Transforming cellar to a living room

DIYER

Hi guys completely new to this forum so please go easy on me. We are in the process of getting a quote for our cellar to be studded, plasterboarded and then skimmed. The room is only 10 square meteres and the height of the ceiling must only be 7 foot. We are short in our family 🙂. My question is what would be a reasonable price to pay for this kind of work to be carried out? Many thanks in advance

Warwick_Hunt

Your bang on the minimum headroom at 7 foot, so what are your plans for flooring and ceiling?

hollydays

Warwick_Hunt wrote: »

Your bang on the minimum headroom at 7 foot, so what are your plans for flooring and ceiling?

He said it was going to be plasterboarded and skimmed:) presumably that’s the ceiling....

Robin9

You will need an escape route.How big is the window ?

Warwick_Hunt

hollydays wrote: »

He said it was going to be plasterboarded and skimmed:) presumably that’s the ceiling....

I’m sure you’re aware that being a short family isn’t an excuse to by pass building regs.

Why not find a third thread to stalk me on?

You keep slipping back into your old ways after a ppr.

Gloomendoom

Unless you are a hobbit or a badger, I can't really see the attraction of a subterranean living room with limited headroom.

We have a cellar. My wife uses it as an oversized pantry. I can only stand up straight when my head is between the ceiling joists.

Doozergirl

There’s not a chance that a plasterboarded and skimmed cellar is going to cope as a living room.

You’re going to inevitably end up with damp and black mould. Also potential rot if the subfloor isn’t ventilated correctly. Cellars are damp, even if they don’t outwardly appear it. There is a wall with damp earth on the other side. They need huge amounts of ventilation and the walls to be able to breath. The floors are exactly the same. If you just plasterboard and skim it will leach.

Cellar rooms need to be tanked, even if you think it’s dry. I’ve just spent £5,000 on tanking alone. They need a proper window escape and a proper fire alert system. I don’t fancy a cellar being my coffin.

Cellar conversions are an expensive and sensitive building project. They aren’t expensive for fun, it’s for a reason.

Save your money. Even proper conversions fail, let alone total bodges.

shortcrust

Lima is the capital of Peru.

(another answer to a question the OP didn’t ask...)

DIYER

Sorry guys didn’t mean to cause a big debate on this, I have consulted with my builder and he was absolutely fine with the work being carried out as there is a door in the cellar as a fire exit & the cellar has already been tanked. We have never had damp etc, mould issues really. I was just wondering in the cost of pasterboarding a room of that size. I will get the correct height when I get time. Thanks again

Warwick_Hunt

DIYER wrote: »

Sorry guys didn’t mean to cause a big debate on this, I have consulted with my builder and he was absolutely fine with the work being carried out as there is a door in the cellar as a fire exit & the cellar has already been tanked. We have never had damp etc, mould issues really. I was just wondering in the cost of pasterboarding a room of that size. I will get the correct height when I get time. Thanks again

I'm sure the [STRIKE]builder[/STRIKE] cowboy is happy to accept payment for work that doesn't meet building regs.

DIYER

What exactly do you mean by building regs? What regs am I to be aware of when carrying out this kind of work? It’s already a room that leads out onto the garden, the cellar is not underground