How do I lower the cellar?

Thinking of buying a house. Cellar has already been converted with spot lighting and electrics, ventilation etc.... BUT its only about 5 foot 4 inches high! We are hoping touse it as a gym with treadmill and x trainer but it needs to be at least 8 foot!





Is it legal to dig lower? do we need permission? Is it evenposs? How would we know it can be done BEFORE putting an offer in? survey wouldn't help us out.

How do I lower the cellar?
I have seen and witnessed cellar disasters in the past, thankfully non have involved me! You must have at the very least Building regs permission to do this and they will only let you do it if you have had a structural engineers report and recommendations. Under no circumstances should the removal of soil be undertaken off your own back.
Reply:You must do this under the supervision of Building Control. You will need to underpin the walls first before excavating and, if you have neighbours you will need their (unlikely) permission.





If you don't know what you are doing this is a very risky procedure.
Reply:i lowered my cellar floor about a foot ...i didnt have to go lower than the first course of stone so i was ok...dont know what your walls are but 3 ft is a lot of digging and if your sewage drain runs under the cellar floor , you may have problems...might look into raising the house instead...will need plumbing and electrical modifications done...
Reply:Stop scaring the poor girl!





This is not a difficult job provided it is approached correctly.





When we moved into our current house we were told that there may be a bricked up room underneath one of our reception rooms.





Well the person who told us that was half right. There was evidence of a room having been there probably around 100 years ago. We came accross an old bitumised floor about 3 to 4 feet below the existing wooden floor. The floor was hidden by several decades backfill of soil and rubble.





Next to this backfilled void on the same level was an existing basement, so we broke into the retaining wall and literally mined a 7 ft wall of earth to expose the floor and the walls of this room.





building Control required a structural engineering spec, which cost us £200. IMO that was money well spent.





We had to underpin some 4 to 5 feet below the existing footings around the whole of this part of the house. The underpinning was specced to go 1 foot below the finished floor level. For different soil types you may need more.





Once we did this we then rendered (as apporopiate) and tanked the walls using Thoroseal, laid a standard concrete and screed floor with celotex insulation and 0.3mm membrane underneath.





We then studworked and dry lined the walls in accordance with BCO reqs. The room will become a utility room that is just off our basement kitchen.





I dug the whole room out by hand and barrowed each cubic metre of concrete in via a barrow. It kept me fit, so doing it yourself will essentially negate the need for a gym whilst you're doing it!





If you're looking to get someone in you ought to be looking at a ballpark of around £10 to £20k. Do it yourself and it will cost you around £3 to £5k. Most of that will be in concrete and waste disposal
Reply:Lowering the floor of a cellar is likely to undermine the foundations so get expert insured help.
Reply:you would have to raise the whole house.


I think this house is not for you.


Who lives there now?? Midgets???
Reply:the floor in the cellar is probably at the current foundation level so to dig deeper you will have to undergo some serious groundwork. Its hard for me to give you a cost estimate without knowing details or seeing the job, but my best advice would be to talk to a cellar conversion company and ask for a rough price. And yes you would need permission from local council. Anything building wise can usually be done, i guess its up to how much you want the house !!
Reply:Structural engineer you need, but i doubt you'll be able to go any lower, i bet the cellar floor is all ready foundations height.