Hello dear forum members,
I have been reading quietly for a long time but haven’t found an answer to my specific question here in the forum. Maybe you can help me.
We are considering buying a townhouse plot, just under 200 sqm (about 2,150 sq ft), so it’s very small. For that reason, we would like to build a basement to make better use of the space. The basement must be constructed as a “white tank” (watertight concrete structure), which makes it quite expensive. One of the neighbors probably wants to build without a basement, the other with one. The neighbor without a basement is the current owner and may prefer that we also build without a basement; he might even make his decision to sell to us dependent on this. Because of this, we want to carefully consider the purchase, as we want to have a good neighborhood.
Now my questions:
- If we build with a basement, will this cause a construction delay for his house?
- Since it’s a townhouse, we would need to use his property for excavation, about 3 m (10 ft), right?
Kind regards
B.
I have been reading quietly for a long time but haven’t found an answer to my specific question here in the forum. Maybe you can help me.
We are considering buying a townhouse plot, just under 200 sqm (about 2,150 sq ft), so it’s very small. For that reason, we would like to build a basement to make better use of the space. The basement must be constructed as a “white tank” (watertight concrete structure), which makes it quite expensive. One of the neighbors probably wants to build without a basement, the other with one. The neighbor without a basement is the current owner and may prefer that we also build without a basement; he might even make his decision to sell to us dependent on this. Because of this, we want to carefully consider the purchase, as we want to have a good neighborhood.
Now my questions:
- If we build with a basement, will this cause a construction delay for his house?
- Since it’s a townhouse, we would need to use his property for excavation, about 3 m (10 ft), right?
Kind regards
B.
AltUndNeu schrieb:
if we build a basement that might cause construction delays for him, he thinks. I think so too. If you hire a really efficient team, they can complete the basement in four weeks. So your neighbor would have to wait at least that long to start his construction, unless you invest in an additional retaining wall, which would need to be built first and very quickly. That also answers your second question:
AltUndNeu schrieb:
Since this is a terraced house, we would need to use his property for excavation, 3m, right? With the retaining wall, you won’t need to use his property. However, it is significantly more expensive because additional technical challenges would have to be solved.
A
AltUndNeu2 Jan 2019 20:55Escroda schrieb:
I agree. If you hire a truly fast-working team, they can build your basement in four weeks. Your neighbor would have to delay starting their construction by at least that long, unless you invest in an additional retaining wall, which would have to be built first in record time. This would also make your second question unnecessary:
With the retaining wall, you wouldn’t need to use any part of their property. However, it is significantly more expensive because several technical issues need to be resolved as well.Thank you very much for the helpful answer!
A
AltUndNeu2 Jan 2019 20:58kaho674 schrieb:
It is possible to plan this well together. Then the neighbor simply starts building two months after you, once your basement is finished. So what?Exactly, it can be planned well together, provided he is willing to wait those two months. If he is not, then unfortunately we are out of luck. Let’s see what he says.
AltUndNeu schrieb:
Exactly, it can be planned well together. Provided he is willing to wait those two months. If not, then unfortunately we are out of luck. Let’s see what he says. It’s also in his interest. You could also say, you start two months earlier. 😀
AltUndNeu schrieb:
I am very grateful for answers to my questions, but I feel like you are using my question as an opportunity to make a statement about your general opinion. On the contrary, I deliberately gave you appropriate search terms for the forum search instead of repeating my words from there in full here again.
AltUndNeu schrieb:
And that is not very helpful and, to be honest, one-sided, because clearly such projects can go wrong. But they can also go well. I can’t see any one-sidedness here at all, since I—as usual—carefully pointed out that there are opposite views (and those expressing them often provide reasons as well, so the arguments of both “camps” can be understood). Here, the opinions specifically differ on whether the final result is problematic or not.
But maybe I was too indirect, and you overlooked the clarity of my answers? For example, I wrote:
11ant schrieb:
Surgically precise excavation with a 90° batter angle only works in rock with a cutting disc, so it is “practically only theoretical at all.” In plain English, this means: building ground—especially when there is already additional load on top—will not stay perfectly upright when excavated vertically (i.e., with no batter and zero clearance) right next to it. Rock would be stable (though at the cost of tougher material to cut through), whereas ordinary soil is highly cohesive but still too movable to remain standing just by “staring at it.”
So if your experience is “only” in residential construction and not also in mining, I see the key factor for success in the fact that the cellar with a basement is constructed before the cellar without a basement.
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