Hello,
Looking for some advice on the problem above.
I rent a lower ground floor flat in London and there is a cellar (kind of) underneath the steps that lead to the ground floor flat like this..
We moved here because of the storage however surface water is getting in making it unusable. When we moved, it was damp, I assumed it was just condensation so I aired and got it dry but now the wet weather is here and it is a lot worse than I thought. Sometimes there is around 1"/1.5" of water in there, floor area is approx 1.5mx4m.
I have got in touch with the landlord and they "working" to fix this but it has already taken 6 weeks and 2 missed visits with no progress so I want to see what I can do myself. I have a feeling if it is big money they will not want to do anything but I need the space so am willing to invest a bit.
I have identified the 3 areas so far where the water comes in:
1) Surface water pools at the top of the steps and drips through slab to drip from the door frame/door to the cellar
2) Surface water pools at the bottom of the steps and it drips in through the slab to cellar floor
3) An old coal shoot cover that has not been sealed properly.
I can only hope it is not from the water table rising but it is a lot of water.
So far I have just used buckets to try and collect it to stop it getting to the floor, I am thinking I could maybe use an elaborate guttering scheme to get the water out through a brick air vent.
But I am wondering what else I can do.....
The coal shoot must be where a lot of it comes from-I am thinking this could be leak proofed with something, cement, screed, filler, silicone, waterproof membrane type thing?
Where it comes from the slab I am not sure what to do-doing something from the outside is a no go as they are not my steps. Is there a spray or something that can be used......I remember seeing something on mythbusters once!
I just need to try and make usable for the next 6 months/year!
Sorry for the essay, all help greatly appreciated, my missus is gonna kill me if I don't get all the stuff that should be in the cellar out of the lounge!
Will
Looking for some advice on the problem above.
I rent a lower ground floor flat in London and there is a cellar (kind of) underneath the steps that lead to the ground floor flat like this..
We moved here because of the storage however surface water is getting in making it unusable. When we moved, it was damp, I assumed it was just condensation so I aired and got it dry but now the wet weather is here and it is a lot worse than I thought. Sometimes there is around 1"/1.5" of water in there, floor area is approx 1.5mx4m.
I have got in touch with the landlord and they "working" to fix this but it has already taken 6 weeks and 2 missed visits with no progress so I want to see what I can do myself. I have a feeling if it is big money they will not want to do anything but I need the space so am willing to invest a bit.
I have identified the 3 areas so far where the water comes in:
1) Surface water pools at the top of the steps and drips through slab to drip from the door frame/door to the cellar
2) Surface water pools at the bottom of the steps and it drips in through the slab to cellar floor
3) An old coal shoot cover that has not been sealed properly.
I can only hope it is not from the water table rising but it is a lot of water.
So far I have just used buckets to try and collect it to stop it getting to the floor, I am thinking I could maybe use an elaborate guttering scheme to get the water out through a brick air vent.
But I am wondering what else I can do.....
The coal shoot must be where a lot of it comes from-I am thinking this could be leak proofed with something, cement, screed, filler, silicone, waterproof membrane type thing?
Where it comes from the slab I am not sure what to do-doing something from the outside is a no go as they are not my steps. Is there a spray or something that can be used......I remember seeing something on mythbusters once!
I just need to try and make usable for the next 6 months/year!
Sorry for the essay, all help greatly appreciated, my missus is gonna kill me if I don't get all the stuff that should be in the cellar out of the lounge!
Will
