Basement Convserions

markwilliams82

markwilliams82

markwilliams82

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Has anyone on here ever had a basement converted?

We've got a 2 bedroom midterrace house with a decent sized basement which we're looking to turn into a new living room/home cinema.

Just wondered if its a job best left to the professionals or whether its something you can attempt yourself? And what average prices are for doing such a thing?
 
A lot of my friends have had this done and the price varies from £3k with lots of damp problems to £15k and dry as a bone.

If you want it done properly it's really not a cheap process.
 
FishFluff said:
A lot of my friends have had this done and the price varies from £3k with lots of damp problems to £15k and dry as a bone.
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A shovel costs between £3 (beach type) to £15 (fairly sturdy model). Therefore it's 1000 (A THOUSAND!) times cheaper to do it yourself! How could you lose!?
 
markwilliams82 said:
Has anyone on here ever had a basement converted?

We've got a 2 bedroom midterrace house with a decent sized basement which we're looking to turn into a new living room/home cinema.

Just wondered if its a job best left to the professionals or whether its something you can attempt yourself? And what average prices are for doing such a thing?
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Your two important priorities is to make sure its Watertight/Damp proof and Thermally insulated to make it habitable. Services should be fairly simple unless you plan to have a WC down there in which case water and waste would need to be pumped.

Personally I would get in the proffesionals at least for the Damp proofing / Insulation and prehaps do the finishing your self
 
Cold Fusion said:
Your two important priorities is to make sure its Watertight/Damp proof and Thermally insulated to make it habitable. Services should be fairly simple unless you plan to have a WC down there in which case water and waste would need to be pumped.

Personally I would get in the proffesionals at least for the Damp proofing / Insulation and prehaps do the finishing your self
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Sounds like the best solution, if it keeps costs down so I can get a nice projector at the end of it I'll be happy :D

But seriously, it'll just be used as either a dining room or living room so really it just needs to be insulated, power sockets and lights. The walls themselves dont seem damp, but being an old house I would like to get a professional in to make sure it will be water/damp proof, especially if its having electrical stuff in there.
 
Well I've been in touch with a couple of people, both mentioned differnt things....

1st quote - it would just need a very good thick membrane laying, and a strengthened screed laid. As with a lot of cellar conversions the height is on the low side, what we have previously done, is to take the current floor level down by an extra few inches , before re-laying a new floor, and damp proofing. obviously this would incur an extra cost if this is what you would require, and this would also give you a near normal height ceiling

2nd quote - you would need to use a system known as tanking which is a water tight rubber layer welded at each seem then you need to dry line all the walls as to keep things warmer and stop it feeling damp you also need to sceed floor and install insulation , which all seems straight forward but the problem you have is that you need to know the level of tanking required and level of insulation to make the room habitable

id really appreciate some advice as to which is more trust worthy
 
markwilliams82 said:
Well I've been in touch with a couple of people, both mentioned differnt things....
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a rubber layer is over the top if you have dry walls (btw they are only dry because the water is free to evaporate)

normally cavity membrane is used to clad the walls, moisture just drips down behind it

basement%20conversion%20p5%20floor%20and%20wall.jpg


it then drains into a sump pump (note the black drainage channels on the right)

Basement%20convesions%20installing%20a%20sump%20and%20pump.jpg



Taking the floor down and insulating is a good idea so long as you don't undermine the foundations - but be aware that is really heavy work so do it yourself rather than paying through the nose - insulate with DPC, polystyrene, rebar and pump in some concrete.

You can plasterboard on top of the bobbly stuff

or:

a relative used a bitumen compound and dry lined the walls with wood, DPC and plasterboard - that's still dry.
 
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