Basement

A cellar (from Latin cella, also basement, basement or basement called ) is a closed building component, which mainly located entirely or at least below the earth's surface. Purpose of the cellar was originally the storage of food in a cool environment because a basement has a more uniform temperature than an above-ground building.

Due to the progress in the development of refrigeration that meaning of the cellar is relegated to the background.

The concept basement

Keller is available in various designs. A distinction root cellar or basement rocks on the nature of the ground, scattered cellar buildings or house cellar after construction, wine cellar, beer cellar, boiler room, ice chamber after use.

To be distinguished from the cellar underground structures are:

• Earth houses and caves - the term "basement" is generally used for domestic Outbuildings, not for the main living area. Apartments in the basement area are therefore also referred to as the basement or lower ground floor.
• Underground vaults for the burial of the dead are catacombs and the crypt in the base of a church.
• As Erdstall underground networks from the Middle Ages are referred to, there are different theories about their function.
• Casemates are underground vault in fortresses that serve the protection and defense.
• The mine is underground mining of mineral resources.

Derived from the basement as storage space, the word winery operation for the production of alcoholic beverages such as wine and sparkling wine is usually wineries are designed for storing their products in a basement instructed, but the storage in insulated tanks using modern refrigeration technology without cellar possible.

Hauskeller

The house basement is limited to the footprint of the building standing on it, and is applied in the construction of such a root cellar, although the pit remains open and is covered with the building. So Hauskeller often have several levels. Hauskeller are very permanent structures and were often integrated in reconstructions after destruction in the new house. Thus, the basement provides information on the original floor plans of houses and streets in medieval towns, even if the houses were not rebuilt, such as New road in Ulm, Neupfarrplatz in Regensburg and Dresden.

High basement

If the basement is designed constructively with at least a portion of the projectile significantly ( from 50 cm ) above the ground level, so that here living spaces with sufficient opportunities for natural lighting and ventilation can be accommodated easily, this type of basement as a high basement. Since a high cellar can be almost as bright as the other rooms of the house, he is often planned for office, hobby or sleeping quarters. Living and working spaces in a high basement are called the basement.

Deep basement

From a low basement is when the basement of several underground levels exists, ie particularly in the depth goes, or it is basements of buildings that partly lie with their main use in whole or in still below the levels of the site (eg B. Low- stations, shopping centers, museums ).

Individual cellars, the formerly often a lowered sole received as Feucht-/Hausanschlussräume (basement sump room ) do not count as a deep cellar.

Crawl

Often installation rooms for electrical and piping are built for reasons of cost crawl space (also referred to as a supply tunnel ). The cost savings, however, can be eaten up quickly by undetected loss events and the associated much more expensive repair work. Since these areas are often difficult to access and revisable, the fire department regularly practices in model-like replicas of these cellars protection and rescue measures with breathing apparatus, one up to 50 m long creeper needs to be managed.

Cellar hole

The often misinterpreted as a dungeon cellar hole is a basement in the lowest floor of a tower of a castle. The name is derived from its cellar hole access, which only has a hole (see fear hole ) in the center of the vault was possible.

Basement rocks

A rock basement is a batted in the rock cavity. In cities with suitable bedrock often are extensive systems of rock cellars, which were beaten by several centuries in the stone over. One example is the cellar under the castle hill in Nuremberg. These cellars are often accessible buildings, but they extend far beyond the base of the associated house from.

Feldstein basement

Feldstein basement often find themselves under greater medieval buildings.

Root cellar

A root cellar is created by digging a hole in the ground, usually on a slope, which is then expanded with side walls and a vaulted ceiling. The vault is then covered again with soil. Old root cellar are often located along the paths in the edge region of a settlement, the input of the basement is located on the road and after a brick entrance gate as oblique passage in the basement.

Root cellar are usually covered about four feet from the ground, have dominion optimum temperature conditions at this depth. The soil is heat propagates at about eight meters per year, so there is four feet of water in exactly the inverse temperature curve as at the surface. This means that the cold of winter arrives precisely in the summer on the basement in the winter, the basement is the warmest.

Basement in residential buildings

The basement of a residential building, technical terminology also called the basement, consists of the foundation, the base plate and the basement walls. The foundation and the base plate of a basement are almost always made of reinforced concrete, the basement walls made ​​of concrete or masonry. Previously served basement only as a buffer zone to the cold and wet soil. They are most used for storage.

