Hello everyone, this is my first topic here:
We are planning to start building our house this year with a general contractor. The position of the building on the plot is fixed, and we are currently waiting for the building permit / planning permission.
Our plot is approximately 20m by 41m (66 feet by 135 feet) in size, located in a gap between buildings. The shorter side faces the street. The land slopes downward by 3m (10 feet) over the 41m (135 feet) length towards the back, with the steepest slope in the middle of the plot. The neighbors on the left and right have filled their land, which can be seen clearly by the height of the neighbor’s wall on the left side of the photo. The neighbor to the left has built a basement into the slope, the neighbor to the right has not.
According to the soil report, about 50cm (20 inches) of topsoil needs to be removed. Beneath that, the soil is stable. Frost protection material will be used to fill up to the average street level, so that the finished floor level will be about 20cm (8 inches) above the street. Due to the slope in the middle part, the backfill behind the house will be approximately 1.8m (6 feet) above the current ground level. According to the soil report, the fill should be either sloped back at a 45° angle or retained with a retaining wall.
In the rear area of the plot, we want to create vegetable beds and a wildflower meadow. We already established and harvested a small potato patch last year to pass the waiting time.
What do you think would be the most sensible and cost-effective solution in this situation?
I am looking forward to your suggestions and ideas!
We are planning to start building our house this year with a general contractor. The position of the building on the plot is fixed, and we are currently waiting for the building permit / planning permission.
Our plot is approximately 20m by 41m (66 feet by 135 feet) in size, located in a gap between buildings. The shorter side faces the street. The land slopes downward by 3m (10 feet) over the 41m (135 feet) length towards the back, with the steepest slope in the middle of the plot. The neighbors on the left and right have filled their land, which can be seen clearly by the height of the neighbor’s wall on the left side of the photo. The neighbor to the left has built a basement into the slope, the neighbor to the right has not.
According to the soil report, about 50cm (20 inches) of topsoil needs to be removed. Beneath that, the soil is stable. Frost protection material will be used to fill up to the average street level, so that the finished floor level will be about 20cm (8 inches) above the street. Due to the slope in the middle part, the backfill behind the house will be approximately 1.8m (6 feet) above the current ground level. According to the soil report, the fill should be either sloped back at a 45° angle or retained with a retaining wall.
In the rear area of the plot, we want to create vegetable beds and a wildflower meadow. We already established and harvested a small potato patch last year to pass the waiting time.
What do you think would be the most sensible and cost-effective solution in this situation?
- Slope everything back, add stairs and a natural stone wall later
- Build stairs and a wall directly on the right side, slope back the rest
- If building a wall: formwork blocks would be much cheaper than L-shaped blocks; regarding the earth pressure, a structural engineer would probably need to be consulted.
I am looking forward to your suggestions and ideas!
O
Oberhäslich6 Feb 2023 23:24Is there a reason why you want to build up the ground so high? You could also consider building the house deeper into the ground...
Eifelbau2023 schrieb:
We are planning to start building our house this year with a general contractor, the building’s position on the plot is already fixed, currently we are waiting for the building permit / planning permission. [...]
What do you think would be sensible and cost-effective in this situation? What else could be sensible if the permit is already imminent?
Still, just out of curiosity:
Eifelbau2023 schrieb:
According to the soil report, about 50cm (20 inches) of topsoil must be removed, beneath which the soil is load-bearing. Frost protection material will be used to fill up to the average street level, so that the finished floor level is approximately 20cm (8 inches) above the street.
Due to the slope in the middle section, the fill behind the house will be around 1.8m (6 feet) above the current ground level. According to the soil report, the fill at that point should be either terraced at a 45° angle or retained with a retaining wall. If load-bearing soil is found 2.3m (7.5 feet) below the hillside ground level, why wasn’t a basement built there???
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
I would design the plot with several terraced levels running parallel to the house.
The raised beds and flower borders can be integrated into the retaining walls. This is easier on the back, and the gray color of the walls is partially hidden.
