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Fair enough Legs, I'm just a proponent of old fashioned building techniques, they've worked well for the last 500 years or so. When you see people injecting DPC into stone walls, you have to question everything you see. I understand your comments about lime mortar in a cellar, but I've seen...

Seems like some of the people in here are more interested in time and money, rather than good sound practice (although legs-akimbo raises good points in general). Cement mortar was used to point the brickwork on my house, long before I bought it. Many bricks have now had their polished faces...

How would you stop it coming in? If you cement rendered the walls, the moisture would just build up in the wall and behind the render. Unless you wanted to completely demolish the cellar, and place waterproof coverings inbetween the groundsoil and bricks? In old buildings, you can't...

Batten the walls is the better option, although you'll have less space, you're giving the walls enough circulation of air to stop any damp. Make sure you put a vent on each wall to encourage circulation. Don't use any insulation. It may even be beneficial to install an extractor fan. If...

I would expect the moisture to travel into the building, and evaporate and exit the window. This is why its important not to coat the walls with anything - I mention using lime render over cement render (if you can't build false walls) because lime is better able to allow the ingress of...

www.pepipoo.com Very useful site (clean license here :) )

If you seal the board, where will the water run to? Your damaged chipboard may have saved you from having to repair the ceiling underneath (presuming its upstairs). Oh and lose the carpet :) Natural wood planks or ceramic tiles are great!

Do not attempt to 'waterproof' the cellar. If you have a damp problem on the brick surface, you can build a floating floor, and stud walls with ventilation all the way around. Cellars must be allowed to ventilate. If you attempt to plaster it with sand/cement you'll end up with some serious...

Well yes, basically. It sounds like whatever vents the house had when it was built, have either been removed, or covered over.

If its one of those moulded plastic abominations, I bet 2 tacks would hold it up! :D

My roof has no felt, hasn't had any for the 95 years its been standing, and all the ceilings are in tip-top condition. Of course you can see where some of the wood has become damp, but I reckon the roof is good for another 10 years at least.

Are the eaves blocked with insulation? Your loft should be cold, and draughty. Legally it must be ventilated. Some people here might hang me for saying this, but if you have an unused and uncapped chimney breast in the loft, putting a vent on there would be useful as a short term...

The extra insulation and cost saving would be negligible, and you'd also be increasing the chances of damp penetration.

Is it a partition brick wall, or external? Personally I'd use lime plaster, less likely to get damp problems.

Use natural oil or wax, much better for the wood, smells nice, and looks better.

I hate the stuff with a vengence, along with PVCu, Vinyl and laminate flooring. Why can't people use real wood any more? Or is it that making something from real wood takes skill?

My dad's house has wood guttering. Its been up for more than 100 years, and its still working perfectly :)

Yeah I was wondering about this when I shoved my boy up the chimney earlier today. He was complaining about the soot, but I told him it would be ok.

You need a fridge that is compatible with this. So you might have to buy a new fridge.

Whoever the customer paid is at fault. Its that person whom the customer has a contract with. Its up to you once you've paid for the repairs to pursue any money. If the fitter bought the goods himself, then he would be obliged to fix it. It sounds like you bought the worktop and contracted...