Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
Hi there,
There is an issue with role permissions that is being worked on at the moment.
If you are having trouble with access or permissions on regional forums please post here to get access: https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058365403/you-do-not-have-permission-for-that#latest

Would you like to have a basement in your new house?

  • 12-10-2018 4:19pm
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,059
    ✭✭✭✭


    I am not talking about excavating after moving in, a la the London brigade.

    I am thinking that new builds here could have the option of a basement area. Boiler room, place to dry clothes tick. Utitily room tick, part of it a chill out area or whatever.

    Seems it can be done in the US and other places, so why not here?

    Anyone know why we don't use the space underground when putting in the foundations?

    Oh cost, yes I know that, and maybe flood tables or something, but otherwise why is there no choice?


«1

Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 71,186 L1011
    ✭✭✭✭


    Ireland is damp. Very very damp.

    Basements or half-basements (front door up a few steps) were the norm until the Edwardian era in Dublin but were generally nasty damp hellholes. There have been improvements in tanking technologies but they're still not really the easiest things to keep clean and dry.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,059 Spanish Eyes
    ✭✭✭✭


    L1011 wrote: »
    Ireland is damp. Very very damp.

    Basements or half-basements (front door up a few steps) were the norm until the Edwardian era in Dublin but were generally nasty damp hellholes. There have been improvements in tanking technologies but they're still not really the easiest things to keep clean and dry.

    Well that was then, this is now.

    Surely with all the current technology available, a basement could be incorporated into a new build if you want it. Never seems to an option though.

    But in fairness I get that it will be costly, like most things in this country.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,447 Calhoun
    ✭✭✭


    If you look at the likes of grand designs ect, in places like London ect they have had to build down for more space.

    The technology is there but its not cheap and you can spend allot from the looks of it on doing it.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,516 Outkast_IRE
    ✭✭✭


    It is an option , it's just expensive . I have worked in dozens of 1 million euro plus one off houses and only one person bothered .


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,059 Spanish Eyes
    ✭✭✭✭


    Calhoun wrote: »
    If you look at the likes of grand designs ect, in places like London ect they have had to build down for more space.

    The technology is there but its not cheap and you can spend allot from the looks of it on doing it.

    Seems that every house in the US has a basement room no matter where they are. Maybe the costs are less there I dunno.

    Great use of space I would think all the same. I would love a basement that had the footprint of my house. Would you?


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 71,186 L1011
    ✭✭✭✭


    Well that was then, this is now.

    Surely with all the current technology available, a basement could be incorporated into a new build if you want it. Never seems to an option though.

    But in fairness I get that it will be costly, like most things in this country.

    It would need to be included from planning onwards so its not like a normal option; and because it is so costly nobody really bothers.

    As housing costs increase I wouldn't be surprised if they re-surface for houses in inner suburbs of cities as you can reduce the footprint of the house and increase site density. Would allow people who do not want an apartment to get something closer to apartment density basically. That said, the normal private house built with them in Ireland in the past, and elsewhere now is usually two floors - Irish high density houses are already three floors overground as it is.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,292 TheBoyConor
    ✭✭✭


    Engineering and construction wise, there is no issue at all and it can be done no problem. Damp, high water tables etc can all be dealt with.

    The reason is cost and there simply would not be a market for building houses that have basements.

    Some technical issues that need to be dealt with are excavation, and dealing with high water tables.

    Excavation. Firstly there will be a lot more soil to dispose of.. not to mind the extra hassle if you have to deal with breaking out rock or boulders. All this costs money.
    Then the temporary works needed to construct basements are significant. For large buildings the piles holding the excavation open are typically part of the structure and are left in place. However in a house, leaving piles in place would not be a very appropriate method I think. That means piles must be driven, the basement walls built and then the piles removed and the excavation backfilled against the walls. All this would be *very* expensive.

    Water tables. The complication here is that a basement just built and sitting in the ground can actually float like a cork if the water table is high. There are 2 ways around this. 1. Anchor piles which tie the structure down to the underlying soul or rock. 2. Simply adding weight to the structure by making everything very think and heavy to cancel our any buoyancy force. Again all this is very expensive.


