To correctly convert a cellar or basement from a storage room to a bedroom or any habitable room it is often necessary to incorporate some form of fire escape to meet the Building Regs. By meeting the Regs you actually increase the property value so it is well worth the extra small cost to comply with the rules.

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Perhaps of even greater importance is that a fire escape is there to help save lives in the event of a fire and is especially vital if the room is used as a bedroom and there is a fire during the night. A lot of victorian cellars do not have an in built escape but do have a coal shute of some form.

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The above pictures show the widening and conversion of an old coal shute into a velux fire escape window that opens onto the front drive. This option is perhaps the cheapest one as it does not involve digging down and away to create a sunken doorway and also takes less man hours to install.

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From a practical point of view the minimum area you will need is approx 1.2m long by 0.8m wide to accomodate the velux above ground and to give unretsru#icted access to the escape route. Internally you will need to ensure that the height to reach the window opener is no more than 1100mm and therefore it is common to build in a small step at the base of the coal shute so a child could safely reach the velux latch in an emergency.

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