A Basementette - Tiny box for plant? Good idea?

[puntloos]

My situation:

I have PP approved for new build, 25m2 basement middle of plot, and soil analysis says I have 'good ground' (standard clay, no need for unusual structures), but given how much space I have in the house already, I don't really need the extra 25m2 for outsized price/sqm.

 

But.

 

I'm now told a basement might be a quite elegant way to store plant, I have a bunch of smart home, networking racks, water cylinder perhaps etc. Yes you can stash the things in various spots but perhaps it's nicer to have a central plant room. 

 

My thought: rather than a full basement, (almost) livable room, needs to meet tons of regs etc.. can I not build a "4x4x1m50 box" - so something absolutely not suitable for living - no regs to meet - but that can indeed store most plant, build everything 5cm off the floor just in case, simple sump pump for emergencies and hey ho?

[Bitpipe]

I have a plant room in basement, it sits under our utility and indeed is useful as it holds the gas boiler, MVHR and UVC plus incoming telecoms, power, PV isolators etc. It's about 3m x 1.5m so yours would have a lot of additional space for storage etc.

 

The basement itself is full footprint with the rest being habitable space so meets full regs on means of egress etc.

 

You may want to check with BC on exactly what regs you will need to meet. If you have a DHW tank that needs to meet G3, it will have to be able to vent externally so that may be a challenge. 

 

Be aware that the smaller a basement is, the more expensive it is to build per m2 due to plant mobilisation costs etc. You will need to tie it into the floor structure above to prevent it moving independently.

 

 

[Thorfun]

2 hours ago, Bitpipe said:

It's about 3m x 1.5m

does all your plant fit in to that? our plant room is 3.3m x 1.3m but we have a separate room for our comms and electrics (1.7m x 1.3m) and was a little worried about fitting everything in to the plant room. 

 

 

[Bitpipe]

14 hours ago, Thorfun said:

does all your plant fit in to that? our plant room is 3.3m x 1.3m but we have a separate room for our comms and electrics (1.7m x 1.3m) and was a little worried about fitting everything in to the plant room. 

 

 

 

Just checked the dimensions and it's 1.8m x 3.3

 

There is loads of space, most things are not that deep so there is still space for a large table with tools etc under it.

[puntloos]

But, you are all talking about 'standard basements' - is the benefit of a "crawlspace-y" basement not worth it? Thinking 1m50 effective ceiling height would fit most plant, installation will be *somewhat* awkward but.

[puntloos]

Anyone? Would there be meaningful benefit to create more like a 'wine cellar' style basement box, or would it be more sensible to either do no basement, or a 'proper'ish one?

 

 

[Marvin]

From a size point of view it seems that you should be very carefully identify what your thinking of putting in the room. My HW tank is 1600mm tall and its not a tall one.

 

Thinking of a space created below the ground floor makes me believe it would be viewed as part of the foundations to the building and therefore Building Regulations apply?

 

Different heating, cooling and fresh air arrangements for your building could also make a difference as to how it would all work.

Air source heat pump air to air?

Air source heat pump air to water?

Photovoltaics electricity generation?

Gas boiler?

Passive house standard? 

Coal fire?

 

Its not just "make a space and stick all the stuff in there" its also " what does it all need to connect to and where would the connections be coming from"

 

As you have indicated, its not if, but how much. However the "how much" is also related to "if more work is required to put the items in the basement rather than elsewhere".

 

So you still have no answer but perhaps you can consider what mechanical and electrical (M&E) your thinking of installing and see if the basement idea still works.

 

Best of Luck

 

Marvin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Marvin]

1 minute ago, Marvin said:

what does it all need to connect to and where would the connections be coming from"

and as Bitpipe indicated ..  and where all the connections need to go to.

Oh and MVHR.

 

[MortarThePoint]

Sounds like an expensive way to stash your plant. The water cylinder would drive the height over 6ft. I think a wine cellar would be more of a feature, but needs to work with the rest of the house. It wouldn't be strange to enter a plant room through the downstairs toilet, but it would make people worry about your chardonnay if you entered a wine cellar from there.

 

It's hard to find a decent reasonably priced horizontal DHW cylinder as I want one to put in a roof space.

[Bitpipe]

The general rule with basements is the smaller they are, the more they cost /m2 as there are fixed costs to consider and economies of scale.

 

So this could end up being a very expensive space to build, adding very little value to your house and potentially becoming something of a logistical challenge to get kit in there, service it etc. Remember that a UVC will need means to vent hot water externally, ours has an outflow pipe next to the external door but was a proper head scratcher for a while. 

[PeterW]

I converted an old inspection pit into a wine cellar on a conversion and it was pretty easy to do but was already “there” so nothing structural required other than the lid. The warranty company specifically exclude it from the warranty, and tbh I do wonder how much more effort it has added as there have been since completion some minor damp issues that needed internal tanking. 
 

You would need to properly ventilate any space with a combustion appliance in it, and in honesty you can find space for a cylinder in a cupboard and MVRH in an attic as it’s only the same size as a large suitcase. 

[puntloos]

OK, I guess it sounded good on paper, but not worth it. EIther a proper basement (meaning 5x5m in my case) or none at all. Probably can't afford the proper one - seems like the cheapest option is 50,000 over here.