Removing vaulted cellar

[markwm]

Anyone have any experience of this?

Head height in our cellar is made worse by the vault/arch. The only thing the vault seems to be holding up is the kitchen(stone) floor, the vault seems to be filled with hardcore/rubble and I wondered just how easy it would be to remove and replace with a standard floor.

 

[middi]

Removing it is quite easy, avoiding being killed by the collapsing kitchen floor is more difficult.
If you do not trust your instincts regarding safety as to how to support the floor above, you have to get a" man who can". Every "structural" demolition or rearrangement needs to be evaluated on its own merit.

if the building is listed you will need LBC.

It seems a shame to remove such a feature though. Just remember to duck.

 

[chuckey]

I would just add, the vaulting is keeping your walls apart, removing it might cause the pressure of the soil to push the walls inwards.
Frank

 

[FamilyWiggs]

So, other than supporting the floor above and preventing the walls from collapsing inwards, the vaulted arch is performing no useful function?

I can see no reason not to remove it, in order to secure a few inches of headroom. :shock: :shock: :shock: