diff --git a/examples/misc/combine_samples.cpp b/examples/misc/combine_samples.cpp
index dc726acee..9a2ae2f3e 100644
--- a/examples/misc/combine_samples.cpp
+++ b/examples/misc/combine_samples.cpp
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[])
 
     if (rank==0) std::cout << "Loading data from " << kind << std::endl;
     for(const auto& sample_name: sample_names) {
-        static_basis_generator->loadSampleRange(sample_name, kind, col_min, col_max);
+        static_basis_generator->loadSampleRange(sample_name, kind, col_min-1, col_max-1);
     }
 
     if (rank==0) std::cout << "Saving data uploaded as a snapshot matrix" <<
diff --git a/lib/linalg/BasisGenerator.cpp b/lib/linalg/BasisGenerator.cpp
index 9a5e4fa12..c005132ca 100644
--- a/lib/linalg/BasisGenerator.cpp
+++ b/lib/linalg/BasisGenerator.cpp
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 #include "svd/IncrementalSVDBrand.h"
 
 #include <iomanip>
+#include <fstream>
 
 namespace CAROM {
 
@@ -189,12 +190,12 @@ BasisGenerator::loadSampleRange(const std::string& base_file_name,
 
     int num_rows = mat->numRows();
     int num_cols = mat->numColumns();
-    if (col_min < 1) col_min = 1;
-    if (col_max > num_cols) col_max = num_cols;
+    if (col_min < 0) col_min = 0;
+    if (col_max > num_cols-1) col_max = num_cols-1;
 
     CAROM_VERIFY(col_max >= col_min);
 
-    for (int j = col_min-1; j < col_max; j++) {
+    for (int j = col_min; j <= col_max; j++) {
         double* u_in = new double[num_rows];
         for (int i = 0; i < num_rows; i++) {
             if (kind == "basis") {
@@ -215,7 +216,7 @@ BasisGenerator::loadSamples(const std::string& base_file_name,
                             int cutoff,
                             Database::formats db_format)
 {
-    loadSampleRange(base_file_name, kind, 1, cutoff, db_format);
+    loadSampleRange(base_file_name, kind, 0, cutoff-1, db_format);
 }
 
 double
diff --git a/lib/linalg/BasisGenerator.h b/lib/linalg/BasisGenerator.h
index 6baa7ebc5..4fbcfb1e6 100644
--- a/lib/linalg/BasisGenerator.h
+++ b/lib/linalg/BasisGenerator.h
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@
 #include "mpi.h"
 
 #include <cmath>
-#include <fstream>
 
 /* Use C++11 built-in shared pointers if available; else fallback to Boost. */
 #if __cplusplus >= 201103L
@@ -158,7 +157,7 @@ class BasisGenerator
     void
     loadSampleRange(const std::string& base_file_name,
                     const std::string& kind  = "basis",
-                    int col_min = 1,
+                    int col_min = 0,
                     int col_max = 1e9,
                     Database::formats db_format = Database::HDF5);