Do we need to build a basement? Germany

[RudeEnglishLady]

Hello MNers living in (or having lived in) Germany!

I would so appreciate your help with a building quandary.

We are having a house built and can't decide whether we should get a basement. They are 37,000 Euros to build and if I don't get a basement I can have a bigger / fancier house above ground. Also if we get a basement I'll have to clean it and it will get filled with crap that we don't need. However, we have this feeling that Germans love their basements and I don't want to be building a house that will be hard to sell or be worth less than it ought to be.

The ground is unusually flat for round here and so the basement would be totally underground and not one of those above ground on one side types. I wouldn't mind one of those.

If anyone has any experience or opinions please let me know.

Ich danke im voraus!

REL

[RudeEnglishLady]

Bumping for any basement enthusiasts....

[romaniabound]

Well I would say yes ... not because I am a basement fan but this is definitely a thing that Germans get excited about. And you do mention that you might want to sell it in the future.

When we bought our place my thoughts were oh lovely bright living room and nice wooden staircase but several German friends were more taken by the fact it was 'voll unterkellert' plus extra brownie points for 'voll gefliest'.

However in defence of cellars I would say it is great place to hide all the unsightly crap, we may put a huge freezer down there in due course and because it is split into rooms, we may well make one a guest room in time. Plus I think it keeps your house warmer if you have a cellar under it.

[BigTillyMincepie]

EEeeewwwwww! Fritzl!

[jamaisjedors]

Cellars/Basements are great (but will you be able to park your car in yours?)

It was one of our criteria for buying a house in France.

We can't park our car in ours, but have the washing machine down there, a big chest freezer and extra fridge and DH runs an association so there are loads of crap stuff we sell down there and all the garden tools etc too.

[Schulte]

I'd say when in Germany, do as the Germans do. I found the concept of a house without cellar very weird when I first moved over here. I mean, where else do you keep your skiing gear, bike, old crap, washing machine and crates of bottled beer?

[ABudafulSightWereHappyTonight]

Having lived in Bulgaria and Hungary where they are equally as enamoured of basements I would say go for it.

In one house in Bulgaria we had an indoor pool and a sauna. Obv you can make part of it into garage. Obv place for your central heating boiler which is then a fab place to dry clothes in the winter. You could have your utility room down there.

I would got for it for all the reasons above and the resale issue.

We have bought a house in the UK as we are moving back next summer and I am already bemoaning the lack of a basement!

[RudeEnglishLady]

Thank you for your basement observations!

We have laughed reading about your basement related experiences and feelings. DP (AbruptDutchMan) passes his thanks also. BigTilly - you took the words right out of my mouth, I'm referring to it as 'the sex dungeon' just to irritate DP. On a serious note - Romania - we like tiles too so we already planned that. Jamais - sadly we have the only flat plot round here so can't do a garage :(. Schulte - yes booze / equipment storage is good, as long as I can control it. Budaful - not enough Euro's left for a pool but a sauna sounds good. Don't go to the local saunas as I'm all shy and embarrassed by other users nudity !

Looks like we're probably getting a basement then.

[ABudafulSightWereHappyTonight]

Just make sure the run-off from the roof is not sent under your house so that your basement floods whenever it rains heavily!!! Unlike our house. It has taken 3 years and numerous floods to get that sorted here.

[Schulte]

Ha ha, yes let me warn you, my mum's basement is full of homemade pickles and jams from the late 70s. You can have too much storage space, y'know

[admysteltoe]

A friend of ours has just built a new house without a basement here in Germany. He isn't German though, and he did say they were all shocked when he was planning the house and they tried to talk him into having one.

He thought, like you that he would spend the basement money on the rest of the house which he did - he had his attic made into a loft style chill out room for his dc. It's great. Had abit of a fight to get the winding staircase built in to the attic instead of one of those trap door type pull-down ladders!

Only thing you have to find space for if you don't have the basement is the heating/boiler whatever you call it. Our friend has lost a small room on the ground floor to that, but he has put his washing machine and freezer in there too.

[tb]

Depending on your winters, the cellar is a good place for your oil tank. Where we live, the heating oil would defintely wax up in winter if our tank weren't inside.