    So it is just not worth the expense to do this for a house. It would be far too expensive for the sake of a utility room or a hang out area. Makes more practical sense and would be far, far cheaper to just build a bigger house.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,059 Spanish Eyes
    ✭✭✭✭


    Engineering and construction wise, there is no issue at all and it can be done no problem. Damp, high water tables etc can all be dealt with.

    The reason is cost and there simply would not be a market for building houses that have basements.

    Some technical issues that need to be dealt with are excavation, and dealing with high water tables.

    Excavation. Firstly there will be a lot more soil to dispose of.. not to mind the extra hassle if you have to deal with breaking out rock or boulders. All this costs money.
    Then the temporary works needed to construct basements are significant. For large buildings the piles holding the excavation open are typically part of the structure and are left in place. However in a house, leaving piles in place would not be a very appropriate method I think. That means piles must be driven, the basement walls built and then the piles removed and the excavation backfilled against the walls. All this would be *very* expensive.

    Water tables. The complication here is that a basement just built and sitting in the ground can actually float like a cork if the water table is high. There are 2 ways around this. 1. Anchor piles which tie the structure down to the underlying soul or rock. 2. Simply adding weight to the structure by making everything very think and heavy to cancel our any buoyancy force. Again all this is very expensive.


    So it is just not worth the expense to do this for a house. It would be far too expensive for the sake of a utility room or a hang out area. Makes more practical sense and would be far, far cheaper to just build a bigger house.

    Thanks for that information, very interesting.

    I still wonder why homes in the US and Canada for example seem to all have basements no matter where they are!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,512 runawaybishop
    ✭✭✭


    Thanks for that information, very interesting.

    I still wonder why homes in the US and Canada for example seem to all have basements no matter where they are!

    Some states they would be very unusual. It depends on the climate and soiltype.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,292 TheBoyConor
    ✭✭✭


    I'd also add that I'm not sure where domestic basements would stand from a building regulations pov, specifically with respect to part b which is fire safety. Any habitable room needs to have adequate means of escape which basically means a second exit is needed - again this is another expense. I'm not an expert on part b so I am open to correction here.
    Also, ventilating a basement is not as straightforward as for a regular basic house.
    Again, it can all be done - it's just it costs more. Much more.

    Essentially, is there anything that you cannot do in a regular room that would justify the additional hassle and cost of a basement? No. Not really.

    The additional cost might be justified in places like London where land prices are stupendous and where there would be a restriction on building upwards. Eg in an area of period houses or protected structures you might not get planning to build an extra floor on your house so s basement might be an option. However, you'd have to satisfy the planners that constructing your basement wouldn't affect or damage adjacent buildings. That would mean engaging a geotechnical engineering specialist to design and supervise construction at, you guessed it, a significant cost.



    In the usa they have basements because most are quite old and they are usually built as storm shelters. We don't need that.
    Also, American houses are of mind bogglingly flimsy construction. Their building standards are far, far less stringent than in the EU in every respect. Essentially, they can get away with building to a lower standard so it costs less for them to do it.

    And part of the need for storm shelters is that many homes are of flimsy timber frame construction and cannot withstand the storms. Sure often on TV you see whole houses simply blowing off in the wind add if they were caravans.


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,499 Alun
    ✭✭✭✭


    Also, American houses are of mind bogglingly flimsy construction. Their building standards are far, far less stringent than in the EU in every respect. Essentially, they can get away with building to a lower standard so it costs less for them to do it.
    Pretty much every house in Germany has a basement and you can't level the building standards argument against them. Most modern German houses make Irish ones look like garden sheds by comparison.

    Generally they're not habitable rooms anyway, they're used for storage mainly.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,499 Alun
    ✭✭✭✭


    Great use of space I would think all the same. I would love a basement that had the footprint of my house. Would you?
    I certainly would, they're a great idea. Great for storage purposes, much handier than an attic for storing all your old junk, plus great for food storage as they're generally unheated. Most German houses have their heating systems installed in the basements too which means they're able to put in much beefier boilers and hot water storage systems without being constrained to a small metal box in the kitchen.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,292 TheBoyConor
    ✭✭✭


    Perhaps. I certainly know in the USA energy conservation is basically an alien concept. Insulation is minimal. Consequently they use heating and ac to an alarming rate. Energy is cheaper than insulation is basically the cause.


