Underground Garage

basement garage

Basement, or underground garages are becoming more popular.

Its one way of getting a bigger house on a smaller inner suburban block.

Before you make a decision to go for this solution its worth thinking about the cost, and the risk.

Cost

They aren’t a cheap solution for a few reasons:

  • There is a lot of additional excavation with all excavated soil needing to be removed. Expect to pay over$100/cubic m
  • Supporting adjacent properties during excavation. You are probably going to be excavating below the foundation level of your neighbours, so its not just digging a big hole. Specialised techniques to do this safely will add to the cost
  • Not only are the basement floor and walls going to be strong they are going to have to be waterproof.
  • As the garage floor is probably going to be below the Storm Water Drains you will need a  pumping to keep the garage dry.

Risk

The drainage company I work for has had to pump out several flooded basement garages over the past few years. The reasons for this are:

  • Even in Melbourne a heavy storm can easily result in over 25mm/hour.
  • For a driveway like the one in the photo above with a total area of around 100 m2 that means about 2500/hour litres flowing into the garage.
  • With that sort of rain you might also get water coming off the street, or the garden.
  • If the pump blocks, or there is a power cut  the water can quickly build up.

Haven’t got room for a ramp? . . . Check out a different idea at this link: Spot the Garage!

 

Have you ever had problems with an underground garage?