I have some questions about my cellar and was wondering if anyone could advise or share experiences. I anticipate the main response might be ‘get the pros in’, but I’d like to understand the challenge a bit before getting someone in.

My house is 1940s cavity wall construction, with a cellar. The cellar floor is about 5′ below outside ground level – there are a couple of steps up to the main doors into the house. In the cellar, the first 4ft of foundation are older stone construction and look about 2ft thick. On top of that the brick cavity walls start. There are a few old window openings which have been bricked up – there are brick arches in the outer skin, and the inner skin is supported with a timber lintel. The bricking up is a single outer skin, so the inner skin is open below the timber, down to the stone foundation. A photo here would probably help…

I want an external door to the cellar, so plan to dig a set of steps down outside, knock out the old window opening, and cut a hole through the stone foundation and install an inwards-opening door. It seems I have the option to use the existing brick arch and timber lintel, or replace both of those with a new lintel and get a slightly wider doorway (it’s a bit narrow at the moment).

I can see the latter being a bit more serious in terms of not letting the house fall down, but perhaps it wouldn’t add a huge amount to the cost. I’m tempted to get a builder (who is suitably competent and insured) in to put the new lintel in, but then would do everything else in terms of cutting out the opening, installing the door, and digging the steps. I don’t mind a bit of hard work, and I do mind spending more than I have to.

Has anyone had this sort of thing done, and can you hazard a guess at the cost for just the new lintel part of the job? I’m aware of Building Control requirements, but it all seems fairly straightforward.

Cheers!

PS any recommendations for Sheffield based builders would be welcome!

As you mention Building regulations and planning, especially if you plan on selling in the future (so you have the right paperwork) and structural engineer so it doesn’t fall down;)
Also how near the neighbours are you digging, (if < 3m (maybe <6 m if very deep), possible party wall work).
Drainage, how might the work effect drainage, i.e. making a hole for rain to get into new doorway, how are you going to drain this to stop cellar getting wet?
Worth seeing if anyone else has similar in the area.
Also drains outside in the area you want to dig, sods law says you will find some, (having just found a 4m deep old stone well on a site i’m working on!)
Good luck

Think about how you will support the walls of the “ramp” you dig down to your new door.
Deffo builder for the RSJ.
Get a structural engineer to specify it.
Otherwise, sounds like a goer to me.

APF

Neighbours – not an issue, long way off.

Drainage is interesting. The garden is about level with the cellar floor. The patio has been raised up to it’s present level, so I’d be digging through relatively recent backfill. Neighbours a few doors down have a converted cellar without the patio, so they can just walk straight in without the steps. I’ll eventually tank the cellar and will probably use a small sump pump, unless I can get a horizontal directional drill to put a drainage pipe out to the garden (about 10m away). No idea of the cost of that though.

I am fairly sure I know where the services are, the sewer, leccy and gas are all out of the way.

My old man is a geotechnical engineer so will sort the retaining walls for the ramp/steps. I’d like to get the lintel sorted before I start digging, as the existing timber one looks a bit dodgy.

Thanks for the tips so far 🙂

Might be worth a visit to the Sheffield Archives to see if they have copies of the original plans for your house, maybe make a bit more sense of the dual construction and bricked up openings.

You’ll need space for steps to modern specs in relation to pitch, riser height and going. To make the cellar usable you also need to consider how you can get bulky objects down the stairs and under the door lintel

My other concern would be water and rubbish accumulating at the bottom of the stairs and ending up in the cellar