    Yes they may be intended mainly as storage or utility. But the op would plan to use it as a hang out or recreational area of some form. That use makes it a habitable room so it would need to meet the relevant standards - it would have to be heated, ventilated, fire safety, and access requirements such as a proper stairs would all apply. On the last point, an open tread stairs or laddery type set up like out of the movies isn't an option because it would not be acceptable for building regs and safety in design reasons.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 786 no.8
    ✭✭✭


    I still wonder why homes in the US and Canada for example seem to all have basements no matter where they are!


    They're and in many European countries as well. Expensive but always Incorporated. Certainly makes a massive difference in terms of storage space/integrated garage etc


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,264 jester77
    ✭✭✭✭


    Don't know how people survive without a basement, they are a great place for storing unsightly or loud things and keeping the house neat and tidy.

    I've utility room with washer and dryer, a room with a freezer and shelves for storing food, wine and crates of drinks, a room with heating, water and ventilation system, a room with server rack, another with shelves for tools and random stuff from around the house and a small gym with power rack and weights.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,732 BarryD2
    ✭✭✭


    Perhaps. I certainly know in the USA energy conservation is basically an alien concept. Insulation is minimal. Consequently they use heating and ac to an alarming rate. Energy is cheaper than insulation is basically the cause.

    Which makes you wonder why we're so gungho here for carbon taxes and high building specs, pushing up the costs of construction. Fuel is expensive and likely to get more so, but a whole heap of that extra cost is Tax.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,541 PokeHerKing
    ✭✭✭


    And part of the need for storm shelters is that many homes are of flimsy timber frame construction and cannot withstand the storms. Sure often on TV you see whole houses simply blowing off in the wind add if they were caravans.

    To be fair they get hurricanes and tornadoes. Not just a typical bit of wind.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,292 TheBoyConor
    ✭✭✭


    Fair enough of it was an existing building.
    But if you were embarking upon a new build all of that can be done in a regular ground floor or upper room of appropriate construction at far less cost. Unless you were constrained by space on the site and from adding another floor there would be no reason to build a basement outside of the novelty factor and one's willingness to carry the extra cost which, for a one of house, would be a very significant portion of the overall construction cost.






    Because in Europe we recognise that a) fossil fuels are finite and declining in quantity and are future proofing ourselves by striving to minimise their use in the short term and weaning ourselves off them in the long term and b) we recognise the grave threat to the health of the plant posed by their uncontrolled and wanton use.

    The USA, as a nation, has little qualms in this regard and are happy to stick their head in the sand and see the world rot before their eyes as long as they can have their guns and gas guzzlers.
    Just look at what they, in partnership with Canada, are allowing to happen with the extraction of tar sands in Canada - wholesale destruction of ENORMOUS swathes of untouched tundra habitat with piss poor token efforts at habitat remediation in the exhausted areas that will take hundreds if not thousands of years to fully recover. All in the name of 10c off their 3,8 litres of gaaaaaz in Walmart.

    Anyway, I have gone way way off topic


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,059 Spanish Eyes
    ✭✭✭✭


    jester77 wrote: »
    Don't know how people survive without a basement, they are a great place for storing unsightly or loud things and keeping the house neat and tidy.

    I've utility room with washer and dryer, a room with a freezer and shelves for storing food, wine and crates of drinks, a room with heating, water and ventilation system, a room with server rack, another with shelves for tools and random stuff from around the house and a small gym with power rack and weights.

    You are speaking my language. Where are you if you don't mind me asking. No problems if you don't want to say.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,310 Pkiernan
    ✭✭✭


    Fair enough of it was an existing building.
    But if you were embarking upon a new build all of that can be done in a regular ground floor or upper room of appropriate construction at far less cost. Unless you were constrained by space on the site and from adding another floor there would be no reason to build a basement outside of the novelty factor and one's willingness to carry the extra cost which, for a one of house, would be a very significant portion of the overall construction cost.






    Because in Europe we recognise that a) fossil fuels are finite and declining in quantity and are future proofing ourselves by striving to minimise their use in the short term and weaning ourselves off them in the long term and b) we recognise the grave threat to the health of the plant posed by their uncontrolled and wanton use.

