No.2 cellar (workshop) is about to get a bit of a makeover – it’s currently roughly painted manky/damp brick that I want to stud & board over and generally make into a more user friendly space.

No.1 cellar (utility room) has already been done, so I’m taking a lot of cues from that. I’d been assuming it was plasterboarded, but on closer inspection it’s not:-
There’s some form of continuous plastic membrane (looks like boggo clear PVC sheet to me) between the bricks and the studs. Then there’s sheets of what looks like 1″ blue foamboard with 6mm MDF bonded to the face, then the whole lot has been skimmed in plaster. Any idea what this sheet stuff is? It looks vaguely celotex-y, but I don’t understand why you would want to insulate the walls when there’s an inch gap at the bottom and a 6″ gap at the top?

Now I had been planning to do membrane/stud/plasterboard, but as I’m a far better carpenter than plasterer, anything to stop me doing membrane/stud/MDF? I’m after a neat finish rather than a perfect one. (most of it will be hidden behind benches). Any pointers as to the spec of the membrane?

(I’ll be doing everything myself btw..)

Advice/ideas/pointers gratefully received!

Cheers.

I imagine the insulation is to stop condensation on the front of your wall as having a cold damp wall behind a sheet of MDF will mean moisture will condense on the face of the MDF, as the MDF will be cold.

As for membrane, you could just buy damp proof course stuff, they sell it by the large roll in builder’s yards eg 1200g Polythene sheet.

Not entirely with you? There’s no heating in the cellar, and there’s effectively ventilation behind the panelling thanks to the gap top and bottom, so why would there be a condenstaion issue – everything should be at the same temp?

I’ve got some DPC sheeting lying around, so that sounds spot on.

Just giving this a bump as I need to go and buy materials, but I’m still not sure what!

I should add that all the walls I’m doing are fully internal – so there’s no contact with damp earth on the far side.

Thanks.