New waterproofing systems, basement insulation, skylights and basement windows meant that the basement are now warm, light and dry. Add them now, inter alia, utility room, heating system, hot water tanks and rainwater harvesting systems are housed. More and more homeowners use the basement as a study or guest room.

If apartments are located in the basement, the provisions of the state building regulations (LBO ) are to meet the federal state of lounges and fire roads. These provisions do not apply to temporary residence (in most LBOs maximum of 4 hours).

Modern basement

The basement of a building is usually out of the spaces below the surface and is fachsprachlich generally referred to in terms of planning unification basement.

The basement is formed in single-family homes from the foundation, which is cast in modern houses made ​​of reinforced concrete. Part of it is left in its raw state. The base plate is made of concrete and the walls of either concrete or masonry. There is a distinction between traditional constructions with white tub, in which the load-bearing structures themselves are impermeable to water, by being made ​​of waterproof concrete ( waterproof concrete ), and sealed constructions, commonly referred to as black tub as today. Not against pending water -tight constructions since the 1930s no longer common and are rarely planned in the German-speaking world today.

Underground floors are much more expensive than the above-ground parts of the building usually. As they are - in Germany because of provisions of the (state ) building regulations or because of workplace guidelines - usually not suitable as lounges, their surface is often minimized and takes only the area under the building, which is necessary for operation and storage. In a single-or multi -family house the basement is used as a hobby room or storage, often single rooms later converted to living areas. Since the supply and disposal lines ( gas, water, electricity, communication) are usually laid underground, and the house connection is underground and often large parts of the building such as heating and air conditioning, elevator machine rooms, facilities for fresh water supply and wastewater treatment.

In many countries regulations, which must be installed in the basement of a house there. For example, a shelter must be built in Switzerland in the basement of a family home. Parking spaces are also happy underground for reasons of space and aesthetic reasons as underground car parks, as well as in administrative buildings, the communications infrastructure, such as server rooms etc.

The basement is often used as a laundry room. In this room there is a washing machine and there are spanned clotheslines where the washed laundry can be dried. This preference has to do with the fear of the residents that the washing machine may leak at a defect. In the laundry drying in the basement, make sure that an appropriate ventilation to prevent condensation damage.

Basement waterproofing

Basement waterproofing is defined as the prevention of Nässeeindringung through protective coatings on the " positive side " (where the moisture from entering or may enter ) and installation of a drainage around the foundation plate. For the sealing of exterior basement walls there are several methods which seek to address all of the DIN 18195 and / or EN 13967: Bitumen masses / bitumen ( so-called Black pan ) / mineral seals / trays made of PVC membranes K- tub, on the masonry basement " papered " and will - make for a behind -spill seal - without concealed. In addition, polystyrene drainage plates are glued on. With a fully or partially developed as housing cellars the respective areas are additionally insulated. This insulation is provided between the sealing and drainage plates. Finally, a non-woven fabric is applied, in order to prevent contamination of the drainage plate against the drainage plate.

Alternatively, there is also the possibility to completely to make a cellar (WU ) concrete. With appropriate perimeter insulation, such as a residential basement is also available. The benefits consist of the most rapid completion (especially in prefabricated components ) as well as from the partially better protection against penetrating moisture from outside.

It is not possible, the subsequent sealing to the outside, may also be a storage seal "on the negative side " or " negative sealing " done (on the side of the component opposite to the water -exposed side of the member, where the moisture outlet ) is Hiezu ( how various systems used in sealing and repair of cisterns ):

• Bitumen - rubber coatings
• Grout Cement-based, block the water-conducting pores
• Coating with epoxy or polyurethane
• Injection ( injection ) of silicone oil emulsions, liquid paraffin or polyurethane resins
• Bitumen coating (bitumen - polyurethane blends )
• Fleece / PVC tracks K- tub

Possibly ... followed by sticking self-adhesive bitumen sheets or tiles.

The corresponding DIN 18195 distinguishes different load cases, each requiring less severe measures are possible, depending on how fast the rainwater absickert outside or remains in the soil. Sickert rainwater in a schotterig - drained soil quickly on past Keller, the waterproofing done differently than in a loamy- cohesive soil, in which rain water accumulates on the basement wall or even penetrates to a greater extent.

If necessary, a horizontal barrier against rising capillary moisture would be necessary.