Cellar conversion to utility?

shar46y

A bit of a "thinking aloud" thread really, hoping to pick MSErs minds on this

We have a decent-sized two-room cellar under the house, head height is pretty good (between 6-7 feet). We use it for storage of non-precious things as it is slightly damp - can't store cardboard boxes or wood directly on the floor as they slowly get moist. We have put in several IKEA metal shelving units which have plastic feet to keep our stuff off the floor.

We will have to get someone in to sort out a couple of floor joists which are in poor condition, so are thinking of asking them to quote for conversion work too.

I am not thinking of going for a proper "finished" habitable basement but thought that it might be a good place to put a washing machine, tumble dryer and maybe a sink. And maybe a large chest freezer too.

Does anyone have experience of a utility room in a cellar? I'm a totally impractical person so have no idea about plumbing e.g. will a pump be needed to get the waste water out?

Would appreciate all views on this, even if to tell me it is a stupid idea :rotfl: Thanks!

ormus

to be a useful room, itll need to be tanked.
tanking is an expensive business and can never be relied on to be 100% successful.
my mate has had it done 3 times over the last 15 yrs.

mind you, he lives in a cottage next door to a small stream.

diable

How will you pump the water out from the washing machine and sink to the waste?

You could do a "Fritzel"

Gloomendoom

We have a non tanked cellar and it is a very useful room. We have a fridge and a couple of freezers in it. Mrs G uses it as an oversized larder for all the tinned and bottled stuff. She also stores the preserves she makes down there. I keep my beer and wine stocks in it.

All you need to do to get the water out is fit one of those Saniflo units. I'd also think that you would need to be careful with the drier venting if you aren't going to add to the dampness.

shar46y

Gloomendoom wrote: »

We have a non tanked cellar and it is a very useful room. We have a fridge and a couple of freezers in it. Mrs G uses it as an oversized larder for all the tinned and bottled stuff. She also stores the preserves she makes down there. I keep my beer and wine stocks in it.

All you need to do to get the water out is fit one of those Saniflo units. I'd also think that you would need to be careful with the drier venting if you aren't going to add to the dampness.

That's very useful to know about the Saniflo! I hadn't fully thought about venting the dryer - I guess the consensus is that a venting tumble dryer is better than a condensing one? There is the old coal chute so I suppose it could vent through there.

shar46y

The first company is coming to quote on Tuesday!

What sort of things should I look out for/ questions to ask when these guys come? I'm a bit worried they'll suggest XYZ and it will either be an unnecessary expense or (worse) bad for the house in some way.

ormus

always get three quotes. unlikely that all three builders will try the same "expensive scam" on you.

garethshaw

It is a good idea.

I have a cellar under my house which sounds very similar to yours in the sense that is is not tanked and if I leave plastic and card board on the floor over time it gets a bit damp.

However, this doesn't stop me using it as a utility room containing: freezer, boiler, washing machine, tumble drier and storage shelves.

I installed a Saniflo pump for the washing machine (£280 in 2002) and it has worked fine since. It is possible to connect a sink to it as well as the washing machine. However, you can only pump water, so for example, you couldn't wash paint brushes in the sink because the sludgy paint/white spirit will clog up the pump.

The tumble drier is vented through the wall so the waste air is expelled directly outside.

Other than installing a pump and venting the drier, there shouldn't be much work to do. Unless it is awash with water tanking shouldn't be necessary.

I don't know what I'd do without my cellar!!

villabadger

shar46y wrote: »

The first company is coming to quote on Tuesday!

What sort of things should I look out for/ questions to ask when these guys come? I'm a bit worried they'll suggest XYZ and it will either be an unnecessary expense or (worse) bad for the house in some way.

Hopefully, each company should give you a breakdown of what they believe should be done. Using this information, you should be able to source the materials and either do it yourself or get your own tradesman in. You will probably find that you could save yourself up to 50% off the price!

I haven't done mine yet but the company supplying the tanking materials publish all the information you need to do it yourself.

Also, read the guarantees offered by the quoting companies if you want such re-assurance. In my case, the guarantee only covered the workmanship which in other words means......if something goes wrong in the future then it won't be our fault it will be a product failure and therefore not our problem!

shar46y

Thank you all for your helpful comments!:beer: Looking forward to getting the quotes now... and we do have a mate who is a builder so might persuade him to do the job instead;)

muckybutt

I worked a house a few years back where they did a similar sort of thing, they didnt tank the walls but they did clad them with moisture resistant plaster board on studding so it was off the wall, they also dug the floor out and put a concrete one in with dpm underneath the concrete.

They finished the studding off just above the floor so if there was any rising moisture then it wouldnt go into the wall.

I had to fix some of the linear tubular heaters down there not so long ago and the walls were still bone dry. They had also installed a shower down there since via a saniflo.