Cellar advice please

[Muso1981]

Hi,

I was wondering if someone could help me please.

My house was built in 1900 and has a fairly large cellar. I really want to store stuff down there as there really isn't anywhere else in the house to do so.
It is quite damp and there are three air holes which I've unblocked and I'm hoping this will make a bit of a difference. The previous owner of house really didn't look after the cellar at all and I've removed about three bags of loose soil and sand from down there.
Something which is worrying me is that some of the brick work is literally flaking off, is there a good way to fix this sort of thing?

What I'm thinking of doing at the moment is to set up some metal storage holders and keeping everything off the group in sealed plastic boxes. This should be ok right?

I like the idea of tanking but feel this beyond me and the cellar needs all the brick work sorting out before even considering this.

If anyone can offer some advice on what options I have which I could do myself that would be great.

Cheers!

 

[TheVictorian]

If you just want to use the cellar for storage rather than making it into a habitable room then good cross ventilation is the most important thing to sort so it sounds as if you are on the right track.

I had a few spalled bricks in mine that I have gradually replaced. If you post a photo then we can advise you on the best thing to do. A few dodgy bricks won't make the house fall down, but if there are extensive areas of spalled bricks then it might be worth getting a pro to sort this.

 

[Muso1981]

Hello thanks for the reply, I just took some photos.

Here is the floor on the side I cleaned out, as you can see it is very damp and there is all this weird white paint on the walls:

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• Muso1981
• 26 Mar 2015
• 1

This one of the air holes and there was loads of soil in the gap there, I was thinking I should maybe fill the hole with something?

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• Muso1981
• 26 Mar 2015
• 1

Photos of the floor where some of the brick work came up when I was hooving:

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• Muso1981
• 26 Mar 2015
• 1

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• Muso1981
• 26 Mar 2015
• 1

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• Muso1981
• 26 Mar 2015
• 1

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• Muso1981
• 26 Mar 2015
• 1

Some of the crumbling brickwork on the walls:

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• Muso1981
• 26 Mar 2015
• 1

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• Muso1981
• 26 Mar 2015
• 1

I want to do the other side now which is a bigger space and there's loads of soil in there also

Should I have all the three air holes fully unblocked? I'm aware this will make the house considerably colder though right? They were blocked up with polystyrene when we moved in.

I'm totally new to DIY btw, so please don't assume I know anything. Again thanks in advance for the response.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Unblock any vents if you want to reduce the damp in the cellar as much as you can.

Forget about the spalling bricks.

If you wanted a warm house you should have bought a newer one.

A well secured fine mesh over the vents will prevent rodent entry etc.

 

[foxhole]

Metal racking will rust quickly in damp, keep everything plastic.

http://www.screwfix.com/p/solid-pla...KCUJroLvFqGVckGBaCofWPKYfhNPoadYCwaAizN8P8HAQ

 

[flameport]

Should I have all the three air holes fully unblocked? I'm aware this will make the house considerably colder though right? They were blocked up with polystyrene when we moved in.

Unblock all. The cold issue is solved by properly insulating the ceiling of the cellar (under the floor of the rooms above).

Unless you want to spend vast sums of money, cellars will always be cold and damp. Consider carefully before storing anything in them.