We have a new gaff, with a cellar, which is a first for us. It’s a narrow one which runs the length of the house, which used to be split into storage at the rear and a coal hole at the front, until we, um, got a bit over excited and took down the dividing wall…

There’s some water coming in from the coal hole entrance – it was capped by a paving slab on top of a little retaining wall with an airbrick, but the mortar has gone. As a result the front end is now a festering pit of black slime. :-\

Plan is to redo the weatherproofing on the coal hole, dry out the interior, and give it all three coats of lime wash. Assuming that works, I’m guessing it’ll be ok as a mini workshop, and storage for bikes/tools/babies?

Feel free to inspire me with pictures of your pimped out troglodyte mansions too.

Pitiful bump. C’mon people, someone must have some helpful wisdom to pass on…

Depending on how dry the walls and floor are, you might want to have something a little more waterproof than lime wash. You can get epoxy based paints if it’s fairly dry already, otherwise you’ll want to tank it with a membrane and put up stud walls, and screed the floor over a membrane. Ours is reasonably dry most of the time but stuff* still goes mouldy pretty quickly. Is there much natural airflow through, and could this be improved (e.g. vent at the front and the back?)

* especially bike saddles and handlebar grips. It’s still great having the bikes down there compared to the shed though.

Did a bit of research on cellars and one of the conclusions was that if you waterproof a wall, the water is still there and will find another route.

Also, this was a good read, although not specifically relevant
http://www.heritage-house.org/the-fraud-of-rising-damp.html

Wow that is nice Stoner. Did you do it yourself?

A builder friend helped with the soil pipe move, window opening and doing the hardibacker boarding.

It was a a result of doing this that I realised that building work wasn’t scary. Our next project together was to build a house.

What tanking material did you use? Have you got a sump for the water running down behind the tanking?

Looks well done.

Also, this was a good read, although not specifically relevant
http://www.heritage-house.org/the-fraud-of-rising-damp.html

Interesting, and I’m sure that damp specialists aren’t the most scrupluous of people, but I’m not convinced that they’re not just pushing their own agenda.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damp_(structural)#Skepticism

Regular castleated tanking sheets with a double sided rubber tape between the sheets and sealed pins. There is a fall along the wet wall and to the outside for water to run away.

I also made an internal gutter to catch water that penetrated the vaulted ceiling and drained into the sink

Top work Stoner. I have to admit ours is a little more, um, rustic, right now. Hopefully I can redeem myself in the future.

The plan is to leave the coal hole open via an air brick, so it should get plenty of ventilation. Do untanked cellars always go a bit mouldy, or can you keep them dry and airy as long as you don’t overfill them?

Mine was very much as you describe. I found that stuff did get a bit mouldy, but it wasn’t a deal breaker.
Maybe a dehumidifier?

A

Totally agree with the suggestions of keeping things aired. We have a barn which has a cobbled floor put straight onto the sub soil so the damp peeps up between the stones

The only reason the whole place stays dry is there is a really good flow of air through it. I would be wanting the same through a cellar … maybe even forced air at one end.