Hidden rooms

[RumpledElf]

Silly question, but is there any legislation on those?

I mean the proper hidden room dealio that you get into through a push-to-open style latch under a dado panel (so the door to get in wouldn't be legal height) or the sort you get into through a bookshelf.

Just wondering if you still need the same thing with natural light, ventilation etc which kind of defeats the purpose of having a hidden room, or if you can do a WIR style thing. WIRs tend to be windowless but they're also pretty small so I figure there's some rules where small storage type rooms don't need ventilation.

Yes, I'm weird. After watching an episode of Castle with a laird's lug we were just discussing what we'd like to build as our next house. Best case scenario is building on a slope and being able to sneak in some interesting subterranean hidden rooms

 

[eXc]

I am also interested in this. But I can't see how it would be legal.

 

[spludgey]

Why does it have to be legal, it's hidden, isn't it?

 

[Pa1nter]

We did the painting on a new home and in the plans a hidden room was drawn in.It had to be classed as a WIR (Off Main Bedroom) as it has no windows and the door was a temporary door that was changed when the house had its final through council.

So the answer to your question is ,you can do what you want after your final,but follow legislation during build.

Maybe class it as a wine cellar to avoid questions (Besser Block ceilings and walls) with internet connection,

Fire proof is also good as it could save your life down the track.

 

[marg4000]

You may be able to call it a store room.
Marg

 

[RumpledElf]

It had to be classed as a WIR (Off Main Bedroom) as it has no windows and the door was a temporary door that was changed when the house had its final through council.

Heh, I was thinking this might be the case. Sneak it through legally and quietly change the details later. I guess you could even lay your floor plan out for ease of adding extra internal walls too, internal walls are very easy to build.

Spludgey - it has to comply if you're going through a builder on a *new* house, if you had an existing one noone would notice if you retrofitted a few walls in but new ones need rubberstamping. We've got vague plans to build a house for 'forever' in a few years and are just planning a bit in advance

 

[Dazz]

....not hard to find....police do this on a regular basis, especially with bikie compounds etc.

Easily spotted by simply taking measurements.

For example, outside wall is 13m long.

Inside there is a bedroom at 6m long.

Passage at 1m long.

A laundry at 4m long.

....end of wall....

Hmmmmmmmm, hang on, 13m on the outside, 11m on the inside.

Hello hello - what 'ave we 'ere ??


With those fancy new fandangled laser pointers we use to survey rooms in commercial property, you can get down to the cm accuracy extremely quickly.


Underground rooms would avoid this type of detection of course.

 

[twodogs]

Friend at work did a 2nd story addition but was limited by FSR. A room about 4x6 was made in one section (with sloping roof in one corner but still quite usable) marked as roof void on the plans but was fully gyprocked inside complete with door, but the door was then built over. After inspection, slash with the knife and off went gyrock covering door.

 

[Lil Skater]

I did an appraisal on a property which had a hidden room changed back.

It was about the size of a standard bedroom, but no windows, quite a large property so I'm sure it would've been hard to spot.

Basically, there was a large hallway with one bedroom at the end 3 along one wall with a bathroom and then the laundry was at the other end. The othe side of the hallway backed onto the kitchen.

The kitchen had a huge pantry, on the wall next to the pantry backed a huge master bedroom with the biggest ensuite WIR I think I've even seen and between all that (kitchen/pantry, 2nd bedroom, ensuite/WIR) was this room.

When I conducted the appraisal it was the only thing in the property being "renovated", the owner added a door with a proper frame and a heap of shelves as a storage area.

It was pretty cool. Very, very nice property too!

 

[ali]

We had a hidden room in the house we grew up in. Door was in my bedroom halfway up the wall pretending to be a cupboard. But when you opened it ... huge room. It was one of those split level late 60s brick houses with the raked ceilings on the ground floor and the hidden room was kind of between the floors. I think all kids should have one!
Cheers Ali

 

[RumpledElf]

.With those fancy new fandangled laser pointers we use to survey rooms in commercial property, you can get down to the cm accuracy extremely quickly.

Well yes, but if you just want a *hidden* room not an *undetectable* room and your house guests don't carry laser measuring devices around with them you should be fine

Your average drug dealer doesn't do underground rooms very well either. Every now and again you hear about someone being busted with a container buried in the backyard. Invariably the neighbours notice all the activity and are more than happy to tell the police.

Those creepy people who kidnap someone and keep them in a room they've dug under the house are the worrying ones.

 

[Dazz]

Those creepy people who kidnap someone and keep them in a room they've dug under the house are the worrying ones.

That's immediately what came to mind when you initially posted....

 

[RumpledElf]

I keep mine restrained in other ways. Don't need a dungeon under the house *evil grin*

 

[Ed Barton]

here's the ultimate hidden room
http://www.ssqq.com/archive/vinlin19.htm

hidden rooms are cool! hard to do in a qlder so i doubt i will ever have one.

 

[DEC]

Those creepy people who kidnap someone and keep them in a room they've dug under the house are the worrying ones.

Dont you collect rainwater in blue barrels and live close to Snowtown?

 

[Macca]

I rented a house once that had a hidden room. I had been living there for about 6 months and noticed a small window in the gable end.

I thought well that is odd I shall look in the manhole. I push up the manhole and see a roof cavity and a walled off section. OK so how do we get into the walled off section, took me about a week to find the damn thing, it was the ceiling of the cupboard/linen press in the bathroom.

Pushed it up and there is a ladder, up we go and I find a fully lined room in the roof cavity. Had a bed and a small rough built wardrobe.

I must admit it caused my imagination to run riot, what the h***.

Probably been used as student accommodation as it wasn't far from the Uni

 

[jaycee]

I want one that leads into this

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=htt...QHCJXsOAQEYUcv5rUQagJbGdH4zAEh_DDcAeEm7LKnAsg

 

[RumpledElf]

Construction wise that is really similar to what's under some of the shops in the main street here.

Content differs though. The one that is open to the public has about a squillion of those really horridly annoying battery operated lights-and-noise making Christmas decorations, right through to a really creepy life size singing snowman. And of course someone dressed up as Santa handing out bags of lollies. Its a tourist attraction at Christmas time, the kiddies seem to love it. Its been there so long that people older than I am were pushing me to go there because they went there as kids and its So Good!

My eldest kid always bugs me when we go into some of the main street shops that have very visible trapdoors. What's under there? What's under there? What's under there? Shop attendants never say. She thinks they keep mummies and stuff in there.