I have a cellar which has damp wall, not wet, just damp. The existing white
paint is coming off in places and there is a white powdery deposit.

I would like to make it into a pleasant room, so need to tank the cellar.

Can anybody recommend any systems?

Thanks

Andrew

"Andrew Barnes" wrote in message
...
I have a cellar which has damp wall, not wet, just damp. The existing
white
paint is coming off in places and there is a white powdery deposit.

I would like to make it into a pleasant room, so need to tank the cellar.

Can anybody recommend any systems?

Thanks

Andrew


If you want it habitable, then you'd need to vent it and seal the walls from
the outside to stop water penetration. If you want it pleasant to store
things is, then get old pallet boards and lay them on the floor. Cover
these with flooring grade chipboard to make a decent walking surface.

Paint all the walls with an Alkaline Resistant under-coat paint after
brushing, wear a mask, most of the efflorescent salts off. With a couple of
good coats of the AR under-coat on the walls, you should be able to paint a
good quality emulsion, not a gloss, on the top to make it all look pretty.

Andrew Barnes wrote:
I have a cellar which has damp wall, not wet, just damp. The existing
white
paint is coming off in places and there is a white powdery deposit.

I would like to make it into a pleasant room, so need to tank the
cellar.

Can anybody recommend any systems?

Thanks

Andrew

Tanking is an uncertain method, changes the walls from damp to
saturated, is bound to fail sooner or later, and when its cement onto
victorian bricks does considerable damage.

Try a dehumidifier instead. Lime plastering the wall will continue to
allow it to dry and make it all look good.


NT

On Thu, 5 May 2005 18:37:25 +0100, "Andrew Barnes"
wrote:

I have a cellar which has damp wall, not wet, just damp. The existing white
paint is coming off in places and there is a white powdery deposit.

I would like to make it into a pleasant room, so need to tank the cellar.

It may need nothing more than some proper ventilation. The wall
temperature will be lower than the rest of the house and damp air
will pool there causing condensation. Try running a dehumidifier in
it for a month - if that works almost certainly improving the
ventilation will work.

--
Peter Parry.
http://www.wpp.ltd.uk/

Thanks for all the suggestions,

I forgot to add that there is a window in the cellar which has been open for
6 months, so it is very well insulated. It is definately penetrating damp
through the walls.

I feel I have no option but to stop this damp getting through, but how?

"Andrew Barnes" wrote in message
...
I have a cellar which has damp wall, not wet, just damp. The existing
white
paint is coming off in places and there is a white powdery deposit.

I would like to make it into a pleasant room, so need to tank the
cellar.

Can anybody recommend any systems?

Thanks

Andrew

http://www.sovchem.co.uk/


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On Thu, 05 May 2005 21:45:22 +0100, Peter Parry
wrote:

On Thu, 5 May 2005 18:37:25 +0100, "Andrew Barnes"
wrote:

I have a cellar which has damp wall, not wet, just damp. The existing white
paint is coming off in places and there is a white powdery deposit.

I would like to make it into a pleasant room, so need to tank the cellar.

It may need nothing more than some proper ventilation. The wall
temperature will be lower than the rest of the house and damp air
will pool there causing condensation. Try running a dehumidifier in
it for a month - if that works almost certainly improving the
ventilation will work.

A celler had been converted to a washroom by a basic tanking method of
adding sika1 waterproofer to the render mix. It was then just
rendered around and the floor screeded all using the water proofing
additive. there is also a manhole in the same room. The manhole
hasn't got the correct cover on it. The room was ventilated via
several air bricks. The room was dry but always smelled damp.Anyways a
few years after this was done a water leak developed from the out side
mains, leaking into the cellar wall. The waterboard supplied a
dehumidifier which was the size of 3 drawer office cabinet (on its
side). this had what must have been a 10 gallon drum underneath. This
filled up in about 3/4 days. It was there for about 6 weeks. It wasn't
emptied regularly and would spill over hence taking longer to dryout
the room. From then on the room hasn't smelt of damp.
so a dehumidifier might just work but you could also consider
rendering with something like sika1 ( it was the architects suggestion
to use that product).

Andrew Barnes wrote:
Thanks for all the suggestions,

I forgot to add that there is a window in the cellar which has been
open for
6 months, so it is very well insulated. It is definately penetrating
damp
through the walls.

I feel I have no option but to stop this damp getting through, but
how?

It isnt possible, thats the point. Unless youre wiling to dig down
outside and apply a membrane there.

You will need to handle the damp practically - if its to be a success.


NT

Andrew Barnes wrote:
I have a cellar which has damp wall, not wet, just damp. The existing white
paint is coming off in places and there is a white powdery deposit.

