Building with or without a basement - experiences

Hello everyone

we keep clashing over this topic.
How did you build? With or without a basement?
On the one hand, I think: More space means more space to store more stuff
I have also considered compensating for the space with a large double garage.
The attic "would" also be there.

Hmm.....

Please share your experiences.
I have also heard that without a basement is bad because of moisture?
And cold from below?

I would always base the decision for a basement on the ground conditions. If these are good, you can "cheaply" build a basement. Otherwise, a basement can quickly become very expensive.

A basement is always a personal and last but not least financial decision. A basement is usually an expensive way to create space. I wouldn't want to miss our basement and wouldn't want to build without one, but in our basement there is, besides a utility room and storage room, a music room and a book/fitness room. So it's not just "space for junk." Think about what you really need the basement for and whether there are alternatives (which you have already mentioned). If you then also know what additional costs will come your way, you can decide whether it is worth it for you.

What Koempy wrote, of course, also always plays a role.

Yes, usually with houses without a basement, the utility room is planned "upstairs"... I don’t know either... we currently (still renting at the moment) have a basement room that is maybe 5m² and that is enough for us. Everything else is in the garage outside, what you usually need for the garden.

A basement is actually more expensive storage space, but cheaper living space. We are building with a basement because besides a utility room and a storage room, we also want a 40sqm guest room/second living room for the kids later. We are building rather small, but completely sufficient (135sqm), yet fully basemented with living space reserve. In our calculation with the home builder, it turned out cheaper than a 150sqm house with a double garage + storage space in the garage. And that, even though we need a white tank because of groundwater.

Our house has approximately 134sqm of living space. With the basement, the total floor area is just over 200sqm. Without a basement but with 200sqm of living space, however, the project would have cost significantly more... - and the remaining free plot area would have been smaller, which should not be forgotten. Also, the difference between the foundation slab and the basement. In addition, we have a slight sloping plot. With a basement, perfect. The intended use also plays a major role. In the basement, for example, is the HAR (heat pump, controlled residential ventilation, washing machine, dryer, etc.). One basement room has a nice large window with daylight. This is intended to be used as a guest room. And the large basement serves as a hobby room and junk room. For this "secondary" use, a basement is perfect – especially since we have a room height of 2.20m. A real living basement is naturally considerably more expensive...