Major Projects Basement Conversions

Date Published:

28/05/2008

With the planning done the practicalities of the conversion should fall into place relatively simply.

Start by getting a specialist company to assess your home's feasibility for conversion. The ideal candidate is a house with an existing cellar or basement - usually built before 1930 - and if headroom is restricted, the floor can be lowered. Even if you don't have a cellar, a retro-fit basement can be built from scratch but as this involves digging out the area by hand it is, not surprisingly, far more expensive and time-consuming.

Until recently, new basements could only be built in properties with suspended timber floors, but there are now techniques for constructing them under concrete.

What's Involved?

If you're lowering an existing cellar floor to create more headroom, or building a brand new basement, you'll need to underpin the foundations, which entails extending them downwards for additional support.

The basement will then need waterproofing by lining it with a studded membrane, then building a secondary wall inside the lining - regarded as more effective than the previous method of tanking it with a cement lining. Any water that seeps in collects in a sump underneath, is then pumped away, to keep damp out even in areas where the water table is high.

Who'll Need to Do the Work?

Converting a basement is a highly specialised job and, to get it right, you will need to employ experienced professionals.

There are various options - you can get an architect to draw up plans, recommend contractors and oversee the build, or just ask the architect for plans, then choose your own builders and project manage the job yourself. Or you may prefer to hire a basement conversion company to handle the entire project including design, planning applications and kitting it out once complete.

Need Expert Help?

Find a trusted basement conversion specialist in your area with MyBuilder.