Building under your garden

Gilly · 15 Feb 2013 at 14:45

No the two companies I contacted about it were happy to remove the earth as part of the package.

KaHn · 15 Feb 2013 at 14:45

Can I ask how you were planning on joining the containers? As you probably know all of the strength on the roof of the container is designed to go between the two walls, if you try to join them by removing those walls you will need to either strengthen the roof to take the loads into the other walls (which may not be able to take the loads) or stiffen up the join using beams.

If you need any help I could look at it quickly and give you ball park number stuff.

KaHn

Gilly · 15 Feb 2013 at 14:47

From speaking to people that have done similar work I think the container solution is out now, if I ever get to do it.

It'll more likely be a timber and concrete frame.

KaHn · 15 Feb 2013 at 14:51

Gilly said:
From speaking to people that have done similar work I think the container solution is out now, if I ever get to do it.

It'll more likely be a timber and concrete frame.

I wouldnt rule it out to be fair, to strengthen the cut would be easy using small beam sections and plaster board inside would give it a nicer "feel" as for rust just clean it and re-paint them once you have finished fabricating, some of the decent offshore paints have a design life of 20+ years.

The complexity of building something to take the load from above and maintain integrity (think of water proofing around the base of your house etc) will be quite complicated and require a fair amount of design.

KaHn

Gilly · 15 Feb 2013 at 14:53

It's still a part of what I'm looking at but the companies that I was talking about doing the work with would prefer to put concrete posts in.

Just a case of getting a lot of quotes and input and seeing what is most feasible.

n3vrmind · 15 Feb 2013 at 14:54

Would love to hear more on this, it does like a more typical build under ground might be easier/cheaper compared to the cost of buying and manipulating a few storage containers to your needs. You would have to deal with making it suitably weather proof but I cant help but think that a breeze block outer wall would be so much cheaper and you can be more flexible in the size of the room rather than using the fixed dimensions of the containers

If I owned the right place Id love to do this, build under the garden first with entrance steps close to the house then perhaps later build a conservatory that enclosed the entrance making it part of the house

Gilly · 15 Feb 2013 at 14:57

n3vrmind said:
Would love to hear more on this, it does like a more typical build under ground might be easier/cheaper compared to the cost of buying and manipulating a few storage containers to your needs. You would have to deal with making it suitably weather proof but I cant help but think that a breeze block outer wall would be so much cheaper and you can be more flexible in the size of the room rather than using the fixed dimensions of the containers

If I owned the right place Id love to do this, build under the garden first with entrance steps close to the house then perhaps later build a conservatory that enclosed the entrance making it part of the house

There are a lot of additional considerations and planning (and therefore cost) associated with having the entrance within your home (or building within 2-3 metres of it, depending on who you believe).

cjgardens · 15 Feb 2013 at 14:59

One thing you need to look into is land drains and soakaways will help with the damp

KaHn · 15 Feb 2013 at 15:01

Have you went to building companies (i.e. bricks and mortar) as they will be more willing to push you to do something they are comfortable with rather than what is cheapest however out of their comfort zone.

KaHn

Gilly · 15 Feb 2013 at 15:10

KaHn said:
Have you went to building companies (i.e. bricks and mortar) as they will be more willing to push you to do something they are comfortable with rather than what is cheapest however out of their comfort zone.

KaHn

One of them was more into bricks and mortar but did others. The other was more specialised.

drunkenmaster · 15 Feb 2013 at 15:15

Fact is, building it "properly" with concrete will increase the value of the house, building it with a shipping container will likely reduce it.

ultimately people will think(even if not true) that a shipping container in the ground is stupid, going to rust and need dealing with at some stage, and they are probably right. So when you sell, if you sell, people will be thinking they like the cave, but one day its going to cost thousands to remove, or many more thousands to replace and get done right. If you build a proper concrete viable for the life of the house with no issues, it will cost more but will be a selling point for the house, thus, they money isn't being wasted so to speak.

Obviously if a done to the highest standards of construction would cost £30k and a shipping container one would cost £10k and thats all you have and no chance of having that kind of money soon going for a cheaper option is more viable, but long term I think a more "proper" build that other people buying a house would be comfortable with makes more financial sense.

panthro · 15 Feb 2013 at 15:29

Sea containers would not be a good idea. They have a finite life span and just because they are exposed to salt water, it doesn't mean they are build to withstand it for years.

I can see this getting very expensive.

Gilly · 15 Feb 2013 at 15:48

I can see people not fully reading the thread

n3vrmind · 15 Feb 2013 at 15:51

Gilly said:
There are a lot of additional considerations and planning (and therefore cost) associated with having the entrance within your home (or building within 2-3 metres of it, depending on who you believe).

It'd have to begin within 2 meters of the house I guess, if you were using steps sloping down to the entrance then further out and you'd need a fairly long conservatory to enclose it and your entrance way would need to be strong enough where the conservatory passes over it to not collapse

That said if done that way it would have the advantage of making it more like a house extension, the ability to extend electricity and pipework down there

Heres kinda what I was thinking, depending on the strength of the roof a support post might be needed on the corner of the conservatory that is over the bunker

The space past the doorway could be a good place to move a washing machine/dryer if you could sort out drainage/ventilation. Moving the noise of them out of the house.

Gilly · 15 Feb 2013 at 15:55

...and into the place of relaxation that is a conservatory

n3vrmind · 15 Feb 2013 at 16:00

Before I moved out of my parents home they built a conservatory, I found it was only used during the right hours in the day when there was enough light/sun. Better to have the noise out there than in the house. Was useful to have the extra room in the kitchen too

matt9b · 15 Feb 2013 at 17:18

drunkenmaster said:
Obviously if a done to the highest standards of construction would cost £30k

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA err you'd have thought so, but so far I've had estimates up to £160k+, possibly more if going under the house

I'm having quotes for the same thing at the moment.

matt9b · 15 Feb 2013 at 17:25

I'm having this done at the moment in our back garden.

I have so far had around 3 estimates, and have another guy coming on Monday.

Estimates:
1. £15,000 (didn't trust this guy at all)
2. £25,000 (he refused to do the work and said I'd have to provide all the labourers (!))
3. £160,000 (!)

Got a new guy coming on monday to quote, and another next week.

One guy said "TELL ME HOW MUCH YOU THINK IT'LL BE AND I'LL CORRECT YOU MATE". I was like huh?! He was trying to guage how much money I had. When I guessed "£30,000" he then wanted to charge me £250 just to come and have a look. When I turned him down, he panicked and said he'd come for free as a 'favour'... so many cowboy chancers out there.

BF-Bert · 15 Feb 2013 at 17:26

matt9b said:
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA err you'd have thought so, but so far I've had estimates up to £160k+, possibly more if going under the house

I'm having quotes for the same thing at the moment.

£160k+ is that from an unreliable builder who's rude? or a plumber who doesn't turn up? or is this a fully loaded man cave with every option from the list?

Fantasy price for the work required.

matt9b · 15 Feb 2013 at 17:29

BF-Bert said:
£160k+ is that from an unreliable builder who's rude? or a plumber who doesn't turn up? or is this a fully loaded man cave with every option from the list?

Fantasy price for the work required.

It's for a bare shell, no equipment or fittings! Agree, ridiculum price. When I asked why his quote was 5x higher than everyone else's he became defensive and said "obviously I'm not for you."