"Mr B" wrote in message
news
On Sat, 26 Jun 2004 13:08:59 +0100, "stuart noble"
wrote:


Antony wrote in message ...
We've just become the proud owners of a stone-built house in West
Yorks. It has a sizeable basement we'd like to convert into a kitchen.
It's ideal for it as the house is built on a slope. The front door is
at street level. The basement is at garden level with a door and
window looking out.

What are the options for damp-proofing to make it habitable?

Is it a DIY job or is it better to pay someone and have a guarantee
for prospective future buyers?
The latter I think although www.sovchem.co.uk has plenty of technical
info.


My basement is lined with Newton Newlath
http://www.newton-membranes.co.uk/newlath.htm - no need for
sand-blasting and applying slurry to the walls as you usually need to
do with tanking, and so it is a lot cheaper to do. Also it is
resistant to floods since it is made from plastic! You can either use
render on top or else dry-line.

It only needs a bit of ventilation or dehumidification to keep the
humidity levels down and that's prolly just because I'm in a high
water-table area.

The floor is concrete on a plastic membrane.

Dig out around the house and fill with hardcore. This keeps the wet earth
away from the foundation walls and drain away the water away from the walls.
Many council web site explain how this is done.