Measuring what is directly above/below: best way?

[somebrightmorning]

I guess my question is, do I need an architect right now or is there a clever way to measure up?

We live in a house with a basement that was a separate property. We always hated having the noise beneath and now we’ve bought the basement. Yeah! So we’d like to reinstate the staircase in (more or less) its original position.

The bit of the basement that will have to be broken into has been made into a bathroom. If possible I’d like to keep at least the toilet (it will be a toilet under the stairs).

Obviously I could get an architect in immediately but money is an issue and I wondered if there are any tips for figuring out staircase sizes, height of ceiling void and, most importantly, what is on top of what.

If you’ve got a laser measure and are used to measuring up, it’s very easy to do. If you’re not used to measuring, don’t have the right tools and have no idea of wall thicknesses, construction and how to work all this out, get yourself a professional to do it. If there’s any element of your property on top of what is still belonging to another, or vice versa, you may have an element of flying freehold or creeping freehold and you’ll want a professional involved if that is the case.

Won't you need building regs approval to do this so you may need drawings anyway?

You might find that a structural engineer can do it as you will probably need engineers calcs anyway

Our staircase builder did this for us. It's a real one though not a kit job like the vast majority.

Can you not just make a small hole through the floor/ceiling where the stairs used to be upstairs and have a look down?

Ooh replies!

Thank you, reading now.

There is no element of flying/creeping freehold based on what you say TDL2016.

Off to look at laser measure on YouTube! Tbh a lot of this is about being an expert customer- doing my research before picking a professional.

What is a staircase builder? A person? Or a type of software?

@wallywobbles for a “staircase builder” recommendation please.

You’ll need planning permission to merge two properties into one. Many local authorities resist this as they’re under pressure to increase the number of dwellings in their patch rather than reduce.