Technology Box Company Knecht

I actually don't want a basement, as the planned house offers me more than enough space. Nevertheless, I do not want to waste space for the building services on the ground floor, a utility room gladly, but not the heating and ventilation system, etc. ... the [Technikbox] actually offers exactly what I would like.

Such a "technology box" has an unfavorable ratio between enclosing walls and room volume, and the required excavation work also causes a certain effort, which is only slightly reduced by the small volume. I recently spoke with several manufacturers of such mini cellars to explore the idea of carport instead of house basement once. They all told me it is not worth it. Their typical customers are in large cities like Stuttgart and Munich, whose land prices tempt them to cut costs on every square meter of floor area. You cannot get cost-wise far enough away from larger partial basements for it to be worthwhile. Rather, only if even the smallest above-ground "cellar" room is to be avoided, or in rocky ground where you economize every square meter of earthworks.

If you are building with Huf: they have a basement subsidiary "Ideal". You will find enough competence there to take their judgment on this seriously. In such a case, I would probably most likely place something behind the carport. There are also offers of finished room units for this; several small cellar manufacturers also produce transformer houses or similar, and you can also find such things with prefabricated garage suppliers.

Thank you very much for the quick response. I just have to recalculate everything again. If I decide on the basement, additional costs for a staircase landing, partial finishing, underfloor heating, etc. will also arise. And the partial finishing is by no means a nice living basement. Reason says you will have reserves in the future, but the costs incurred now are nevertheless not insignificant, especially since it is unforeseeable whether the reserves will ever be needed.

A floor slab including excavation will cost between 20-30K€, the offered system basement from Fa. Knecht just over 70K€ as a white tank.

At the present time, a "nice" laundry room including parking for heating and all the house technology costs me just under 100K€.

If now, in the worst case, the floor slab including the technical box were only 10K€ cheaper, i.e. 60K€, then the budget gain would increase by 40K€, then one can think about nice things like parquet flooring, a fireplace, or a better kitchen. The house already offers a living space of almost 180sqm. Why then still 100sqm of basement?! It not only has to be heated but also cleaned.

I look forward to further suggestions and thoughts. Many thanks in advance.

A underfloor heating system is not related to having a basement, except possibly the opposite: I lived in a partially basemented house, and the rooms without basements were colder at floor level. Insulation also makes a big difference.

Underfloor heating is more a matter of principle: underfloor heating allows for warmer floors at the same room temperature (or rather: less cold, since the floor doesn’t get radiator-hot), and is therefore popular with people who like to wear slippers or socks at home. Women love underfloor heating, and allergy sufferers (and hypochondriacs) also find this heating more pleasant due to reduced dry air.

In twenty years, a radiator heating system will depreciate an upscale single-family home at resale just as night storage heaters lower the price today. Nobody buys an E-Class or a 5 Series nowadays with crank windows either.

100 sqm of floor space (excluding garage) without a slope I wouldn’t fully basement unless wishing for a large wellness area. What is planned for where the cars are supposed to sleep? - under a double garage usually offers just the right amount of “space,” and with the typically roughly square floor plan also a favorable ratio of perimeter to area.

A double garage is planned. Approximately 6.5m x 6.5m. So far, strip foundations are planned here.

Actually, I would prefer the garage to be cellar-equipped as well, since it stands 80cm next to the house and its back wall borders the terrace. I know that in Schleswig-Holstein the garage is allowed to stand outside the building window, but I don’t know how it works with a cellar then.

There is no slope and I don’t need a wellness temple in the cellar.

I know that in Schleswig-Holstein the garage is allowed to stand outside the building window, but I do not know how that applies to a basement.

As far as I know, there is nothing against basements for outbuildings (if built on the border, of course it must be ensured not to endanger the neighbor's building with the underground construction); typical limitations rather apply to the above-ground height (e.g. 3m from where the base area breaks through the ground).