It can also be modified later
Since these small modular basements are already largely industrially prefabricated, assembling a small basement on a construction site usually takes no more than a day. “Then, as in a full basement, the concrete box is attached tightly to the floor slab on top,” Wetzel explains. An additional foundation for a reinforced concrete structure is usually not required.
These cellars can be built anywhere below the house, but in practice the cellar ladder connects to the ground floor staircase. But: “The concrete box doesn’t have to be sunk into the ground under the house,” adds Ulrich Lutz. “You can bury it anywhere convenient, for example under the porch or in the garden. It is important that a proper and safe entrance is created.”
This solution is also an option for builders who want to add a vault box later. “It can be modified at any time,” says Ulrich Lutz. “The garden looks the same as before, once the grass grows over the place.”
Experts fear constant problems
But such modular or functional basements are not without controversy. “If a building has a partial basement, cracks may form and the area of the house that does not have a basement can be flooded,” says Heinrich Bokamp of the Chamber of Engineers in North Rhine-Westphalia.
It is advised to choose either a full basement or a floor slab. “Anyone who absolutely wants to save in the new building can wait for the entire basement rooms to be expanded. But if you do without the basement, it cannot be reversed later,” says Heinrich Bokamp.
The real basement is that it increases the value of the home and provides an additional quality of living. Modern basements are no longer the dark, damp rooms that were once used to store coal and potatoes. Today they are taut, bright and even thermally insulated. This opens up many possible uses: for living, as a gym, sauna, hobby or workroom.
Especially those who need more living space can be better off with a real basement instead of expanding the building above ground. “In terms of quality of living, the cost per square meter in the basement is currently between 600 and 800 euros,” says Ulrich Lutz, managing director of the Every Basement Initiative. “In the upper living area, you have to calculate three to four times that.”
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