Property development - basement yes or no?

Thanks for your experience report :) What is the ceiling height in your basement?

The clear shell construction height is 2.38 m. The standard would have been 2.26, but that was too low for us. For this reason, we increased the room height by 12 cm.

In my excerpt from the land registry, unfortunately no contour lines are drawn

In the online documents, display levels can often be switched on and off there.

I know it is unfortunately very hard to read... but maybe this helps?

It could have helped if had not been driven away here ...

I would do everything possible to implement a full basement.

You have already mentioned some advantages, such as the possibility to place the washing machine there, which could be quite useful in case it ever starts to leak.

A workshop, among other things, to store tools for small and larger repairs but of course also to set up a workbench there so that a vise can be placed there as well.

Space to store, for example, Christmas decorations.

In addition, we have a basement room of about 10 m² that serves as a storage room. In addition to shelves for food, both purchased (margarine, legumes, etc.) and homemade preserves, there is also space for the freezer chest, and potatoes can be stored there as well. In other words, if something is on sale that is needed anyway, we tend to buy in larger quantities. Another advantage is that the basement maintains a temperature of about 12 degrees year-round.

Which is certainly not necessarily bad for both the freezer chest and the food.

Since you want a kitchen garden, storage space for what you harvest will also be needed, unless it is so little that it can be stored in the kitchen cabinet.

To be able to manage the additional costs of the basement, you should perhaps already consider, if you haven’t done so yet, what you can do yourself. I always think of things like wallpapering and everything related to the garden.

I can do without something like smart home. Sure, I don’t have it, so I don’t miss it either.

For TV reception, I would always rely on satellite. There are only one-time costs and not monthly fees like with cable. By the way, such a dish can also be installed by yourself.

The first question should probably be whether the basement is affordable and whether you want to pay for it. If both can be answered with "yes," make a pro and con list and act accordingly. Not everything that happens during house construction is economical. If you look at it closely, nothing about building a house is economical. I personally do not want to miss the basement. It is more comfortable to go down a few steps than to fold down the stupid staircase to the attic. Likewise, food and items that should not experience too many temperature fluctuations are stored in the basement. However, the basement was already there when the house was purchased. Currently, I would probably be too stingy to build a new basement.

Thank you very much for the hint. I think I have found what I was looking for. I have made one picture each with contour lines (all contour lines activated except living areas), elevation layers, and elevation profile. If I interpret these correctly, the plot is flat. Or am I looking at it the wrong way? :)

We have not planned a vegetable garden. Maybe a raised bed with some herbs. But that’s about it. Our garden area won’t be that lush. A smart home warns you and protects you against a leaking washing machine ;). But sure, everyone has their preferences. We have also already talked to some people who built without a basement, and the basic consensus was always “We would do it the same way again.” Often mentioned as an advantage—especially by people who previously had basements—is that not so many unnecessary things accumulate because you handle the available storage space more carefully. We will definitely get quotes from a basement builder as soon as the soil report is in. We have also been given the tip not to source the basement through the prefab house company.

A smart home warns and protects you from a leaking washing machine

Now it’s getting mysterious. :) Regarding the basement. Just ask the mouse, uh, the architect, what you get for the budget. (The forum already knows…) Just "simply" calculate backwards from 600 k€, then you’ll see how many square meters you get…