Silly question about cellars

[mogga]

Why would only some houses on a street have cellars if they were all built at the same time?

[beezer]

I used to build spec homes and its basically what the builder wanted to spend at the time. Perhaps some lots were sold to various builders to resell or perhaps houses were built to owners specifications that did not want to spend the money for the cellar.

[nightjar]

Possibilities include:

The ones with cellars were built first and the builder found the conditions unsuitable (too difficult to dig or the ground so wet that the cellars needed extra waterproofing - anything that would put up costs) and decided to complete the rest without cellars. A variation on this could be different sub-soil conditions, making it easier to put cellars in some than in others. One site I recall had chalk six feet down across half the site, but the rest was on the seaward side of a prehistoric and now underground shoreline cliff and was gravel down to about sixty feet.

The builder was started to find money tight, so stopped putting in cellars, which are relatively expensive things to build.

The builder needed soil to raise part of the site and so dug out enough cellars to provide the soil, but stopped when he had enough.

The houses were built to sell at different prices.

If the designs are different, quite possibly they were built by different builders or just designed by different architects.

Colin Bignell

[N. Thornton]

cos they cost

[Graham Wilson]

You will probably find that several builders were involved in the construction of the street.

When I recently paid off the mortgage, I went through all the unregistered title deeds and traced the history of our house.

Basically, the area in Coventry where I live was a large piece of land called Hopes Harbour. The land was sold off in plots to various people.

The builder purchased part of our road and built a block of houses. He then purchased another block and built some more houses.

The house was built in 1911. I am the fith owner.

Graham

[Graham Wilson]

Not a good idea near water either.

I was talking to a builder some time ago, who was involved in renovating some houses in the centre of Leamington Spa.

All of the cellars were treated for various problems and replastered.

They had just finished the work and were waiting for the plaster to dry when the river burst its banks and flooded the cellars.

They had to wait months for them to dry out and start again.

There is a pub in York by the river that regularly gets flooded. As a result the owners have put in a stone floor and moved the cellar to the top floor.

All of the beer pumps etc can be unbolted and the counter top of the bar removed. In about two hours they can completely clear the inside of the pub.

When the water drops they simply jet wash the inside of the pub down and put all the pumps back in place.

Inside the pub, there is a marker on the wall showing the water level at various points over the years.

Graham

[Dave Plowman (News)]

If they are Victorian, different builders often developed adjacent plots - obvious by the houses not being 'identical'.

If it's a terrace - pass. The main purpose of Victorian cellars was coal storage with easy access - via a coal hole at the front door.

[mogga]

They are about 50 years old and all built for the council as far as I know.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

At 50 years old, they might still have been built for open fires and coal. Coal can obviously be stored in an external bunker if there's rear access. Is there a difference in the access arrangements, and do the ones with cellars have a coal hole?

[Owain]

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote | > They are about 50 years old and all built for the council as far | > as I know. | At 50 years old, they might still have been built for open | fires and coal. Coal can obviously be stored in an external | bunker if there's rear access. | Is there a difference in the access arrangements, and do the | ones with cellars have a coal hole?

Alternatively, might some owners have blocked up the coal-holes because they weren't needed, and the council has since resurfaced the pavement. IE absence of c-h might not signify absence of cellar.

Owain

[mogga]

Not entirely sure but will find out! Ta.