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So you'll be thinking....whoa why would you!
I have a small property, it's an end house of a converted pub.
My neighbour has the 'main cellar' under the foot print of their house, along with barrel hatch etc.
An off shoot of their cellar goes under a bit of my house.
It's a full brick built vaulted cavern, with a massive rain/waste water pipe running on pillars right across it.
It's not under my floor boards, but under my foundations.
Now due to so much development in the area, and it being at the bottom of a hill and next to the Grand Union canal, it floods.
We pump it but it's getting worse.
The catch aka pain in the arse, is I have no access to it. As mentioned it was part of the original cellar. So my neighbour kindly puts a pump in there, and pumps it out through the barrel hatch.
Neither of us want to continue like this. So I was thinking of filling in. I guess it's about 3x3x2 metres.
Anyone know about this sort of thing or have first hand experience.
Yes, but we don't talk about it until after the insurance pay out 🙂
I am assuming there is no room for a patio?
How is your wife at the moment by the way?
Personally I'd have a pump permanently fitted rather than fill it in as that could cause you / your neighbor completely different issues..... & It'll probably be cheaper...
If you fill it in, where will the water go thereafter?
When it's filled, it becomes part of the foundations
Think of it as a hole under my foundations, water will flow into it. if the hole isn't there it dissipates as it would like any house with normal foundations.
It's not under my floor.
Gift it to your neighbour and arrange a flying freehold.
That way its theirs to convert / fill in / pump out.
As a drainage technical person for my job I would not fill it in. If you’re getting that amount of water in there you are much better being able to see it and deal with it as it comes in. Building a proper sump and with twin pumps (so you’ve got some redundancy) which drain into the pipes you already have there is the best option. Not expensive either.
I would also build some sort of access hatch to get down there yourself.
It's under your foundations but not under your floor? An "offshoot" goes under your house which is 3m^2 but you don't have access to?
Sorry, it's probably just me being dim but I'm really struggling to visualise this. Can't you / your neighbour not prevent water ingress in the first place?
I think he means it's not just a simple case of lifting some floorboards and getting access to it - would need to dig through his underfloor and into the foundations?
My parent's old house (that I've got to try and sell next year) sounds similar (converted pub and the big cellar isn't divided for the end house nor does the end house have access). No clue what to do though about the flooding though. Filling in sounded sensible to me but then the drainage expert guy said don't do that :p
But surely it's the neighbour's issue - it's part of their cellar so their problem (rather than them doing you a favour by putting a pump in their for you?). I guess the deeds haven't been changed since the pub was converted (this is the issue with my parent's house)? That said I know nothing about deeds, have not had to deal with owning/selling a house with a cellar before...
Cougar.
If I lift my boards I'll see the foundations.
So I'd have to dig into the foundations and break into the vault/cellar. Basically I'll have to tunnel into it.
When it was turned into houses it's small entrance was bricked up and vented. That small entrance is the dividing line between our two freeholds
would need to dig through his underfloor and into the foundations?
Or nip next door?
I think if I had a cellar I couldn't access then I'd want to make access and use that space, brick it off from the neighbour's section.
But surely it’s the neighbour’s issue – it’s part of their cellar so their problem
I 100% agree and that was my first thought also, but unfortunately this is just the "having right of way when you're under a van's wheels" argument isn't it. It'll be of little comfort to the OP that it's not their problem when their living room is up to the fetlocks in canal water.
So I’d have to dig into the foundations and break into the vault/cellar. Basically I’ll have to tunnel into it.
Right. So as above, can you not access it via the neighbour's? I'm assuming you're on friendly terms if they've "kindly" made inroads into not flooding your property.
If I knew I had a vault I'd be breaking into it as we speak. I've only ever seen half of my loft and it's killing me.
Agree with b230ftw, unless you can locate the point of water ingress and stop/divert it. If you just fill in the cellar the water will have to go somewhere, possibly into your neighbour's part of the cellar, or accumulate within or under your infill, or floor, or foundations, and cause further problems such as subsidence. You say it's due to "development" etc but do you know what, specifically? Diverted watercourse? Increased run-off from hard-paved areas? Leakage from the canal? If you can find that out you might be able to address the problem.
Go nuts...
Tunnel access, sump pump and tank it!
Could you sell it? I’ve always wanted a cellar!
my 1st house was a little terrace 100 yards from a beck that flooded every year. my cellar filled up to 5 ft for the first couple of years we were there. a flood relief plan by the council payed for a submersible pump fitting. the pump started itself once a set level was reached. dont know how it worked, but it did, and ended my flooding problem.
fit a pump.
Probably much against the STW ethos, but I would suggest that needs a professional survey.
We all float down here
We all float down here
Where will you put the sex swing if you fill the cellar in?
Do you actually mean foundations, as in a raft foundation that the whole house sits on (unusual if you have a cellar), or just a concrete floor? Punching through a concrete floor won't be too tricky. I'd definitely want my own access. A proper pump set up could turn it into usable space. This should be less work than filling it and you get a working cellar.
Agree fully with earlier expert. Blocking water is not the best move, manage it with pumps.
Having no access is not ideal as your reliant on the neighbour. From what I read, it’s both your problems. The cellar is divided with a party wall and he has the access steps, but no doubt has same issue with water as it will flow from yours to his.
Manage it with pumps, plural. I too would want a backup.
Underground swimming pool you say?