Cave holiday homes - little & often?

Many caves in the area are purchased as holiday homes, afterall why not? If we didnt live here all year round a cave would be our destination every chance we got. Living in a cave all year is somewhat different to owning a holiday home though - primarily as you can keep on top of repairs that need doing internaly and the garden. Holiday home caves do tend to stand out because the cave is always in good condition but the garden more often than not looks like the Amazon jungle. One heavy rain fall and everything grows six inches overnight!




Internal repairs do need to be kept on top of little and often so if you have a holiday home and the cave "moves" while you are away be prepared to get out the yeso. Our Spanish neighbours spend alot of time in thier cave coming four times a year - each August they come for the full month and spend a day weeding and another day applying yeso to cracks on the inside.



Now obviously every cave will vary so this wont apply to everyone, depends on your location, amount of rock/earth above you, overall structure and if Mother Nature decides to shake the earth in the meantime. Cracks will appear though eventualy so remember that bag of yeso!



A note about stone facades: One option preferred by builders is flat stone mosaic effects on the front of caves (which look fantstic) these frontages easily show up any cave movement or cracking, however the more expensive option is a full stone facade where stones are built up and tied to the front blockwork (stone wall effect) these frontages have a certain amount of "flex" and any cracking will not be evident until the exterior directly behind the front begins to deteriorate. An easy fix but would dent the bank account should it be required.