Home | Customs & Helpful Hints | To Live On or Off base? | Base Housing Information | Base Housing Photos | Off-base Housing Photos | Schools | Phone & Internet | POV Inspection Info | VAT Information | Pet Information | German Holiday's | Q & A's | What Others Have to Say? | Area Photos | Links | Germany Information Message Board, E-mail Group & Chat Room | Currency Exchange Calculator | Have a Question? Ask Here | Site Map   Base Housing Information ~Welcome to stairwell living~   There is a one room per child policy. **Remember, the houses only go up to 5 bedrooms! If you have more than four children, it is possible to get the military to pay for your move off base. This may be a bit of a fight for you, but it is in the regulations that children over a certain age do not have to share a room. Our freinds had four children and then became pregnant with twins! The military paid and had them moved off base in November 2008. It can happen! Otherwise, if you choose to move off base, you must pay out of pocket. OLD POLICY! This is just so you can see how it used to be Ü. When we got here, we were only entitled to a two bedroom house and we have two children. They have very specific rules here on when you are eligible for more bedrooms. We have a boy and a girl. They told us that we couldn't be put on the waiting list for a three bedroom until our oldest was five. I think if your children are of the same sex, the oldest must be nine to be put on the waiting list. The stairwell buildings for ALL enlisted and lower ranking officers usually house 18 to 24 families. They are slowly knocking them all down and building town homes instead. Senior NCO's and Majors are allowed a three bedroom house no matter how many kids you have. Starting at the rank of Colonel, you are eligable for a Quad Apartment. Still stairwell living, but only 4 apartments on two floors. You walk up the stairs, and there is a apartment to the left and the right, then you walk up to the next floor and the same as the first floor. Generals are eligable for a duplex. These are two story side by side apartments. There are photos on the housing photos page. Some apartments were slightly remodeled about 6 years ago. This means that it has the washer and dryer in the bathroom of the apartment. If it is not remodeled, the washers and dryers are in the basement. There are about 12 of each and all of the family's share them. I don't think that there are too many completely unremodled apartments left.......hopefully you will get lucky! The newly remodeled apartments are really nice and are completely remodeled. They gutted them and completely rebuilt them. Also, when you are eligible to move, the military will not pay for it, you are responsible for the bill. The only way the military will pay for you to move is if you are moving on base from off, or if there is something wrong with your house. If you make MSGT, you are eligible for a three bedroom, but you have to move yourself from base housing to base housing! The radiator heaters in base housing, and I am sure the ones off base, are very hot. We don't even turn ours on because they just put out too much heat. When we first got here, we would turn the one on in the kids bedroom, and I would go in there in the middle of the night and it would be like an oven. See a photo here!   Rooms and Storage The rooms in the house are pretty big. I was really surprised; everyone told me that all the houses and rooms are small. If you have two children that are the opposite sex, they will have to share a room until the oldest is 5 years old, then you can get on the waiting list for a three bedroom. I am not sure what the other rules are but I will try to find out and post them here. Base housing has lots of closet and storage space. In the basement, each family gets a storage cage approximately 4x6 ft. And when a maids room becomes available, each family also gets one. I will check the measurements of the maids rooms. The maids rooms have closets in them too. I don't even think we need one, our cage isn't even full. But, remember, you don't get one right away. We got ours about 5 months after we had been here.   Play areas Each housing area has a playground. Our old backyard had picnic tables, a gazebo, a sand box, basketball goal, ping pong table, and a swingset/climbing area. We only shared our backyard with our building. Our new backyard (and most of the backyards are~) is surrounded by 4 buildings, so the play area is really big compared to our old play area. There is a park on Ramstein AB and it is called Donnely Park. It has a big play area. It is kind of separated for the big kids and then a side for the littler ones. There is also a couple of baseball fields, two soccer/football fields, basketball courts, and picnic areas.   Windows and Curtains The windows in the houses are German windows. The are really big and they either tip open at the top, or they open all the way up to the side. If you want to hang curtains, you must put special wheels on them to hang in the curtain track (these are installed in the houses). You can buy the wheels here at the BX. There are two types of wheels that you can buy; clip-ons (for the non-sewer) or you can buy a special kind of tape that you sew on the top of the curtains. Then you hook the wheels into the tape. Personally, I think the sewing method looks much nicer (It is easier than it sounds). See photos of the Windows here See how to hang curtains here **a tip for you! Curtains for base housing are easily made out of sheets. To cover one window, a full flat sheet fits nicely. For the double windows, use two full flat sheets. Or use a king size for more fullness in the curtain. You will want dark covers for the windows in the summer and to keep the heat out from the sun. The sun beats right in here and makes it hot, even in the winter. They don't even look like sheets when you are finished and they are really easy to do! You just sew the strip at the top or put the clips on and you are done, you don't even have to cut anything! Did you make your $1.00 Donation? Click here to help! Home | Customs & Helpful Hints | To Live On or Off base? | Base Housing Information | Base Housing Photos | Off-base Housing Photos | Schools | Phone & Internet | POV Inspection Info | VAT Information | Pet Information | German Holiday's | Q & A's | What Others Have to Say? | Area Photos | Links | Germany Information Message Board, E-mail Group & Chat Room | Currency Exchange Calculator | Have a Question? Ask Here | Site Map