building under back garden
- Thread starter ccraig
- Start date
I don't have any info as such, but it is something I'm amazed we don't do more of over here as sites are SO expensive. I reckon if I was building from scratch, I'd definately look into having a basement. Many houses in the US & on the continent have basements, but it is something that never really took off over here.
Any architechs on AAM have an idea why not? Are the building costs too much to make it un economical? I recall staying with a friend in America in her basement - they all have them there - but then again the area had regular tornadoes so it was kind of essential!
Any architechs on AAM have an idea why not? Are the building costs too much to make it un economical? I recall staying with a friend in America in her basement - they all have them there - but then again the area had regular tornadoes so it was kind of essential!
Righto, in no particular order then;
Building a basement is the most expensive part of an apartment or commercial building in terms of structure and water-proofing, merely to provide a car park.
A basement in Ireland for habitable use must be carefully detailed to avoid penetration from water under, on and over the ground.
The access requires careful detailing to allow an alternate escape in event of fire - its totally enclosed underground, remember.
The ventilation must be carefully considered because you may have no windows.
The insulation must be carefully considered because a vented cavity is very difficult to include in the design - a constant 10 degrees ground temperature won't achieve carbon neutral status by 2013 by itself.
In areas with a high water table, a basement can cause uplift which must be resisted by specially designed foundations or else counteracted by the weight of the building above.
Where pumped water or effluent disposal is intended you will usually require a separate back up pump.
If you're supposed to be building sustainably, you may require to dispose of the excavation spoils on the site - that's a lot of muck!
If you're a Super-Green Agenda person and considering embodied energy, then this may limit your construction options somewhat.
That having been said [and the above list is off the top of my head, not exhaustive], on a sloping site in Ireland you could in theory find relatively affordable workarounds for a half-basement solution.
In Canada, for example, basements are routinely included in houses because [from one of the recent relocation house programmes - haven't checked this] in Canada you're supposed to build your founds 10ft/3.0M below GL to avoid frost heave.
In America, particularly in Tornado Alley and on the Southwest coast storm cellars may be mandatory - they're certainly popular.
FWIW
ONQ.
Building a basement is the most expensive part of an apartment or commercial building in terms of structure and water-proofing, merely to provide a car park.
A basement in Ireland for habitable use must be carefully detailed to avoid penetration from water under, on and over the ground.
The access requires careful detailing to allow an alternate escape in event of fire - its totally enclosed underground, remember.
The ventilation must be carefully considered because you may have no windows.
The insulation must be carefully considered because a vented cavity is very difficult to include in the design - a constant 10 degrees ground temperature won't achieve carbon neutral status by 2013 by itself.
In areas with a high water table, a basement can cause uplift which must be resisted by specially designed foundations or else counteracted by the weight of the building above.
Where pumped water or effluent disposal is intended you will usually require a separate back up pump.
If you're supposed to be building sustainably, you may require to dispose of the excavation spoils on the site - that's a lot of muck!
If you're a Super-Green Agenda person and considering embodied energy, then this may limit your construction options somewhat.
That having been said [and the above list is off the top of my head, not exhaustive], on a sloping site in Ireland you could in theory find relatively affordable workarounds for a half-basement solution.
In Canada, for example, basements are routinely included in houses because [from one of the recent relocation house programmes - haven't checked this] in Canada you're supposed to build your founds 10ft/3.0M below GL to avoid frost heave.
In America, particularly in Tornado Alley and on the Southwest coast storm cellars may be mandatory - they're certainly popular.
FWIW
ONQ.
Exactly what ONQ said - and because they're so rare here, you might find some severe oppositon from planners (esp if they've been reading London property supplements in the past year... very few of which have been positive about basement digout projects,,,,)
baldyman27
Registered User
- Messages
- 639
I might be completely off the mark here but isn't building below ground exempt from planning in some circumstances?
Development is defined as "carrying out works on, under or over the ground".
So unless it says its exempted somewhere it isn't AFAIK - sorry
ONQ.
I would assume that the house insurance would also be higher... and maybe not get insurance for it... I know it was a problem on an industrial project i worked on so I assume it would be same issue for domestic.. for reasons as per onq's detailed response above