    The USA, as a nation, has little qualms in this regard and are happy to stick their head in the sand and see the world rot before their eyes as long as they can have their guns and gas guzzlers.
    Just look at what they, in partnership with Canada, are allowing to happen with the extraction of tar sands in Canada - wholesale destruction of ENORMOUS swathes of untouched tundra habitat with piss poor token efforts at habitat remediation in the exhausted areas that will take hundreds if not thousands of years to fully recover. All in the name of 10c off their 3,8 litres of gaaaaaz in Walmart.

    Anyway, I have gone way way off topic

    You do know that CO2 emissions in Europe have always been rising and have never fallen right?


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,310 Pkiernan
    ✭✭✭


    Fair enough of it was an existing building.
    But if you were embarking upon a new build all of that can be done in a regular ground floor or upper room of appropriate construction at far less cost. Unless you were constrained by space on the site and from adding another floor there would be no reason to build a basement outside of the novelty factor and one's willingness to carry the extra cost which, for a one of house, would be a very significant portion of the overall construction cost.






    Because in Europe we recognise that a) fossil fuels are finite and declining in quantity and are future proofing ourselves by striving to minimise their use in the short term and weaning ourselves off them in the long term and b) we recognise the grave threat to the health of the plant posed by their uncontrolled and wanton use.

    The USA, as a nation, has little qualms in this regard and are happy to stick their head in the sand and see the world rot before their eyes as long as they can have their guns and gas guzzlers.
    Just look at what they, in partnership with Canada, are allowing to happen with the extraction of tar sands in Canada - wholesale destruction of ENORMOUS swathes of untouched tundra habitat with piss poor token efforts at habitat remediation in the exhausted areas that will take hundreds if not thousands of years to fully recover. All in the name of 10c off their 3,8 litres of gaaaaaz in Walmart.

    Anyway, I have gone way way off topic

    You do know that CO2 emissions in Europe have always been rising and have never fallen right?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 18,268 uck51js9zml2yt
    ✭✭✭✭


    Viewed a house during the summer. It had a basement.
    It needed a sump and pumping system in case of flooding. A dehumidifier was on 24/7.
    It was built by Americans about 20 years ago.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,499 Alun
    ✭✭✭✭


    Viewed a house during the summer. It had a basement.
    It needed a sump and pumping system in case of flooding. A dehumidifier was on 24/7.
    It was built by Americans about 20 years ago.
    Was this in Ireland? If so it was built by Irish Celtic tiger era builders, so I'm not surprised.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,292 TheBoyConor
    ✭✭✭


    Pkiernan wrote:
    You do know that CO2 emissions in Europe have always been rising and have never fallen right?


    Yes but at the very least we are attempting to exercise some kind of control and ideally to reduce emissions.

    The USA as an entity could not care less and it's leader thinks climate change is a hoax.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,447 Calhoun
    ✭✭✭


    Pkiernan wrote: »
    You do know that CO2 emissions in Europe have always been rising and have never fallen right?

    Now now logic getting in the way of smug self righteousness.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,059 Spanish Eyes
    ✭✭✭✭


    Viewed a house during the summer. It had a basement.
    It needed a sump and pumping system in case of flooding. A dehumidifier was on 24/7.
    It was built by Americans about 20 years ago.

    Very vague information there. Could you elaborate. i.e what country, near a flood plain, near a hurricane area with sea surges, etc. Thanks.

    Odd if it is in ROI and built by Americans. Sorry if I am totally wrong about that!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,499 Alun
    ✭✭✭✭


    Odd if it is in ROI and built by Americans. Sorry if I am totally wrong about that!
    I assumed they meant it was a house built for Americans to their design, could be wrong too.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,292 0lddog
    ✭✭✭


    It is an option , it's just expensive . I have worked in dozens of 1 million euro plus one off houses and only one person bothered .


    That reminds me, the one multimillion domestic new build that I know of has a basement. Its built several years now. AFAIK there are still major issues with the tanking. Not pretty.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,059 Spanish Eyes
    ✭✭✭✭


    Thanks for all the replies so far, all very interesting.

    I personally would LOVE a basement on the footprint of my house. So much potential for many things. But sigh..


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,059 Spanish Eyes
    ✭✭✭✭


    0lddog wrote: »
    That reminds me, the one multimillion domestic new build that I know of has a basement. Its built several years now. AFAIK there are still major issues with the tanking. Not pretty.