The area that currently contains the four neglected raised beds will become a flower and play meadow.
The raised beds and flower borders can be integrated into the retaining walls. This is easier on the back, and the gray color of the walls is partially hidden.
The area that currently contains the four neglected raised beds will become a flower and play meadow.
E
Eifelbau20237 Feb 2023 06:43@Oberhäslich
Otherwise, we would be lower than both neighbors, which raised concerns about future heavy rainfall. Maybe those concerns are unfounded, and then going 30-40cm (12-16 inches) deeper wouldn’t look awkward. But we might want to double-check that.
@11ant
Our main concern was really the further terrain gradient, which wasn’t addressed in the building permit / planning permission and wouldn’t matter as long as we don’t build up more than 2m (6.5 feet) above the current ground level.
A basement simply wasn’t financially feasible; the ground floor is designed to be fully accessible without barriers, and we need about 125sqm (1,345 sq ft) of space (not living area). Adding a basement would have been much more expensive, and we were advised against a partial basement by everyone.
Besides, we preferred the raised ground next to the neighbor over a basement dug into the slope, which otherwise would look like a tower.
@haydee
What do you mean by parallel to the house? Starting behind the house and descending in terraces was also considered.
Can something like that be built with shuttering blocks, or would L-shaped blocks definitely be needed?
The plain four raised beds are because I was uncertain about the design at that point; more will be added later 😀
Otherwise, we would be lower than both neighbors, which raised concerns about future heavy rainfall. Maybe those concerns are unfounded, and then going 30-40cm (12-16 inches) deeper wouldn’t look awkward. But we might want to double-check that.
@11ant
Our main concern was really the further terrain gradient, which wasn’t addressed in the building permit / planning permission and wouldn’t matter as long as we don’t build up more than 2m (6.5 feet) above the current ground level.
A basement simply wasn’t financially feasible; the ground floor is designed to be fully accessible without barriers, and we need about 125sqm (1,345 sq ft) of space (not living area). Adding a basement would have been much more expensive, and we were advised against a partial basement by everyone.
Besides, we preferred the raised ground next to the neighbor over a basement dug into the slope, which otherwise would look like a tower.
@haydee
What do you mean by parallel to the house? Starting behind the house and descending in terraces was also considered.
Can something like that be built with shuttering blocks, or would L-shaped blocks definitely be needed?
The plain four raised beds are because I was uncertain about the design at that point; more will be added later 😀
Eifelbau2023 schrieb:
The basement simply wouldn't have been affordable,That isn’t true when, like in this case, the cost of not building the basement is nearly the same as building one. Municipalities will soon stop approving this nonsense of just piling up fill material. “Soon,” considering the usual delays in political processes, of course ;-)https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
E
Eifelbau20237 Feb 2023 11:57Serious question, since I don’t understand the argument: What benefit do municipalities actually have when they approve a basement instead of a fill? Aside from the fact that the house can be smaller above ground because some rooms can be moved to the basement.
From a streetscape perspective, in my case, I see more of a disadvantage if there is a 1.5 m (5 feet) trench on both sides of the house instead of a fill with landscaping at street level.
Aside from that, with the current interest rates and building costs, municipalities don’t have much left to approve anyway, so whether anyone still opts for a basement is questionable. 🙄
I probably should have mentioned that the earthworks are being done by myself under professional supervision. I know the price for the fill material, but a 100 m² (1,076 ft²) basement goes far beyond that (I roughly estimated 70,000–80,000 euros).
From a streetscape perspective, in my case, I see more of a disadvantage if there is a 1.5 m (5 feet) trench on both sides of the house instead of a fill with landscaping at street level.
Aside from that, with the current interest rates and building costs, municipalities don’t have much left to approve anyway, so whether anyone still opts for a basement is questionable. 🙄
I probably should have mentioned that the earthworks are being done by myself under professional supervision. I know the price for the fill material, but a 100 m² (1,076 ft²) basement goes far beyond that (I roughly estimated 70,000–80,000 euros).
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