Create postgresql running out of database space

When trying to run a create postrgres. I got the error
Error
pg_basebackup: error: could not read COPY data: server closed the connection unexpectedly

Eventually I realised that this error was due to running out of hardddrive space. While I had enough harddrive space for the database, when this command was finishing up it seemed it needed double the harddrive space. Initally the data was stored in a folder called backup/node_name then when the database was fully download it was moved to it's final location and the backup/node_name folder was deleted, but for a brief time it seems that the extra harddrive space is required.

If this is true could be something that would be added to the documentation on the create function?