    Now come on, if someone is prepared to pay for a multimillion cost house, surely they will engage the proper architects/surveyors/engineers etc. to make sure everything will be ok, including a basement.

    Hope the builders/arch/surveyors have not been sued.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,264 jester77
    ✭✭✭✭


    You are speaking my language. Where are you if you don't mind me asking. No problems if you don't want to say.

    I'm in Hamburg. A basement is fairly standard, very few new builds will not have one. Land is scarce, so you don't get massive houses like in Ireland, so you make the most out of the small bit of land you get.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,447 Calhoun
    ✭✭✭


    jester77 wrote: »
    I'm in Hamburg. A basement is fairly standard, very few new builds will not have one. Land is scarce, so you don't get massive houses like in Ireland, so you make the most out of the small bit of land you get.

    This is a more practical reason for why you would actually see more basement usage in bigger cities. Something that could also happen here as we cannot keep the urban sprawl forever.


  • Posts: 14,344 [Deleted User]
    ✭✭✭✭


    There was recently a house for sale in Cavan, detached old house, an old rectory/glebe house (priests house, effectively), and it had a basement. But the basement had a miniature 'moat' of sorts around it, so it had windows and such. Was still very damp (2 rooms had become indoor gardens, but the house hadn't been lived in, in years).


    Have seen a few houses lately, detached, that have been excavating at the rear of the house, to put in a quasi-basement/garage thing, where you drive around the house to the side or rear, and downhill a storey, and you are generally met with roller doors for cars.


    Was also involved in the sale of a house recently that had the same as that, but the 'basement' had a cinema room, home gym, etc. (unsure if it's still referred to as a basement if the rear of the house has been landscaped so you can see it? ie; looks like a 2 storey from the front, and a 3 storey from the rear?)




    Also, American houses are of mind bogglingly flimsy construction.




    I love the wording of that sentence. Had me laughing for ages. :D


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,059 Spanish Eyes
    ✭✭✭✭


    jester77 wrote: »
    I'm in Hamburg. A basement is fairly standard, very few new builds will not have one. Land is scarce, so you don't get massive houses like in Ireland, so you make the most out of the small bit of land you get.

    So would Hamburg have damp problems do you know? Seems to me that innovative ideas for Ireland are always knocked on the head because of this or that problem. NO we cannot do that here because of X or Y. You get the drift.

    Thanks for that info. Will file it away in my head for the future :cool:


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 71,186 L1011
    ✭✭✭✭


    When planning allows, I can't see any time where putting a third floor on would be dearer than a basement. Having your junk room above you or to the side of you rather than below should be sufficient for most people, really.

    Was also involved in the sale of a house recently that had the same as that, but the 'basement' had a cinema room, home gym, etc. (unsure if it's still referred to as a basement if the rear of the house has been landscaped so you can see it? ie; looks like a 2 storey from the front, and a 3 storey from the rear?)


    That would be a "two and a half storey" house and not considered a basement. Quite common in Dublin, one and a half as well as two and a half.


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,059 Spanish Eyes
    ✭✭✭✭


    L1011 wrote: »
    When planning allows, I can't see any time where putting a third floor on would be dearer than a basement. Having your junk room above you or to the side of you rather than below should be sufficient for most people, really.

    Might be a tad easier to go one floor down to the basement, rather than three floors up though!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 71,186 L1011
    ✭✭✭✭


    Might be a tad easier to go one floor down to the basement, rather than three floors up though!

    Its still three floors top-to-bottom though. Total staircase climbing is unlikely to be majorly different.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,059 Spanish Eyes
    ✭✭✭✭


    L1011 wrote: »
    Its still three floors top-to-bottom though. Total staircase climbing is unlikely to be majorly different.

    From street level it would be one floor down to the basement.

    Rather than three floors up to the attic space. What am am I missing in the logistics here!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 71,186 L1011
    ✭✭✭✭


    From street level it would be one floor down to the basement.

    Rather than three floors up to the attic space. What am am I missing in the logistics here!

    Once inside, you have three floors regardless.

