Closing the cave door after the horse has bolted

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DannyandJosie
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Closing the cave door after the horse has bolted

Postby DannyandJosie » Sun Apr 17, 2016 12:24 pm

Hi all,

So, I thought I would try and start again and introduce ourselves. After lots of research and planning my wife and I bought a cave house about an hour East of Granada at the end of last year. We hope to move there full time in 2017. We fell in love with cave houses after reading an article about them in a UK National paper. Like us they are a little quirky (my wife makes a living as a professional mermaid !) and seemed to match both our personalities, needs and of course budget.

I haven't seen any other cave related entries and it would be great to know if there are any other forum members in the Baza area or indeed are cave dwellers.

A couple of forum members asked me some questions that I would like to take the opportunity to answer.

1. The Altiplano de Granada has more extreme weather than some of the other parts of Andalucia, with very hot summers and colder winters. This is actually why cave living became popular in this region as being built underground the internal temperatures remain constant at about 19 C. There are over 5000 caves within the Guadix and Altiplano de Granada region. This means that they are cool in the summer months and warm in the winter months - typically all caves have an open fire/wood burner. Using this in the winter actually warms the internal walls of the caves radiating the heat and providing a comfortable temperature.

2. I have not had or read about problems with gas build up. The refurbished caves tend to be well ventilated and many people leave a window open when empty to allow air flow. The main problem is with damp - I understand that it is important not to shut internal doors to allow flow of air - many have curtains seperating rooms instead of doors for this reason. As our place is largely empty at the moment I have had extractor fans installed with a timer system to regulate the flow of air. Dehumidifiers are also bad as they suck out the moisture inviting more to come through the rock which leads to plaster collapse - this is the problem with the cave we purchased.

I would like to thank those that have sent me information and welcoming PM messages over the last few days. I hope to become a more regular face on the forum especially when we are more established and am happy to answer any questions people may have about cave living.

Have a great Sunday and fingers crossed for Leciester City today (my home town and team of choice since 1992).

Danny and Josie
"When you judge others, you do not define them, you define yourself" Earl Nightingale

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dxf
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Re: Closing the cave door after the horse has bolted

Postby dxf » Sun Apr 17, 2016 6:05 pm

Hola,
you mention damp - I have an authoritive link to the cure

http://www.heritage-house.org/managing- ... dings.html

Well worth a read

Davexf

DannyandJosie
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Re: Closing the cave door after the horse has bolted

Postby DannyandJosie » Mon Apr 18, 2016 10:09 pm

Hola Davexf,

Thanks for the article - informative read. The great thing about fourms is that you can find help with almost any topic.

Best Regards

Danny
"When you judge others, you do not define them, you define yourself" Earl Nightingale

BENIDORM
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Re: Closing the cave door after the horse has bolted

Postby BENIDORM » Wed Apr 20, 2016 9:39 am

D & J,
You do seem as if you have most 'things' covered with regard to your cave project, but I'm sure that other little problems will occur and that is the time when you may need the help of some of the forum members and of course it is also of interest and help if you can keep posting about your progress etc.
With regard to the 'gas buildup' problem , I have heard about it before and it could be a problem so I would recommend fitting gas alarms, they are not expensive.
I have lived and worked in confined spaces and did receive instruction about the problem, also I have several friends who were coal miners and I'm sure that they would support my concerns.
What some of the 'locals' do and the way they tackle some problems are quite unbelievable sometimes, as in another thread where it was recommended to soak firewood with diesel. :shock:
Anyway I hope that your project is successful.
Regards,
Gordon

DannyandJosie
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Re: Closing the cave door after the horse has bolted

Postby DannyandJosie » Wed May 04, 2016 9:54 pm

Thanks Gordon,

We will be back in Andalucia next week and will get the first look at the cave house renovations - I will keep you posted.

Gas alarms advise noted and added to the list.

Looking forward to returning to our new home.

Danny and Josie
"When you judge others, you do not define them, you define yourself" Earl Nightingale

Jayjay
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Re: Closing the cave door after the horse has bolted

Postby Jayjay » Thu May 19, 2016 4:13 am

Hi, I sold my cave in Baza last month so feel free to ask any questions and I'll help if I can. We lived there for ten years before deciding to travel, Portugal next I think!

Jayjay
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Re: Closing the cave door after the horse has bolted

Postby Jayjay » Thu May 19, 2016 4:24 am

Sorry that should read last July I sold, my partner sold his last month

LaFlaca
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Re: Closing the cave door after the horse has bolted

Postby LaFlaca » Sat Jul 02, 2016 12:17 pm

For all things cave related in that area - Baza etc - you should look to join the cave living forum if you can http://caveliving.forummotion.com

DannyandJosie
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Re: Closing the cave door after the horse has bolted

Postby DannyandJosie » Sat Jul 02, 2016 10:59 pm

Jayjay wrote:Sorry that should read last July I sold, my partner sold his last month
Hi there,

Sorry I somehow managed to miss your kind offer of advise.

Our visit in May went well and all renovations were as hoped. We are back out in September to finish getting it ready, then move out in early 2016.

Hope things are going well for you in Portugal.

Danny
"When you judge others, you do not define them, you define yourself" Earl Nightingale

DannyandJosie
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Re: Closing the cave door after the horse has bolted

Postby DannyandJosie » Sat Jul 02, 2016 11:01 pm

LaFlaca wrote:For all things cave related in that area - Baza etc - you should look to join the cave living forum if you can http://caveliving.forummotion.com
Thanks for that, I actually joined about a year ago. It's a great resource and one I refer to frequently :)

Danny
"When you judge others, you do not define them, you define yourself" Earl Nightingale


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