Partial Caves

Hi. We are considering buying a partial cave, however, have two questions... Does the partial part of the cave suffer with the extremes of winter/summer temperatures? And, if the roof of the partial part is supported by timbers are there problems with dry rot/infestation? We currently own a cave that is not partial. Many Thanks.

Yes, it won't be the same as the cave part at all. We had a kitchen built on to ours - with decent double glazing, cannabric block walls and good floor and ceiling insulation it still gets hotter in summer and colder in winter than any of the cave rooms. When the sun is shining directly through the windows in summer we put the blinds down; for the winters we saved up to install a pellet burner. Check out the construction of the outbuild carefully and think about the cost of any improvements that might be needed. I've not heard of problems with dry rot here, but timbers can be treated against woodworm etc.

The interior temperature depends on how the outbuild is integrated with the cave section. Our outbuild is very large measuring maybe 12m wide by 5m deep with large windows; it's open with the cave section so air circulates freely. The outbuild windows face west and in the 36-40ºC summer months we lower the window shutters in the afternoon to prevent temperature buildup and it reaches 24ºC with the deep sections of the cave at 21ºC. In the winter without heating the outbuild can be down to 14ºC with the cave at 16ºC.

Rot can happen anywhere.