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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To want my dds to sleep in the cellar, and is my friend B U to report me to SS

92 replies

elfinblast · 10/04/2009 02:03

OK, I have smallish 3 bedroom house. Me and DH have one bedroom, DD's 10 & 8 share a room and DS has the teeny tiny bedroom.

A few years back, and at not inconsiderable expense we had the cellar done up. It has proper plastered walls, carpets and cute ceiling lights. It is 2 rooms and the same size/shape as the upstairs hall/back/front rooms.

It is dry, has heating, electricity and is full of crap.

My plan is to clear the crap and either let the girls have a room each (but there are no doors and you have to walk through one to get to the other so one would have no privacy) or they share a "bedroom" and have the other room as a lounge/tv/toy room.

Told my friend (well more a foaf) of my plans and she seems to think I am some sort of monster who plans to keep them locked in the cellar, and as there are no windows (well, it is a cellar) it is cruel and she will contact the authorities.

DD's will still be allowed upstairs and to see daylight. I'm not creating a jail. We will NEED another room in erm...9 months or so

My friend(ish) is being totally unreasonable yes?

OP posts:

kickassangel · 11/04/2009 03:47

i used to live on a street with basements like this & some of them were separate porperties, ie sub-terranean 'apartments', so in theory it's all fine.

just think how many places in london (and other crowded cities) where this is done a lot. perhaps use the words 'bijou semi-recessed condominium' instead of cellar! you may get different responses

katiestar · 11/04/2009 10:25

DO NOT approach the council's Building Regs department first.Get an architect to cme and see if it complies and how much it will cost to make it comply.
If you have notified the council you will not be able to get an indemnity policy on the cellar conversion and no-one will buy it.
An indemnity policy is for times when you sell a house which has building work such as a loft conversion which hasn't been signed off by building regs.It pays out if the council take enforcement action against the new owner.)

dittany · 11/04/2009 15:53

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

cat64 · 11/04/2009 16:18

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

dmo · 11/04/2009 16:39

do the celler up for you and dh with a bathroom for yourselfs and your new dc

fryalot · 11/04/2009 16:45

I think you've had plenty of good advice here already about fire exits, building regs and ventilation, and as I know sod all about any of that, I'll keep me trap shut

but... when I was a kid, we lived in a house very much like you describe yours and I nagged and nagged my parents to do out the cellar for me. I was desperate to live in the cellar.

I was gutted when I got so old I had to get married and move out and they still hadn't done the bloody cellar for me!

LackaDAISYcal · 11/04/2009 22:24

I missed the bit about the heights elfinblast. It sounds very do-able then. Get a local architect to come and advise on what you need to do; your girls would probably think it's a great place to call their own......just make sure any windows aren't big enough to sneak boyfriends in (when they are old enough for that of course )

lol @ squonky

Thingiebob · 11/04/2009 23:10

If you can get the place to comply with building regs then go for it. Sounds as if you know what you are doing. Especially as the coal chute can be converted to make a window/source of natural light plus an emergency exit. I'd be more concerned about the strange friend. What kind of friend threatens to call social services on you?! Who the hell does she think she is? Some self-appointed prevention officer for social services??
Very odd. Tell her to foaf off.

applepudding · 11/04/2009 23:34

Elfinblast - what do your DD's think of the idea? I can imagine some children that age would love to share a room which is a bit different and exiting away from their parents, but on the other hand, if it were me I would be unhappy about sleeping somewhere without a window - both due to the dark and the lack of fresh air.

If your DDs are happy with the idea and all regs are in place then go for it, but I think the alternate idea of you and DH and the baby sleeping down there is a good one. If there are two rooms down there then surely your youngest child will be OK down there closer to you for a few years yet, when you could have a rethink.

TinkerBellesMumandFiFi2 · 12/04/2009 00:04

Sounds like a great idea and you have really thought it through.

I'm at the people who have made massive assumptions that there is no light/ ventilation/ access!

MollieO · 12/04/2009 00:30

Assuming the conversion complies with building regs I'd still be concerned at children being separated from parents by two floors, one of which is unoccupied at night.

TinkerBellesMumandFiFi2 · 12/04/2009 00:35

Maybe an answer to the children being so far away would be to install a baby monitor? On normal occasions they're being quiet, you won't notice. If they're playing up you'll hear them and if there's a problem they'll know they only have to call into it and you will hear.

Original poster

elfinblast · 12/04/2009 01:54

Thanks again for all the comments. Gives me plenty of things I need to look into.

Dittany. If we give upstairs to the kids and sleep downstairs ourselves we would be leaving a child of about 1 (ish when s/he goes into a room of their own) upstairs with only big brother/sisters for supervision. As the girls will be hurtling towards teen-age so I think they will be fine down there.

As for asking them, well I did broach the subject and the only questions were "When? Can we sleep down there now? Next week then..." They love the idea.

I do want to reiterate that we're not just slapping a new coat of paint on and chucking the beds and a telly down there. As I've said it is already a lovely games/play room. We did have it done properly so any alterations necessary aren't going to be much of a problem.

Another friend has pointed out that SS won't be too much of a problem for me as I was thoroughly grilled and investigated a couple of years back when I looked after a relatives kids for a few days. (Very long and unpleasant story, kids now fine and happy)

OP posts:

katiestar · 12/04/2009 14:26

Dittany - the whole point of an indemnity policy is that you DON't have building Regs. If you do , there would be no point taking it out now would there ?

trixymalixy · 12/04/2009 14:47

I would have loved a basement room when I was a kid!!

As long as you comply with building regs and have a proper fire escape then why not and tell your FOAF to MHOB!!!

DSM · 12/04/2009 14:49

Plenty of people sleep 2 floors away from their children, its not a big deal. I don't see why it is concerning?

sis · 12/04/2009 15:06

could you convert the second room into a bathroom and make sure there is some form of fire exit?

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