself briefly: my name is Michael, I’m 32 years old, married, (currently) no children, employed at an insurance agency in northern Bavaria, and my wife and I are planning to build a new single-family house in 2019. I will share more details in a separate thread once the concept is worked out in detail.
At the moment, we are getting inspiration from the catalogs of several general contractors and are considering which "type" of house is right for us. This raised the question: do we need a basement? And if so, for what purpose? I’ll explain this further with an example (both plots are level):
Single-family house 1: basement, ground floor, usable attic, footprint 100 m² (1,076 sq ft), living area (according to the Wohnflächenverordnung) 140 m² (1,507 sq ft).
Single-family house 2: ground floor, usable attic, footprint 130 m² (1,399 sq ft), living area (according to the Wohnflächenverordnung) 185 m² (1,992 sq ft).
Both options would cost roughly the same (~375,000 EUR turnkey). Single-family house 1 has a basement; single-family house 2 does not but offers significantly more living space. Both are heated by a heat pump.
In my understanding, there are three main reasons for having a basement: 1. as storage space, 2. for the heating system, and 3. for the utility/laundry room. Step by step:
1.) I can’t really think of much that I would need to store down there—at least not on a total area of about 50+ m² (540+ sq ft)...
2.) Since heating is provided by a heat pump, the "heater" itself would be located outside anyway. The basement would only house the controls (and the hot water tank?). I assume these could also be installed on the ground floor, right?
3.) If the utility room is in the basement and the bedroom is on the upper floor, my wife would have to go up and down two levels. Also, ventilation would be difficult when air-drying laundry. For these reasons, it might even make more sense to move this area to the ground floor.
I’m curious to hear your thoughts on basements—perhaps I am missing important points or have a wrong understanding regarding the "heating room." Thanks in advance for your help!
H
Hausbauer13 Jul 2018 22:12Yes, that’s true. The rental and purchase price levels in Munich are really extreme. But you don’t have to live in Munich. And I find the purchase price levels elsewhere are also getting quite crazy nowadays. This is, of course, largely related to the Euro and refugee crises. Because of the Euro crisis, many people are trying to secure their money in Germany. At the same time, refugees and migrants in need of housing are increasing demand for living space. This naturally drives prices up. The financial crisis has also led many to invest their money in real estate, and at the same time, it has significantly lowered interest rates, which is also causing prices to rise.
T
Traumfaenger3 Jul 2018 23:05Bookstar schrieb:
In the past, having a million always meant a small villa with a pool in mind.Today, there is the "city villa" for that, along with an inflatable pool, but no basement...
But if entire professions can no longer afford to live in a city, the city will eventually face a problem. Especially since lower-paid jobs are available almost everywhere, I wouldn’t want to endure hours of commuting.
And then the city simply has no waste collection, no supermarkets, no hospitals, and no daycare centers anymore. Tough luck.
And then the city simply has no waste collection, no supermarkets, no hospitals, and no daycare centers anymore. Tough luck.
Lengthy discussion that has already happened more than once. It’s like with many things — there isn’t just one answer. Why? Because both the conditions and the needs vary. From my perspective, the question can only be answered individually, not fundamentally.
We will build with a basement. Why? Because we need/want storage space and additional rooms. Space for hobbies/workshop. With children, the amount of stuff you need to store adds up, at least for us. Many things already mentioned here, plus items like the homemade play shop handed down from the grandfather to the second generation that the children enjoy playing with, travel luggage, the older child’s bicycle that the younger child will use when the time comes, children’s clothes, winter wear, etc. Now the question is where to store it all. This is where the framework conditions come into play. We bought a plot of 430 square meters (4600 square feet). Because in our area, you can’t just pick one anywhere and you have to be glad to get one at all, with plot prices starting at 300 euros (about $320) per square meter. If I were to do it the way often suggested here, I would need to enlarge our garage by 30 square meters (320 square feet), the house itself would need more floor area, and we would have to include an attic space that we currently plan to do without. Apart from the fact that none of this comes for free, it would simply take up more space on the plot, which is already not very large.
One might say, well, then you should have bought a bigger plot... sure, but as said, first you have to find one at all, and then you also have to consider that every additional square meter adds significant costs.
From our perspective, therefore, a basement simply makes more sense for us. Of course it costs money. But weighing the costs of building without a basement, in our case the additional expenses become relative because we gain a lot of usable space and even space that can be converted into living areas, without overbuilding our modest plot.
If we had a 700 square meter (7500 square feet) plot and didn’t pay more than 300 euros (about $320) per square meter, we might consider building without a basement.
By the way, the new residential area where we are building has 10 plots, all of similar size and the same price per square meter. As of now, 8 are building with basements.
We will build with a basement. Why? Because we need/want storage space and additional rooms. Space for hobbies/workshop. With children, the amount of stuff you need to store adds up, at least for us. Many things already mentioned here, plus items like the homemade play shop handed down from the grandfather to the second generation that the children enjoy playing with, travel luggage, the older child’s bicycle that the younger child will use when the time comes, children’s clothes, winter wear, etc. Now the question is where to store it all. This is where the framework conditions come into play. We bought a plot of 430 square meters (4600 square feet). Because in our area, you can’t just pick one anywhere and you have to be glad to get one at all, with plot prices starting at 300 euros (about $320) per square meter. If I were to do it the way often suggested here, I would need to enlarge our garage by 30 square meters (320 square feet), the house itself would need more floor area, and we would have to include an attic space that we currently plan to do without. Apart from the fact that none of this comes for free, it would simply take up more space on the plot, which is already not very large.
One might say, well, then you should have bought a bigger plot... sure, but as said, first you have to find one at all, and then you also have to consider that every additional square meter adds significant costs.
From our perspective, therefore, a basement simply makes more sense for us. Of course it costs money. But weighing the costs of building without a basement, in our case the additional expenses become relative because we gain a lot of usable space and even space that can be converted into living areas, without overbuilding our modest plot.
If we had a 700 square meter (7500 square feet) plot and didn’t pay more than 300 euros (about $320) per square meter, we might consider building without a basement.
By the way, the new residential area where we are building has 10 plots, all of similar size and the same price per square meter. As of now, 8 are building with basements.
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