Victorian house with cellar - poss issues?

pararct

House I once owned had shall we say was a dilapidated cellar room.

Not blocked up but had been used over the years to dump rubble and other building material waste where the rest of the large house had been renovated.

Once we had time we had it all cleared out (was hard work getting it all up) inspected lined the outside walls to protect against damp. put up other studded walls, to make 3 rooms found a drain and put small WC and shower room down there. I expect we spent about £15,000 sorting it out but as it increased the living space in the house it also increased it's value quite considerably. Persons who bought it from me were going to put a granny flat down there.

Wouldn't write it off completely question the vendor and the agent as to why it is blocked up. Maybe put it to the vendor that you would need your surveyor access to the space to inspect it and see what comes back.

Of course if it is a horror story you can still walk away. But it could well be a great potential just waiting to be discovered.

Contessa

Many years ago we rented the downstairs flat in a lovely Edwardian house. It had a cellar that we used for a bit of storage. In the hallway there was a door and stairs leading down to it. I have to say that I would never go down into the cellar alone and never even liked walking past the door if I was alone.
I've seen a couple of houses advertised that have small cellars but accessed from the outside-I think it was having the door in the hallway that spooked me.

firstpost

Cellars can be damp and sometimes attract rodents but they also provide good additional storage space for non perishable items. Our next door neighbours have even built a utility room in their cellar.

If you are worried about pests and rodents I'd steer clear of all older houses because cellar or no cellar you will still have investations from time to time.

Don't know why somebody would concrete up a cellar unless its structural. You really do see how flimsy victorian foundations are when you get down in the cellar.

Leew1231

My cellar had a wall across the middle of it. The cellar we used was fine, no damp, it had a radiator in it. We used it as an office. One day when we got new carpets I took some floorboards up to see what was in the bricked off part of the cellar. It was just rubble. I planned to empty it to increase the size but never got round to it because of the mess it would have made.
Apparently though dumping rubble in a cellar and blocking it off used to be quite common. You may find there is nothing to worry about. The house I had was built in 1840 something. So if anything was going to go wrong, it would have been apparent by now.

jc808

Leew1231 wrote: »

....floorboards up to see what was in the bricked off part of the cellar. It was just rubble. I planned to empty it to increase the size but never got round to it because of the mess it would have made.
Apparently though dumping rubble in a cellar and blocking it off used to be quite common..

very common my house was the same

DVardysShadow

PasturesNew wrote: »

G_M wrote: »

Whatever you do, don't unblock it.

They'll climb up......

This is spot on. They will ... and there's no stopping them....

Before you know it, they'll be posting on here ......

.... oops I have said too much already.