Basement Cellar?

We're in the process of renovating our PPOR, which is a sandstone house built directly on to stone.
We have a lot of space under the house (about 2 bedrooms worth), height enough for a 6ft person to be able to almost stand up.

I'm looking for suggestions on how to best use this space. Since the access isn't the best, I plan on having a trap door installed in the house. Does anyone have experience with using the space under their house?

I'm thinking of using it to brew some beer and store some wine. Maybe a little bar/man cave. Possibly a meditation spot.

 

Sounds like a nice space to grow some herbs under lights (roar of laughter).

You control the climate. Vegetation goes from bloom to doom at your will.

Your friends will be mighty impressed. You'll probably have trouble keeping them away lol.

 

Something along the lines of what this brother has done here?
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...ds-stolen-from-residents-20190831-p52mns.html

 

Seek council approval...and engineering plans. You cannot dig, burrow or change the underside of approved developments for many purposes without approval. A town planner may be a good source of guidance. Dont assume "stone" is solid or dry. Silicosis ?

The exempt development use for earthworks and structural support may or may not be allowed for this proposed use.

A chap in Austria successfully used his room for years before anyone had concerns.

 

No excavation involved. The space already exists under the house, all we're doing in putting in a trap door in one of the rooms. It was a deceased estate and it looks like the previous owner already has light fittings there etc.

I'm hoping to find gold in there but I've been told there's only asbestos. Or maybe the builder already raided it for gold when he started working on the renovation.

 

Does the space also have a door to the outside? You will want some ventilation.

 

It does and it's good for ventilation but it's not the easiest to use for regular access. It has a crawl space that leads to under the deck, the under deck area has a door to the backyard.

We're putting in a 90/90cm trap door in the study. Turns out the space is already concreted and good to use. Worth the $1,000 cost to install the trap door I think. It will probably add value, especially if I do it up well.

 

I'm aiming for a poor man's version of this

 

I already have the poor mans version
No fridge

 

Haha, I think this is the extreme poverty/"I've been bad" version. But good to see you being loyal to Australia and Caltex.