New single-family house in southern Germany

Uffff - ok, I immediately called back the sniffer dogs "Bernardiner with schnapps barrel".

I would have taken the little schnapps barrel. ;-) ... and cuddled the dog.

So practically it works differently. I would even prefer the HAR as a location. Running outside quickly once with the laundry basket from the upper floor... I fear you will regret it. It won't stay at just one basket with a child. And where to dry when the weather is bad?

A laundry room with a drying cellar would of course be something. But it scores rather unfavorably in the cost-benefit calculation. Therefore, drying is essentially done outside first, and if the weather is bad, a room will be found, e.g. the study on weekends. If that annoys us, a dryer will simply be installed. Reserving 4 sqm of space just for wet laundry is more expensive than the luxury dryer including a custom-built cabinet for the washing machine and dryer;)

A laundry room with a drying cellar would of course be something. But it scores rather unfavorably in the cost-benefit calculation. Therefore, drying is mainly done outside, and if the weather is bad, a room will be found, e.g. the study on weekends. If that annoys us, a dryer will be installed. Reserving 4 sqm of space just for wet laundry is more expensive than the luxury dryer including a custom-made cabinet for the washing machine and dryer ;)

I have a washing machine with an integrated dryer, but I never use it. Firstly, it takes forever before the machine is finished, secondly it consumes a lot of electricity, thirdly clothes usually come out wrinkled. Also, there are many items that are not suitable for the dryer, especially baby clothes. Is the basement now completely out of your planning?

I’m afraid the basement is off the table. I would have liked to have it, but it’s already expensive as it is, and with the arsenic issue, there’s still a difficult-to-assess cost risk for us. And in part, you’re right, in the end the basement is much more expensive than anything that will ever be stored in it ;). And ultimately, the tendency is that with the total sums on the slab, the question of a basement hardly even comes up anymore. I still wanted to get a rough estimate from the local general contractor to see where we stand if we leave out the extension and keep the attic small, but that’s more like a double-check that the solution doesn’t end up more expensive than the problem. I really don’t expect that having a basement will be cheaper or comparable in cost.

Doesn't the arsenic have to be removed anyway, whether with or without a basement? I would hardly or rather not at all want my house to be sitting on arsenic.

For us, it was such that we did not have stable soil. So it would have had to be replaced to a certain depth (I think it was 2m, but I'm not sure anymore). That alone would have cost half the basement. That made the decision easy.