Cutting and chopping in sandstone.

My plan is to buy a cave house for reform which means that the height in the cave has to be increased. After reading advise the best and maybe the only way is to do the floor "deeper"

Is that a job for specialists, or is it something I can do by myself? I see myself as a handyman. Have worked  with wood (tree houses) and welding among other things.

Maybe there is anyone out there with experience who can give some advice?

Arness wrote:My plan is to buy a cave house for reform which means that the height in the cave has to be increased. After reading advise the best and maybe the only way is to do the floor "deeper"

Is that a job for specialists, or is it something I can do by myself? I see myself as a handyman. Have worked  with wood (tree houses) and welding among other things.

Maybe there is anyone out there with experience who can give some advice?

Check with your local town hall (Ayuntamiento) what permissions you will need. That could range from none at all, through to it is forbidden. Rules vary from area to area - as does the application requirements and cost of the licence.

I reduced the floor levels myself.This is a straight forward digging job. However,when I started to dig in the ceiling,which as you seem to know,is required to get extra width,I ran into problems with collapses,which although quite funny were very dangerous and I employed a Spanish 'caveman' to do it for me with great results.These guys really know what they are doing,are fast,creative and reasonably cheap.

Although cost is a key driver,I would not recommend you do the excavation and structural reform on your own.

It's a wonderful experience.Good luck.

Thank you very much.


Since I haven't found "my dream cave" yet, I was wondering what is the average height in unreformed caves. I myself is taller than the average man, about 1.93
Does anyone know?

Mine are about 2.4m and the rooms are about the same width and varying lengths but you can have anything you like and differing in different rooms.

I had no problems with Ayuntamiento approvals BUT what Pete says is correct.

Hi, I 'get' the height issue (at 2.0m) that's why we bought a house! Having said that SOME caves DO offer good headroom, so check before you view!

Our cave has rooms with head room from 2.3m to 3.2m. The latter being very heigh.

Arness wrote:Since I haven't found "my dream cave" yet, I was wondering what is the average height in unreformed caves.

There aren't any standards for cave houses
Most unreformed ones will have been built / dug by local people 50+ years ago. The people in this area tend to be quite short - so they wouldn't have wasted time and energy making ceilings or doorways higher than they needed. Also, all that empty space above their heads would have needed heating, so that's another reason for not making rooms too high.

Thanks - to all of you.

pete_l wrote:

Arness wrote:Since I haven't found "my dream cave" yet, I was wondering what is the average height in unreformed caves.

There aren't any standards for cave houses
Most unreformed ones will have been built / dug by local people 50+ years ago. The people in this area tend to be quite short - so they wouldn't have wasted time and energy making ceilings or doorways higher than they needed. Also, all that empty space above their heads would have needed heating, so that's another reason for not making rooms too high.

I have also read about that somewhere, and therefore I was curious if that was truth. Thanks for clarifying that.
There are a nice article about caves in "The Telegraph" that points out that: I quote.

Contrary to expectations, cave rooms can be light and airy with high ceilings.

I guess this may be an exception, or maybe he meant reformed caves. And as you already mentioned
"There aren't any standards for cave houses"