Damp/cold under stairs cupboard split level house (pictures)

[DavidSWP]

IMGA0499

• DavidSWP
• 18 Dec 2015

IMGA0498

• DavidSWP
• 18 Dec 2015

IMGA0497

• DavidSWP
• 18 Dec 2015

IMGA0496

• DavidSWP
• 18 Dec 2015

IMGA0495

• DavidSWP
• 18 Dec 2015

Hi,

I live in a 3 story 'split level' house - 2 stories at the front, 3 at the back On the lower level (some will call basement) there is a largish (4m2 ish) storage cupboard/room (whatever - it has a full size door). I have installed a flexible shelving system, clothes rail and a shoe rack on the back of the entry door. The back of this unit is underground, I believe that at the side is too all intents and purposes underground too.

Problem is that the shoes particularly are going moldy. When we had clothes on the rail some had spots of mold. We put one of those B&Q unpowered dehumidifiers in there (ones with the large chemical tablet). It has collected about an inch of water in 2 months but the mold problem has got worse. So I am looking for advice. There is no power or plumbing in there although an electrical socket could be added very painlessly to power some kind of heater. In terms of air circulation - at the moment there is very little stuff in there (not paced to the gills) but still the shoes on the back of the door are going moldy, I can feel cold air circulating where the joists are going into the cavity wall. I have some ideas but really would appreciate some ideas on how to sort out this space properly. Pictures are attached.

(sorry will attach pictures in a few minutes because Windows 8 PC isn't reading from my phone)

 

[DavidSWP]

Sorry, waiting for proper camera to recharge. Never trusting Apple I-**** again

 

[Bosswhite]

Clean off the walls, and you could try sticking Polystyrene insulating slabs onto the walls,
You say you can run a socket into the cupboard, a small greenhouse heater fitted to a timer switch would help to keep the cupboard warm,
Not sure what you could do about the outside wall if its underground.

 

[TheVictorian]

I imagine it's more to do with a lack of ventillation rather than heat. Does the door fit tightly? I'd have a good 2cm gap at the bottom of the door to get some air in.

 

[DavidSWP]

Hi, I added pictures. Not very good ones because the lens is very narrow angle.

Thanks for the suggestions so far. The main part of the cupboard is plasterboarded but the bit under the stairs is bare block work. I could add some insulation over them. I like the idea about a greenhouse heater, I will look into that. We have tried leaving the door open for several weeks but that didn't help with the mold.

 

[theprinceofdarkness]

That cold air you can feel between the joists is also cooling the floor of the room above. So the first thing is to seal all around the joists with some sillicone where they go into the walls. Shame you cannot get to the top of them. Where the plaster board is, its quite likely to have gaps in the pointing between the blocks so this cold air is also blowing around behind the plasterboard.
So do you want this area to be part of the house? or a buried outhouse?. If the former, you have to insulate the walls and heat it if the latter, then insulate the ceiling and the door and install some proper outside ventilation.
Frank