damp proofing Cellar Conversion

Little_Otter

Hi, Wondered if anyone had any advice. Would be greatly appreciated.

We are currently renovating our house top to bottom, top 2 floors are done.

So I am now getting quotes for tanking/damp proofing our cellar. When we bought the property it was already a kitchen which the owners told us was fully tanked, when ripping everything out we found it wasnt. There is no water leaking in/no wet areas, except one day when the road at the front of the house was dug up to fix the gas/watermains we had 2 inches on the floor. The cellar is now back to its original state, stone walls, no plaster on walls and concrete floor. Head height is good, around 6ft ish at the mo.
I have had 4 companies come to give quotes. I have had 2 back will keep you posted in the other 2. But I have had very conflicting advice from the different companies.
2 companies said that we will need to dig out the floor around a foot deep (which mean lots and lots of rubble and many skips as its around 30sq metres), put damp proof membrane down, insulation and then floor boards/hardboards (1 quoted £9,460 v expensive in my opinion!!! eek!)

Another company has only quoted to damp proof 2 walls, which is a total waste of space in my opinion and defeats the object of creating a damp proofed room (quoted £1140)

Another company (the only 1 out of 4 that was recommended by a friend) said that we do not need to dig up the floor (thank god) as we dont know where the foundations start, and they will just put the membrane over the concrete floor. (not had the quote back yet)

Any advice would be amazing, as neither of us now anything about this area
Sorry for the long post, thanks x

Secret1234

Hi, i'm not going to be much help however my oh does tanking/damp proofing for cellars pretty regularly and he has never mentioned digging out the floor? Think that's a bit extreme. If you wanna have a nosey at his website think thats got a bit more info abou tanking and damp proofing, just pm me

weekendwarrior

I think by digging out the floor they mean a trough against the walls. Any water can then be pumped out- Basement Drainage

Secret1234

Yeah now i seem to remember him doing that at his last job, that makes mor sense

Little_Otter

All the companies wanted to dig out along the sies of the walls (trenches) but 2 said they needed to dig out the entire 30sq mtrs!!!! arrgh! Still awaiting 2 postal quotes.

Basement_Expert

Hi don't know if this advice is too late for you but...

You only need to dig up the floor if YOU want more headroom.

There is a floor system called ThermalDry floor tile that wil provide the waterproofing and the floor finish and only take up about 9mm headroom

You should always ensure that there is a sump and pump and underfloor drainage with the waterproofing system.