Basement ideas?

[Binnie]

hey guys and gals

to cut a long story short, I've moved house and now have a 65sq m basement.

It's a mere 5ft high so i can walk around in a crouched position.

My question is, what would you do first? i've only got a 3ft x 1.5ft floor hatch for access and there is obviously no natural light.

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

[bigpaul]

first thing that springs to mind is make sure its water tight.

[Binnie]

If it floods, then we've got massive problems lol, i'm at the top of a hill, approx 30m above sea level.

animals would be boarding the ark before water is an issue lol.

[bigpaul]

I meant make sure it isn't damp, more than floods, as that could effect anything you store in there, most basements are notorious for damp.

[BeardyMan]

Grow house.

65sqm - you'll be rich in 12 weeks.

[Mortblanc]

Why on earth would anyone dig a 700 sq/ft cellar with no access and only 5 ft hight?

One would logically dig out enough to stand in and have easy access even if it were only intended as a root cellar.

This sounds like a good plan that ended badly, a full basement that was never finished.

First thing to do? Buy a long utility cord and drop a light down there for a thorough inspection. If it is simply a hole in the dirt you will probably have problems with damp, as BP commented.

I would not want to see you go to jail running a "grow house" but you might have the start of a good mushroom farm!

That 1.5x3 foot access is going to present problems no matter what you try to use it for.

Is that access a trapdoor inside the house or a crawl space foundation opening?

[Tartar Horde]

Fill it full of weed, it seems to be the in thing these days, fkin hippies

[Jonas]

Paint the walls white and if the floor is cement, seal it (and make sure you don't breath the fumes while you're doing it). With white walls, it will take very little light to light the basement, and a false wall near the hatch will give you a great place to "hunker down" behind it. Put in a larger trap door away from the current one, but disguise it well. The old trap door would then open into a very small area, while your new hidden trap door would allow you to access a larger private area. Add shelves for storage as needed. It'll be a project, but well worth the effort.

[CharlesHarris]

Jonas has the right idea. If the house is on a hill, rent a "ditch witch" which they use for trenching utility lines and sewers, and lay perforated drain pipe downhill at least 1 metre below finished cellar floor level to carry away ground water. If there are not wall vents, make penetrations for 10cm pipe every 2 metres around the perimeter at ceiling level and cover with 1 cm wire screen to keep rodents out. If there is an outside entrance, make one suffientlly large to park a small car, such as a Cooper Mini. The "garage" mechanic's room and ramp are your cover story for you storage. Remove the existg dirt floor, excavating suffiently to have 2 metres of overhead clearance. Then put an underlay 10cm thick of compacted gravel over the floor, covering the trenches for the draiin tile.

It should be easy enough to install electrical drops for ceiling outlets below existing fixtures in the ground floor rooms above, but it is best

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was unable finish and edit above before connection timed out, but to meet lical code requirements, consult a licensed electrician if you are unable to obtain any needed permits and have the work inspected yourself.

[Scythe13]

I'd love to give recommendations, but first....a little more info please.

Question 1: Do you own the house?

Question 2: Is this going to be a permanent home, or a fix-sell-make-profit-rebuy kind of house?

Question 3: What're your timescales?

Question 4: What are you prepping for?

Question 5: How do your family feel about your prepping?

Question 6: What kind of a budget are you working with?

Question 7: How long have you been in the house for?


Personally, before I did anything with the basement, I'd get a specialist in and check what can be done. Not just physically (such as going full size 7foot ceiling) but also legally (will the landlord be okay with 'renovations' or if you own it, are there any land restrictions?)

Once I had someone pop in and give me a heads up on what's possible and legal, that's when I'd start looking at the possibilities.