Turning basement into playroom?

[ColdAsConcrete]

Is this feasible? It has a concrete floor and no heating/water/connectivity. DH has just offered to turn it into a playroom for the DC. At the moment it has our tools, workbench etc in it and books we can't fit in our flat. Through bad luck and disorganisation of the builders, it's not actually linked to our block of flats, but is to the neighbouring block, else I'd have turned it into DH's wfh office!

Is there a realistic way of insulating the floor so the DC can play with their Lego in there? It is cold down there in winter, cool in the summer. There is an underground window (a shaft that comes up to the garden with a grid over the top). Is there any way of getting a phone or WiFi signal down there?

Will it cause problems if we only want to insulate half the floor surface?

There’s always a way, depends how much money you want to spend. I’d first of all be checking if it’s tanked / insulated in any way. Is there water down there? Has it ever flooded or shown signs of moisture? If going very basic, I’d be installing a damp proof membrane on the floor, and then where you go from there sort of depends. Pouring concrete will be a hassle so I’d be inclined to go with a pier foundation and then joists ontop. Pack the gaps with PIR, P5 tongue and groove ontop and then your choice of flooring. Would definitely stud wall and insulate there too, and then ? The need with then ceiling depending on how it links with the main house. Electricity and internet will be easy - just run from your router with Ethernet for the internet, or your WiFi might reach fine anyway. Electrics will likely need an electrician to put a separate RCBO 32 amp circuit in, but if you’re just running a few small appliances you could get away with spurring off mains ring upstairs. Depending on how handy you are you may / may not need professional advice for some / all of the above.

e. Electricity and internet will be easy - just run from your router with Ethernet for the internet, or your WiFi might reach fine anyway.

It has electricity. The WiFi doesn't reach. I don't understand how you can run with Ethernet from my router? The router is in my (top floor) flat and the basement is in a different building.

There isn't insulation inside, it flooded once when it was new, but that's been sorted now and hasn't since.

Ok. So all I can do is give you a technical explanation. Whether any of this will work with what you own / don’t own I can’t comment on. You could run an exterior grade cat 6 Ethernet cable out through wall, down however many levels to ground, into conduit buried in the earth or clipped to a fence and then bring it into the basement. It may be much simpler to perhaps buy a 5g router or simply use your phone hotspot to connect things up. If you get no signal in the basement then you will need to do as above, but whether you have permission or not 🤷

You already have electricity so that’s that bit sorted. Sounds as though it’s also been tanked and waterproofed from the repairs post flooding? Are we talking about a dirty dingy little grotto or something a bit more polished? If it’s properly tanked then I would still be hesitant about laying floor directly onto concrete, but you can perhaps get a cheap damp meter to work that bit out.

out through wall, down however many levels to ground, into conduit buried in the earth or clipped to a fence and then bring it into the basement.
No, unfortunately that's not possible. We can't change the outside of the building (e.g put a hole in the wall) and the garden isn't ours part is communal and the rest belongs to the ground floor flats. There is no phone signal in the basement.

Guess you’re not having internet in the basement then unless you want to setup some sort of relay that you take down whenever you go. You could probably leave your phone outside with a signal and get a Bluetooth tether from that. I dunno - can’t get my head around your setup. You live in a top floor flat and own a basement that is underneath another block of flats that you can’t access other than going through them? Pretty unique situation!

How do people currently run their sky, cable, phone lines etc into their flats if you can’t go through the wall?

Cable and phone lines were put in when the flats were built.

Ah ok. Well seems that you’ll be using it as a playroom only.

I'm not happy with the idea of them being down there with no contact to us in the flat though. Although DH thinks I'm weird.

I've discovered I get a signal if I stick my phone out into the shaft. I suppose I was thinking there must be some kind of antenna that we could stick out through the grid so it's slightly above ground in the garden (and hope the neighbourhood kids don't damage it!) that could pick up the Wi-Fi signal from our flat if we used some kind of Wi-Fi Beamer. Surely someone's invented something like that 😂

Oh I see. I’d be surprised if bluetooth wouldn’t reach in that case. Something to receive 5g in the shaft as you say. Then something in the basement. Question is will it get nicked from where you leave it. Wouldn’t want to just leave my phone lying around

How old are the children? It seems odd the you think it would be suitable for the children but you give the following reason for it being not suitable to wfh in.

, it's not actually linked to our block of flats, but is to the neighbouring block, else I'd have turned it into DH's wfh office!

Would something like this work for the WiFi?

www.argos.co.uk/browse/technology/networking-and-wi-fi/powerline-adapters/c:30071/

Is your flat in a different building? I must admit I'm perplexed by the layout!
Could you get its own internet point?

From what I can understand the OP’s flat and the basement are in different blocks of flats. They would therefore not be on the same electrical circuit, so this wouldn’t work.

Before getting bogged down in the details I would check a few safety things. Was this basement intended to be habitable space, or just storage? If the later it may not be up to spec on things like ventilation and fire safety. Also radon is more of a risk in basements, (even if you're in a generally low risk area), so maybe look at getting that tested (you just have to stick a disk in the room then return for lab analysis).

I saw the title and came on to say of course, and that it doesn't need much "turning in to". As we have a basement and it has been a great space for the dc at various ages / stages of life.

But I am absolutely intrigued as to how a top floor flat in a basement in another building
Also, that you are happy to leave dc who are young enough to need a 'playroom' alone in another building, without an adult. It doesn't all seem to make much sense to me.

Different angle, how old are the kids here? They usually want to play where you are! Mine are 9 & 6 and don't even really play in their bedrooms yet.

I don't think children young enough to play with Lego should be in a different building from their parents- internet or no internet... how exactly is internet meant to help if something happens?

And maybe that would be different if it was a garden room to a house/garden flat, eg direct access no one else had access to, but in a different block of flats?!

I wonder if this is real actually...

DC are 11 and 14. The point with internet is they could call us (or more likely I can call them into dinner!).
I would get a locked cupboard for the work tools.
@NonmagicMike yes, you're right, they're on a different circuit. To put an internet connection in we'd need to pay a second set of connection and line rental fees.

absolutely intrigued as to how a top floor flat in a basement in another building basically the agents screwed it up and double sold the one we had reserved. We needed to move as our previous place had sold so we took the unsold basement in the neighbouring block.