Building underground

[Danny DeVito]

Would it cost more or much more to dig out my back garden and build below ground level or mostly below. Kind of like what was on Grand Designs one time. Does anybody know or have experience of it ? Think of it as a diy project perspective. Mainly completed by me over a lengthy period of time

 

[davidjpowell]

In short.... Yes...

Getting rid of earth costs a lot. Dealing with foundations costs a lot. Making sure your house does not fall on your head is also going to be stressful.

 

[geraldrobins]

An expensive option but if space if at a premium worth considering. In my opinion however it would be expensive as the wall would need constructing as retainaing walls and also waterproofing would have to be paid for. Waterproffing can be very expensive depending on the height of the water table and also working in wet conditions is expensive.

 

[davidjpowell]

Come to think of it this sounds remarkably like a Spinal thread...

 

[renault12ts]

It's just like building any basement...Google will be full of it.

 

[Danny DeVito]

Come to think of it this sounds remarkably like a Spinal thread...

Maybe if i had four half basements

 

[Danny DeVito]

Its just an idea. my garden at the back is small and i would like to keep the space for use as well. What do people do for drainage ? And what do they waterproof with. I don't hear of much basement building in ireland. Water level might be a problem as the area around kildare is a bit boggy though i am not in thankfully.

 

[renault12ts]

Its just an idea. my garden at the back is small and i would like to keep the space for use as well. What do people do for drainage ? And what do they waterproof with. I don't hear of much basement building in ireland. Water level might be a problem as the area around kildare is a bit boggy though i am not in thankfully.

I went to school in Kildare...the basement was huge.

Basements are "tanked"...Google it.

 

[Danny DeVito]

whats this google you keep goin on about ?

 

[renault12ts]

whats this google you keep goin on about ?

You're joking..right?

 

[PXW]

There's a company in the UK that does exactly this - see Baserooms.co.uk for the concept

 

[Felstmiester]

I went to school in Kildare...the basement was huge.

Basements are "tanked"...Google it.

tanking is easy. You only paint it on.

 

[Spinal]

Maybe if i had four half basements

The jacket thread was not my doing

that said, i will follow this thread intently, I was looking at getting a wine cellar done, but ended up converting my garage.

Depending on how much space you need, these guys had a good idea: Spiral Cellars | Wine Storage | Home Wine Cellars UK

 

[PXW]

The jacket thread was not my doing

that said, i will follow this thread intently, I was looking at getting a wine cellar done, but ended up converting my garage.

Depending on how much space you need, these guys had a good idea: Spiral Cellars | Wine Storage | Home Wine Cellars UK

Isn't our own Charles Morgan involved in something like that?

 

[Danny DeVito]

Those basements look great. And i would love to have enough wine to need storage for it. i'd be tempted to sweep into the floor holes

 

[V12]

We dug out part of the garden for a pool. Even with several hands and a hired mini digger, it seemingly took forever. What started out as 4 skips, soon turned into 20+ skips of earth.

I'd imagine you would have to go at least twice as deep as what we needed for a pool, and then you have all the other complications that come with it, some of which are touched on above.

You're going to be into £tens of thousands...

 

[grober]

Ground water can be a major problem. It can generate immense hydraulic pressure under certain circumstances. I have seen horizonal jets of water hosing through small flaws in thick cement block walls after heavy rain. If your neighbourhood has ground water near the surface I would think very seriously before embarking on such a project.
[YOUTUBE]9iweLONw10k[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Spinal]

The spiral cellars do look stunning… at £15k a pop (ish) they aren't the cheapest… but not exceedingly expensive. If I ever get an extension done, my plan is to get either a proper cellar or a spiral cellar put under it…

M.

 

[AMGeed]

Constructing and then waterproofing basement walls is expensive and needs doing properly. I do it for a living, and certainly wouldn't advise blockwork walls and tanking. The only way to go is waterproof concrete (Sika or Caltite) and reckon on twice the price per cu metre to normal concrete. Add to the cost of concrete, the shuttering the reinforcing and the groundwork , a small project can quickly bleed you dry.

 

[Piff]

I toyed with the idea & even got planning permission for one below a rear extension, approx 9m wide x 4.5m. Soil type here is good - I dug down 2.7m and it was ballast all the way down.
But, access was the issue- approx 125 cubic metres of soil to come out, back wall of house to support, neighbours garden to support, tonnes of concrete to go back in.
Thought better of it & built a garden room instead