Project Homeownership - Basement, Ground Floor Plan - Tips

Hello everyone,

After a long search, we have finally found a plot of land that we want (and that is also affordable). But now the question arises how to build.

Briefly explained, it is a slight slope parallel to the street. There are 2 parking spaces in front of the plot, so the driveway can only go up to the top left.

The soil report says that clayey soil is present. Building is allowed at 200 m above sea level ± 0.50. The total height for shed roofs must not exceed 7.50 m. The shed roof must have a slope between 10° and 15°, the orientation does not matter (preferably facing south because of the photovoltaic system). We would like to build 2 full stories.

The construction is to be solid, although we are not yet decided between aerated concrete, Poroton or Neopor concrete construction.

Now the question is whether it makes sense to plan a basement, which would only be used as storage space and for house technology. Possibly, depending on the size, maybe also a hobby room.

Regarding the basement, you often find different statements about additional costs ranging from €15,000 to €70,000. Since the basement expansion itself will be done by us, I am really only interested in the price of the basement itself and not the complete expansion.

Is a basement even feasible with the maximum building height and 2 full stories?

What do the additional costs look like compared to a building without a basement? Due to the slight slope, quite a lot would have to be excavated to make the foundation for the slab.

To give you a rough idea of our plans, I have attached 2 pictures. The red numbers are the elevation above sea level at the corner. What do you think about the basement? We find it difficult to draw a floor plan where there is enough space on the ground floor for the technical room and storage room. But we also do not want to "bury" unnecessary money.

PS: Suggestions for the floor plan are also welcome, but the focus should be on the basement question.

A basement can also be a lower ground floor with fully usable living spaces.

We and a few other users do not have a classic basement despite partially steep slopes.

Floor plan think about which rooms you need, look at floor plans and visit model home parks to get a feel for sizes. Keep an eye on what you like in other houses and apartments.
This way, you should be able to gather your requirements quite well and an architect will create a design for you. Which we are happy to critique here

Hello Haydee,
thank you very much for your reply.

As I said, a basement is not really of interest to us. We actually want to "live" in the 2 full floors.
I wouldn't really call it a hillside location, 1.8m over 22m length is not much at all. Because of this, my question is whether it makes sense. The basement is really only necessary for storage and the utility room.

We have already visited model parks several times, so we have a precise "wish list". However, the topic of the basement is quite uncertain for us.

We would also greatly appreciate any experiential values regarding Neopor concrete construction, as there is little information available about it in Germany.

Do you fundamentally consider which material is your favorite or do you have specialists on hand for each version? Let your craftsmen work with what they know best, then the fewest mistakes will happen. Therefore, I would generally not want to build with any materials that are little known in Germany, even if they might be slightly better than the familiar ones (with flawless processing, see above).

Hello kekse,
for Neopor concrete construction we have a specialist at hand, red brick and the white stone are the current standard for construction companies.
So it is also a fundamental question. As far as the companies are concerned, we have not committed ourselves and are therefore asking and inquiring.
We actually don’t want to get back afterwards and say that we did that and don’t like it.

Why wouldn’t you want to build with something that is better? Just because it is not the standard?
Or what reason do you have?

Thank you

Because you need the appropriate craftsmen with expertise for this, otherwise an apparent advantage can quickly turn into a disadvantage.