Lowering floor

[mgrc]

I am interested in a Listed property but it only has ceiling heights of about 5'8" and would want to lower the floors. Due to the age of the property it is likely that there is little or no foundations, so I suspect the property will need underpinning to achieve this.

Does anyone know the approximate cost per linear metre to underpin together with excavation costs of the floor?

Thanks

 

[vicky whitworth]

Hello,
Maybe this isn't the property for tall you. It's charm will lie in its low ceilings. If you lower the floors it won't be the same property anymore and to be honest it needs a short a***e to love it.

When we moved to Devon we wondered why our neighbour - a young woman - had a bad stoop. Then we pooped into her cottage and all was explained...

 

[Keith Bowman]

Hello,
Maybe this isn't the property for tall you. It's charm will lie in its low ceilings. If you lower the floors it won't be the same property anymore and to be honest it needs a short a***e to love it.

When we moved to Devon we wondered why our neighbour - a young woman - had a bad stoop. Then we pooped into her cottage and all was explained...

You did WHAT in her cottage! :roll:

 

[vicky whitworth]

Three glasses of red wine and I can't possibly be expected to type straight

 

[angrybird]

mgrc as vicky said I don't think this is the home for you ,the character should be kept not altered and I dont think you will get very far with LBC
My house has very low doorways and yes I bump my head daily!! but one day I will remember to duck :lol:

 

[Zebra]

Have the floors been raised over time, perhaps by a concrete slab having been laid on top of the original floor? Or is it the original floor that you find too high? Forgive me if this is stating the obvious, but if the floor has been raised from the original, then you may be able to remove this, without having to underpin the building. Many old properties have no foundations to speak of but don't need underpinning.

 

[Keithj]

5' 8" sounds low, even for a Tudor property. Is that the doorframe height, or the ceilings? Are the doors lower than that?
We have doorframes varying between 5'7" and 6' but the ceilings are all 6' or so.

If you can see an obvious raised floor, then maybe the CO will be minded to agree to removing that. But banged heads (until you learn where to duck) are a feature of old houses.

 

[mgrc]

Thanks for your replies. It's about 5'8" to the beams, I can just about stand up I between them! It's a lovely house with about half an acre in West Sussex but had been on the market for a while, for this reason I guess. The age is unclear but I guess at least 18th Century, I too think that Listed consent may be an issue, but an interesting thought re the floor being raised up at some point, however it is pretty uniform throughout the ground floor.

 

[Schoolmarm]

It may be uniform but what is it?

 

[JohnB]

Having lived in my motorhome for 4.5 years, with a ceiling that's about an inch higher than me at one end, and half an inch lower at the other, I appreciate the importance of being able to stand up straight. I wouldn't risk buying anything I couldn't stand up in, especially if there was any doubt about being able to change it. Which is why I didn't buy the cottage in South Devon with half the living room higher than the other half, and the heavily beamed kitchen where I didn't think I could comfortably work standing with my head between the beams. Or the cottage in South Somerset where my head brushed the living room ceiling, and I almost needed to crawl in two of the upstairs rooms!

 

[88v8]

5'8" is really too low for comfort. We lowered the floor in our dining room 3", took up the quarries & slabs, dug, put them back. That made the difference between ducking and not. Although we do have spine beams in the bedroom and kitchen below head height - well, my head. And several doorways. Ouch...

Our dining room floor had been raised at some time. The sole plate was submerged. Luckily it hadn't rotted.
I can't believe 'your' house was originally built so low. Perhaps it had earth floors and has had flags laid on top, or quarries on flags, or cement on quarries on flags, or wood on cement or..... as has been said, investigate.
After all, it sounds as if you would be in a good position to negotiate on purchase price.

Ivor

 

[stuart45]

Does anyone know the approximate cost per linear metre to underpin together with excavation costs of the floor?

Thanks

It really depends on the individual job, but a rough guide used to be between £1,000 and £1,500 per LM. I have not worked on any underinning job for quite a few years as it's not as popular as it used to be. There are different methods of doing the work.
It's normally only done now in extreme cases as it was not found not always be as successful as was first thought. It was really common after the hot dry summer of 1976 in clay soils.