recently bought a 1 bed end of terrace cottage, with a large cellar and thought of converting the cellar into a extra room. had a few qoutations from builders and went for the mid priced quote.

Because the cieling hight was low they suggested that the floor was lowered about 2ft, and i agreed the extra cost.

However after a few hours of digging they said that they had encounterd a problem, and, the walls would require underpining. They said that it would'nt be a big problem as they had experience of this kind of work and would give a quote. After a couple of days they came back with a quote that it would cost an additional £1000 to carry out the work, which i thought was reasonable.

A couple of days ago i bumped into an old friend who has worked in the building trade, and I was egar to show him round my new project.  When he saw the work he was shocked and horrified at what he saw.

He explained that he saw a few problems that concerned him

1) that the excavation should be both from inside the cellar and on the outside of the building, whereas my buiders  have only done it from the inside.

2) the width of the concrete sections should be 2 and a half times the width of the stonework whereas my builders have finished the concrete slabs flush with the face of the stonework

3) That they shoud be using some type of steel rods, which i can see no evidence of.

My friend recomends that the work is stoped imediatly and i Inform building control.

Im a bit perplexed by all of this and would like your oppinion on what I should do next

thanks guys.

Question for JerryD....  Should building control have been given drawings to approve before work started or is that just new houses?

Here in the states permits have to be pulled when it comes to major strctural renovations. engineering should be involved. if permits are pulled the escavation goes in stages and inspectors inspect as you go along so you as a consumer are protected. By all means stop and have it inspected. if you are worried about your safety of your home then so be it. call yopur city inspector.a.s.a.p. jack hammering 2 feet of concrete inside can cause more damage than you know. Your friend is absolutely right. concrete slabs have to be a certain thickness for many reasons with steel reenforcements and if those are not used then you concrete slab is weaken. it can cause things lile slooping with ground settlement etc. slab and walls to crack after a period of time, ask the person you hired for his lic cordentials and the permits he pulled. if he cant produce either one. give him the boot