I would like to make it into a pleasant room, so need to tank the cellar.

Can anybody recommend any systems?

Thanks

Andrew




If you tank a damp wall without drainage ... it will probably become wet
eventually.

My tanking system is similar to that of a cellar type system. It's
inside rather than out. See my ramblings here http://tinyurl.com/b88e7

I note that some others have recomended digging down outside etc etc, if
you go that way it might be worth digging an exploratory hole first to
establish the condition of the walls/footings from the outside before
getting big diggers (=£) in.

HTH,

Alex.

wrote in message
oups.com...
Andrew Barnes wrote:
Thanks for all the suggestions,

I forgot to add that there is a window in the cellar which has been
open for
6 months, so it is very well insulated. It is definately penetrating
damp
through the walls.

I feel I have no option but to stop this damp getting through, but
how?

It isnt possible, thats the point. Unless youre wiling to dig down
outside and apply a membrane there.

Nonsense. Next time you go into the basement of a shop in one of those
trendy restoration areas, ask yourself how they got it so sweet smelling
and
dry. I can assure you they don't dig up the street.


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Stuart Noble wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com.

I feel I have no option but to stop this damp getting through, but
how?

It isnt possible, thats the point. Unless youre wiling to dig down
outside and apply a membrane there.

Nonsense. Next time you go into the basement of a shop in one of
those
trendy restoration areas, ask yourself how they got it so sweet
smelling
and
dry. I can assure you they don't dig up the street.

the point sir, which was already made further up thread, is that it
doesnt last. It also damages the soft bricks most Victorian houses are
built from.


NT

Stuart Noble wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com.

I feel I have no option but to stop this damp getting through, but
how?

It isnt possible, thats the point. Unless youre wiling to dig down
outside and apply a membrane there.

Nonsense. Next time you go into the basement of a shop in one of
those trendy restoration areas, ask yourself how they got it so sweet
smelling and dry. I can assure you they don't dig up the street.

I'm trying to sort of do this by installing a pair of lintels through the
walls then injecting liquid membrane onto the outside of the buried walls.
I'll let you know how well it's worked next winter :-)

"Mike" wrote in message
...

Stuart Noble wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com.

I feel I have no option but to stop this damp getting through, but
how?

It isnt possible, thats the point. Unless youre wiling to dig down
outside and apply a membrane there.

Nonsense. Next time you go into the basement of a shop in one of
those trendy restoration areas, ask yourself how they got it so sweet
smelling and dry. I can assure you they don't dig up the street.

I'm trying to sort of do this by installing a pair of lintels through
the
walls then injecting liquid membrane onto the outside of the buried
walls.
I'll let you know how well it's worked next winter :-)

How will you get to the outside of the buried walls?
I have seen tanking done solely from the inside. Not quick and certainly
not
cheap but the results were impressive. A smelly *wet* basement in Notting
Hill converted to a fashion showroom in about 10 days.
Is this in the best interests of the building? Well, put it this way, I
know
a beautiful commercial listed building in East London which is quite
literally falling down because it cannot be economically restored. Great
for
the pigeons and the flies, and the bureaucrats


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"Andrew Barnes" wrote in message
...
I have a cellar which has damp wall, not wet, just damp. The existing
white
paint is coming off in places and there is a white powdery deposit.

I would like to make it into a pleasant room, so need to tank the cellar.

Can anybody recommend any systems?

Get to the problem at source. Dig up around the foundations in stages, and
fill with hardcore. This keeps the water away from the walls . While you
are at it put insulation against the walls to eliminate heat loss to the
ground. Around the walls have concrete on ground sloping away from the
walls. This stops water getting under the ground near the walls and takes
water away from the walls when drained. If you cannot ring the house with
concrete, put thick poly sheeting under ground from the walls slanting away
from the walls (do this as a matter of course anyhow). This will drain top
water away from the walls. In the US some put insulation about a foot under
the ground slanting away form the walls, about to as far as you can go.
This keeps the ground under very warm, and les influenced from the cold
surface earth colled by the cold air above.

Then paint the cellar walls with about 2 to 3 coats of Sythaproof. You
should be fine for ever after that. You may want top install a heat
recovery and vent system to permanently vent the place. There are a few web
sites around explaining this. One is a council in North Wales, either Clywd
or Powys.

The materials are not expensive, but the labour is and doing it yourself a
little time and patience is needed. Well worth it to basically add on an
extra habitable floor, as that is what you are doing. Far cheaper than an
extension and a large cold bridge is eliminated making the house cheaper to
heat. You could do it all in a summer and then have an extra floor to your
house. Try doing an extention floor to the top of your house in your spare
time during a summer.