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

uck51js9zml2yt · 13-10-2018 9:36am

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

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!

Built in the south west of Ireland on a hill.
Wooden frame dormer with basement.

Basement has a sump and a pump in case of flooding. The Estate agent told me it's never been flooded but the couple who built it used their experience from the US in building it.

It was built early 90's.

We saw another house on s steep hill with a basement that had been cut out of the hill with an apartment underneath and garage. It was 2 floors above ground level. Built by a couple who moved home from UK. He made his money in building over there.

robp · 13-10-2018 9:47am

In Rathgar a small high-end housing estate of three story terraced houses with basements were built. Lovely houses and very energy efficient.

fash · 13-10-2018 11:13am

They are not used in Ireland because of cost.
Firstly, because they are unusual, the building regulations were not developed with them in mind, it changes the way you have to ventilate and have fire escape compared to a "normal" house. So you have to change your approach to both of these ( e.g. protected fire escape corridor/stairway and HRV)
Secondly, because they are unusual, the construction industry is not set up to fire them out cheaply (compared to other countries (some parts of US/Canada etc) - anything bespoke and unusual costs a lot more. There are better construction technologies than those normally used in Ireland, but because they are not usual here, they end up being comparatively expensive. It is always difficult to go against the grain.
From memory, it costs about 10 times as much per square foot to provide a basement as provide above ground accommodation in Ireland.

Basements are available in parts of the US/Canada because the ground freezes, so you had to build foundations below that point anyway, so why not stick in a room while you were at it - you either dug it out and left it empty, or you filled it back in with earth.

The more people want them however, the cheaper they will become and the more the regulations will consider them. Although if it were up to me personally, I'd prefer others to go ahead and make them common practice, then I could benefit from their actions. (A tragedy of the commons)

ted1 · 13-10-2018 11:16am

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

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?

Much cheaper to do 3 above ground than 1 below and 2 on top.

riclad · 13-10-2018 5:27pm

Construction is cheaper in america, house,s tend to be bigger , building regs are not so strict as here in ireland.
Maybe land and sites are cheaper in america than in ireland .
PC .s and phones get cheaper the more you build,
just finding a site to build house,s on is expensive and complicated ,
theres no sign of building getting cheaper in ireland.
i know an american bought a house in ireland ,knocked down old house,
built a 5 bed house with 4 bathrooms, 2 front rooms,
He never even thought of building a basement .
i Think he spent at least 500k building the new house.
That does not include cost of building old house with 2 acres of land round it.
I think labour is cheaper in the usa than in ireland .

rn · 13-10-2018 7:10pm

I think it's not just cost, it's also our relatively lax planning regulations, our relatively large sites (esp for one off houses) and weather.

On the continent they don't have space for sheds and even if they did it makes sense to protect storage space from extreme heat in summer and snow in winter by going under ground. It's amazingly convenient for them during winter months. That justifies the extra cost in structural work, insulation and damp proofing.

Here you can throw up a shed for a fraction of the cost and for the few hours there's a red weather warning it's not a deal breaker on convenience.

The cost is not to be underestimated. Neighbours to be are putting in a partial basement due to split site and height restrictions. It's costing the 70k extra for the basement structural work. They'll have over 100k spent before they get out of the ground for a 2500 sqft house.

Victor · 13-10-2018 7:40pm

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

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

There are a few reasons they often have basements and we generally don't.

1. Frost heave - foundations need to be far enough underground that they are unaffected by winter cold. Seeing as you've dug a hole anyway, you might as well use it.
2. Tornado shelters.
3. Nuclear shelters.

looksee · 13-10-2018 7:46pm

rn wrote: »

I think it's not just cost, it's also our relatively lax planning regulations, our relatively large sites (esp for one off houses) and weather.

On the continent they don't have space for sheds and even if they did it makes sense to protect storage space from extreme heat in summer and snow in winter by going under ground. It's amazingly convenient for them during winter months. That justifies the extra cost in structural work, insulation and damp proofing.

Here you can throw up a shed for a fraction of the cost and for the few hours there's a red weather warning it's not a deal breaker on convenience.

The cost is not to be underestimated. Neighbours to be are putting in a partial basement due to split site and height restrictions. It's costing the 70k extra for the basement structural work. They'll have over 100k spent before they get out of the ground for a 2500 sqft house.

Really! Lax Planning! I gather you have not applied for planning recently then?

rn · 13-10-2018 8:07pm

I have and got it. Had a small bit of hassle but got there in the end. About to commence build. But if I was in Central Europe I wouldn't be getting planning.

Note I said "relatively"

5T3PH3N · 13-10-2018 8:07pm

I used to do basement construction for one of the small dublin based companies.
Basements are expensive. There’s the cost to dig and remove soil from site, it’s over €8k for the grab lorries alone. Hit any rock and it gets expensive, fast.
The rebar that goes into a basement is just insane, 40ft lorry load of rebar.
Tanking membranes are seriously expensive and you need to have completed a course to fit both membranes.
Shuttering and concrete costs are super expensive, high strength pump mix concrete and the pump. 440mm thick exterior walls takes a lot of concrete.

The only basements I did were in the most affluent areas really, 3 of the basements I did were for new build houses.

I don’t do basements anymore but when I build my own house I hope to do one.

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

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