Hello Everybody,
I've recently moved into a ca.1900 bayfronted victorian house, which has a small (ex coal) cellar. It is accessed under the staircase and runs below the hallway. It's ca 5.5m x 2m and only half height, so one needs to duck/crouch down there. It also holds the consumer unit so a lot of the wiring starts there. I don't really plan to make this space habitable as it would require digging down and fully tanking everything and the cost/benefit is just not there for us. I've also read somewhere that these old houses need ventilation and breathing to disperse damp, so this might be the reason the previous owners let it remain unfinished/developed.
There is currently not even any flooring, so the earth/clay the house sits on is fully exposed. I've attached a few pictures to give you an idea of what I am dealing with. I've put down some old wardrobe door panels to prevent the soil/mud being spread around the house. This cellar was flooded due to a broken pipe in 2021, but has been fixed since and no further issues. If sometimes feels a little damp, but I believe this is normal for this type of property. There are are a couple of air bricks, so I believe ventilation is there.
I would like to hear if anyone has any recommendations of what I can do down there to make the place a bit more appealing and usable (at least for storage) with not too much capital investment. Can I paint the walls with some breathable paint? If so how and what type of pain? Is there any simple solution for the floor? building some sort of simple sub floor to rest on the ground?
I've recently moved into a ca.1900 bayfronted victorian house, which has a small (ex coal) cellar. It is accessed under the staircase and runs below the hallway. It's ca 5.5m x 2m and only half height, so one needs to duck/crouch down there. It also holds the consumer unit so a lot of the wiring starts there. I don't really plan to make this space habitable as it would require digging down and fully tanking everything and the cost/benefit is just not there for us. I've also read somewhere that these old houses need ventilation and breathing to disperse damp, so this might be the reason the previous owners let it remain unfinished/developed.
There is currently not even any flooring, so the earth/clay the house sits on is fully exposed. I've attached a few pictures to give you an idea of what I am dealing with. I've put down some old wardrobe door panels to prevent the soil/mud being spread around the house. This cellar was flooded due to a broken pipe in 2021, but has been fixed since and no further issues. If sometimes feels a little damp, but I believe this is normal for this type of property. There are are a couple of air bricks, so I believe ventilation is there.
I would like to hear if anyone has any recommendations of what I can do down there to make the place a bit more appealing and usable (at least for storage) with not too much capital investment. Can I paint the walls with some breathable paint? If so how and what type of pain? Is there any simple solution for the floor? building some sort of simple sub floor to rest on the ground?