    If you are continually going up and down between floors in any three floor property, you need to re-arrange where you have things.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,292 0lddog
    ✭✭✭


    Now come on, if someone is prepared to pay for a multimillion cost house, surely they will engage the proper architects/surveyors/engineers etc............


    Yup, the full set.


    Dont know if its gone legal, for shure the client is less than gruntled.


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,264 jester77
    ✭✭✭✭


    So would Hamburg have damp problems do you know? Seems to me that innovative ideas for Ireland are always knocked on the head because of this or that problem. NO we cannot do that here because of X or Y. You get the drift.

    Thanks for that info. Will file it away in my head for the future :cool:

    More flooding than damp, apartments and houses near the rivers tend to flood during storms. Some have storm gates, but not all. The fire service are usually kept busy pumping out basements when that happens.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,825 LirW
    ✭✭✭


    Building basements is really really expensive and can easily eat up 50-100k depending on the ground of your side.

    My aunt built a house in the early 2000s in Austria with a basement and the space is amazing, the basement is a bit too damp though to use it for effective living, which you don't really do anyway. Afaik they had problems with water running underground through the land and it was a pain to get that under control.
    As jester said, if you live anywhere near water, prepare for nasty flooding, same story every year in the apartment blocks around the corner.

    I was surprised to not see it here but my first thought was the damp might make it difficult. In fairness though, probably for the better because plenty of people aren't capable of keeping their houses properly ventilated.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,512 runawaybishop
    ✭✭✭


    So would Hamburg have damp problems do you know? Seems to me that innovative ideas for Ireland are always knocked on the head because of this or that problem. NO we cannot do that here because of X or Y. You get the drift.

    Thanks for that info. Will file it away in my head for the future :cool:

    But it's not innovative, it's just expensive. If basements were cheaper than building a bigger house more people would have them. Plenty of basements in Dublin, for example, where land is expensive


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,184 riclad
    ✭✭✭


    large houses have basements in the us , america is a dry country compared with ireland.
    Its cheaper to build above ground in ireland.
    Say your house is worth 200k, are you going to spend 400k building a basement.
    Its cheaper to just buy a larger house or build a standard extension .
    Large basements are being built in london for people who are very rich,
    where houses cost millions of pounds, central london.
    It would be illegal to try and build a basement without hiring an architect
    and engineer unless its very small .


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,825 LirW
    ✭✭✭


    But it's not innovative, it's just expensive. If basements were cheaper than building a bigger house more people would have them. Plenty of basements in Dublin, for example, where land is expensive

    Don't say that, over there people are obsessed with basements for various reasons. When people build houses they almost always opt for a basement because not having one could lower the value of your property. Not only in cities but also in suburbs and rural areas people would go for a basement because there it's an essential, like people here would want certain things in a house because it's normal to have.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 29,095 looksee
    ✭✭✭✭


    I had this brilliant idea for a basement - more a semibasement - in a house I was planning. Turned out it would cost at least as much as an overground floor and that was provided everything went perfectly and they didn't hit rock or anything difficult.


  • Posts: 14,344 [Deleted User]
    ✭✭✭✭


    L1011 wrote: »
    That would be a "two and a half storey" house and not considered a basement. Quite common in Dublin, one and a half as well as two and a half.




    Would 'half storeys' not be more along the lines of a dormer house?


    I'm talking a house that's a normal everyday 2 storey (+ attic). But if you walk around the back it's actually 3 storeys (+attic).


    At least that is if memory serves me correctly..


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 40,360 Gumbo
    Mod ✭✭✭✭


    One reason, and one reason only....cost.
    The cost to go down is 3 times as expensive than the cost to go up, if not more.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 786 no.8
    ✭✭✭


    L1011 wrote:
    Its still three floors top-to-bottom though. Total staircase climbing is unlikely to be majorly different.


    No it's much easier on avg. Tbh + you are talking limited access for attics. You know yourself, Basements can be partially submerged in that the open dude can be a big door, garage etc.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 71,186 L1011
    ✭✭✭✭


    Would 'half storeys' not be more along the lines of a dormer house?


    I'm talking a house that's a normal everyday 2 storey (+ attic). But if you walk around the back it's actually 3 storeys (+attic).


    At least that is if memory serves me correctly..

    The term can be used for either.


  • Advertisement
Advertisement