Do all houses come with a floor hatch?

MaxP779

MaxP779

MaxP779

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I have no idea where i would look for one, or if all houses even have one. There should be a hatch somewhere to access the underfloor pipes/wiring etc right? Im thinking maybe the cupboard under the stairs because thats where the electric thingamajig is and the mains water cut off valve, is it possible no hatch exists?

House is a 1997 2 bed semi detached.
 
depends tbh, if you don't have a big void under the house then no point in it having a hatch, can you see between some boards on how big the void is? anything smaller than you can crawl around in then wont have a hatch

ps. In the houses i have worked on with a hatch it was about 2ft behind the front door and the voids were approx 3/4ft with arches between the rooms so you could walk throughout the ground floor

EDIT: Just seen 1997 - pretty much no chance
 
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My last place had a floor hatch in the cupboard under the stairs to give access to the crawl space.

I know of a few old houses with a cellar, they had trap door in floor in the living room, dining room & kitchen.
 
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Most newer house don't even have crawlspace, built on concrete slab and chased in. They don't require so much ventilation like old houses the way they are built.

I've lived in a number of houses with crawlspace, older houses like, and none had a hatch.
 
arknor said:
bed loads of spiders live in them :S
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Yeah theres no way in hell im going in there lol, the two big spiders i found in the shed the other week left the shed... and showed up in my ****in bedroom! Had enough of spiders.

newbiejim said:
Just cut one out, its trivial, I cut a few when I repiped CH, just avoid cutting pipes or cables :-)
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Thats exactly why i was asking :) I figured if i could find a floor hatch or get access under there the internal gas pipe could be upgraded without having to use an external one. Ach i guess the external solution isnt so bad though.
 
My '79 build has concrete floor so very much expect anything in the 90s to have that too. Surely you would know if its boards or concrete? (and don't call me Shirley)
 
Hah no! - ours they thought it would be a good idea to bury the pipework in like 6 inches of concrete, pretty sure a lot of the old wiring is still buried as well and they just cut it loose and drilled new holes through all kind of stuff when it was updated 2-3 decades ago :s

Ace Modder said:
But finding the hatch is the fun/annopying part. My house is 1930s so should have a crawl space.
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I live in a 1930 semi-detached - not a chance it has a crawl space in this one :s
 
My house has a potential crawl space, same with my parents but no hatch.

My space unde the floorboards is no longer crawlable mind you as its full of old school ducting for a heating system
 
I live in Scotland. I think that, owing to our regs, you are more likely to have a underfloor space in old and new houses. But in my current house about 10-y-o, I can't find a hatch to inspect area for a leaking pipe. So it looks like I need to make one. I think my joists are 16" apart. I am quite agile, how wide do you think I need make it, remembering that the space under is only about 18" ?
 
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