Cellar, going up or down?

[JW]

Hi all,

I'm interested in a non-listed victorian terrace house which has a huge basement which just begs to be converted. Currently it is 1m70 high and is app. 75% below groundlevel and looks very dry (the house is build on relatively high grounds) and has a good concrete floor.

As I stroll through the various topics on basement conversions it is clearly a lot of work (and money) to convert these basements into 'habital' space.
As deepening the cellar probably requires considerable structural work I wondered if it is possible to raise te floor of the kitchen above instead. The house has very high ceilings and taking 50cm from the total height would be fine, this would be a easy to do as the kitchen is empty anyway. Would this 'raising the floor' need approval from the counsel?

Any thoughts on this (stupid) idea?

 

[NT]

Would you put the additional steps inside?

It would change the height of windows, and doorframes would need moving too. But if it gets you a whole new floor, I cant help but like the sound of it.


NT

 

[Pford75]

This work would require inspection by Building Control, but shouldn't be a problem.

The main thing I would point out, is that if you build a stud floor above the existing floor in your kitchen, you mustn't scrimp on the size/strngth of the studwork.....do bear in mind that the floor will have to take some considerable weight since it will no longer rest on the ground/floor joists.

I would also make sure you have all of your services (gas,water,electricity) in the right places, before you fit the false floor.

I agree with NT that it sounds a great idea

 

[JW]

Would you put the additional steps inside?

It would change the height of windows, and doorframes would need moving too. But if it gets you a whole new floor, I cant help but like the sound of it.


NT

We thought of having the 2-3 required steps inside the raised room, this way we don't have to alter the existing door(s).

We contacted an architect yesterday and he confrimed that it requires permission from the counsel. So drawings including all new wirings and water pipes have to be made and sent to the planning commitee.

He also confirmed that it would cost much less that lowering the basement floor. However, there needs to be some extra support in the form of some extra steel beams, as the wooden floor beams apperently have some strucural function (besides holding up te floor of course....).

So that sounds good, thanks for your input so far!