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!
haydee schrieb:
Is the word "Mörtelkübel" really a dialect term?
"Mörtelkübel" in standard GermanOh, I see, a mortar bucket!
AxelH. schrieb:
Oh, a Speiskiwwel!I understood that part.
I just wonder why it’s called a mortar bucket. There are two letters in there that don’t exist in our language.
It should be called Bodich or Sbeisbodich.
Nordlys schrieb:
Box, coffin, casket. The things you carry on your shoulder look like that. Like children’s coffins.I find that linguistic connection a bit of a stretch. Our word "coffin" can be clearly traced back to the Greek "sarkophagos" (which quite starkly describes what the object does, since "sarks" means "flesh" and the verb "phagein" means "to eat").
It is likely that the English "coffin" also derives from "sarkophagos," just with some parts dropped at the beginning and end to fit.
haydee schrieb:
Really, the word mortar bucket is dialect? Mortar bucket in standard German The term "Mörtelkübel" is, as I found out today, not dialect but Early New High German. My "Early New High German Glossary" by Alfred Götze lists "Kuf" or "Kufe" and translates both as trough. It appears that the origin of the word relates to something made by a cooper—or perhaps the cooper’s occupation name itself comes from the product, the "Kuf" or "Kufe."
Interestingly, Google Books also shows a 1714 edition of the "Teutschen Reichs-Archivs," in which a "Kuffte" is mentioned several times—a water-filled container used for firefighting.
It’s fascinating what you learn when the topic is actually about the usefulness of a cellar.
Best regards and have a great Sunday
Axel
haydee schrieb:
Thanks for the clarification You're welcome anytime!