Adding a concrete basement will provide 50% more floor area for a typical two storey dwelling.
 
A basement can also permit a larger garden to be incorporated into any house plot. This offers the builder or developer an economic, thermally efficient and speedy solution to increasing the home's living space with minimal cost.
 
With traditional construction methodology, a basement requires reinforced masonry or in-situ concrete walls plus internal plastering - plus sealing (tanking). Such a basement will take months to install, whereas a basement made from precast concrete panels can be installed in a few days.

• Reinforced load-bearing precast concrete wall panels
    
• Integrated insulation - no need for on-site insulation
    
• Watertight - no need for tanking
    
• Ready to decorate - no need for wet trade finishing
    
• Pre-installed electrical boxes & conduits - no chasing required
    
• Pre-installed drainage layer - reducing external water pressure
    
• Rapid construction - wall panels for basements of up to 100 m2 can normally be completed in two to three days
    
• Minimum ground loading - no need for piling in soft ground or soils of low bearing capacity
    

The ThermoneX basement forms a rigid box structure that will support the building of any kind of house or apartment block. The ThermoneX basement is a dry, warm living space that can be used as an office, utility room, workshop, games room, kids den or sauna, without compromising space in the rest of the house.
 
For a basement, the wall panels and floor slabs are simply erected on site onto the foundation base. The foundation base is cast as a normal concrete slab, thicker at the edges and under any load-bearing internal walls. Walls are attached to the slab with dowel reinforcement, and sealed with a waterproof expandable grout. ThermoneX wall panels are sufficiently strong to act as earth-retaining structures.
 
To ensure adequate drainage, all basement walls are backfilled with free-draining gravel, lying on top of a land-drain laid around the perimeter of the foundation. On a sloping site, the land drain terminates in a soakaway; on flatter ground it is fed into a sump connected to the stormwater system.
 
The outside surface of the Thermonex panels can also be fitted with a capillary-reducing filter membrane to assist downward drainage. With the external drainage system, basements only require normal domestic heating and ventilation to keep them warm and dry. Tanking is not required.

First 10m panel being craned
into position

Second Panel being lifted to
vertical position

Finished basement prior to erecting
main house structure

Rear house showing garden
sloping to lightwell

ThermoneX is a registered member of the Basement Information Centre.

To make the most of the basement you may wish to use lightwells to bring daylight and ventilation to the darkest corners. If so click below.
www.lightwells.co.uk