Basement the double garage to save money

Why do I want a basement? I have often asked myself that question:

- I enjoyed it as a child, ....
- All my friends and acquaintances say, ....
.....So next time the car won’t be a BMW but a Japanese one...

...

However, these arguments are the worst. If you had said now that you/you all need the space... think about it!

As for the last sentence, one can only say: if it makes you happy...

In the end, I hope that with my house plans, a basement with 40m2 of usable area costs a maximum of 50,000 euros.

40 sqm is a perfectly typical size for a full basement - at least if you only count the sensibly used area. In the rest, "hobby room" is written in the floor plan.

To what extent you have already thought about doing work yourself of course cannot be said. If not, just consider what you might be able to do. I always think of wallpapering and garden design. Since wallpapering is really not that difficult and you don’t necessarily need a company to sow the lawn either, you could save some money that way. Such money can then be well invested in the basement.

If it ultimately comes down to you having a basement under the house, try to build the outside stairs and the basement door in alignment if possible.

For us, as it is probably for many, when you stand at the bottom of the stairs you have to turn 90 degrees to see the door.

A few years ago I bought a lathe and didn’t choose it based on technical specifications but based on the size I could just barely carry through the door standing upright. A door aligned with the stairs would have been really nice because then I could have gotten it in lying down and it might have been a different one.

I would also recommend a small room as a storage room. In ours you not only find preserves but also flour, sugar, canned goods, etc., as well as the freezer because it is about 12 degrees there all year round.

We initially also planned to build without a basement. However, we now think differently.

Due to our plot of land with a slight slope (approx. 1.5m diagonally across the house area), the contractor quoted us an extra cost (foundation shafts) of about €10,000 for the slab. As an option, a 65 sqm full basement was offered as a "development variant" for €35,000. If I offset the otherwise necessary foundation shafts, then about €25,000 remain for the basement. Certainly, it is not fully developed, but it is OK for technology, utility room, and storage room and can be further developed later if needed (possibly an office or similar). Additionally, we can reduce the living area from otherwise 150 sqm to 130-135 sqm, and then there is not much difference left.

A partial basement would have been sufficient for us as well, but it does not save that much and has technical disadvantages (wall accessibility, house settlement behavior). Basement under the double garage was also considered. However, for us, it is not much cheaper than the above-mentioned variant and is less valuable.

A partial basement would have been enough for us as well, but you don’t save that much and have technical disadvantages (wall accessibility, settlement behavior of the house).

In decades of experience with a partial basement (on a flat plot), I could not observe any problematic settlement behavior.

In decades of experience with a partial basement (on a level plot), I could not observe any problematic settlement behavior.

I am not an expert and have no personal experience with it, but three different construction companies told us the same thing and therefore advised against a partial basement.