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Leaky Cellar - HELP

Hi,

I moved into a rented property on the 1st July, it is a lower ground flat with a storage area underneath the stairs that lead to the ground floor flat (I call it a cellar!).

It leaks, a lot. So much so that with heavy rain there can be up to an 1"/2"'s of water. One of the many reasons we moved here is because of the storage space, I have a lot of stuff!

I have informed letting agency and we noted the leak and the damp it creates in out inventory. They have sent a number of people out finally ending with a damp specialist coming out to quote for the works today. Sounds expensive!

What is my legal stand point on this, do they have to fix it regardless of price? My view is that it was included in the inventory, so it was let as a usable space however it is not usable.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Comments

  • If it's an old house (how old do you think?) it is unlikely to have a damp-proof membrane under, and around, the cellar. Installing one is going to be expensive, and the landlord isn't going to be happy to be forced into this situation - you might be told to leave at tend of the fixed term.

    Rather than waiting for L to think about the costs of tanking, you could consider how practical it would be to raise your belongings off the floor. Shelving units with the bottom shelf about 4" off the floor should do it.

    So
    How big is the cellar? (Area)
    How old is the house?
    How much stuff have you got? How much of it is vulnerable to damp conditions? (possibly no need to count old tins of paint etc)
  • If it's an old house (how old do you think?) it is unlikely to have a damp-proof membrane under, and around, the cellar. Installing one is going to be expensive, and the landlord isn't going to be happy to be forced into this situation - you might be told to leave at tend of the fixed term.

    Rather than waiting for L to think about the costs of tanking, you could consider how practical it would be to raise your belongings off the floor. Shelving units with the bottom shelf about 4" off the floor should do it.

    So
    How big is the cellar? (Area)
    How old is the house?
    How much stuff have you got? How much of it is vulnerable to damp conditions? (possibly no need to count old tins of paint etc)

    Thanks for the reply. I honestly have no idea. At a guess I would say 50's ish, its a london house, looks like this (sorry i can't post links)

    I don't want to leave this flat-I like it very much.

    I have got the stuff raised off the floor on shelves but am limited to how much area I have because of no. of places that it drips.

    Cellar is around 1.5m by 3m.

    Got a lot paper and things like that in plastic boxes that I bought but I also have a lot of tools and two racing bikes that the damp is making the metal rust etc.

    I have thought of quite an elaborate guttering design I could do to at least collect the water into one place. Maybe that is the answer.

    I'm concerned about irritating the landlord now.
  • Mr_Moo_2
    Mr_Moo_2 Posts: 320 Forumite
    Might not be as long term place for you - we've got a similar layout - we have a cellar area at the front on the property which sticks out underneath the pavement. The whole thing has been tanked - entertainingly (given its a rental and we didn't pay for the work) just after this a nameless utility company managed to drill through. Even with tanking it needs regular ventilation, and is still slightly damp - so it's no good for paper / bike storage, as you've found out.

    Can't really offer any helpful solutions, other than engage with the LL to see if they are willing to rectify the problem.
  • AlexMac
    AlexMac Posts: 3,055 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    I think you're unlikely to achieve a perfect remedy or solution here. Your place sounds like a classic London house of the 1890'2- 1920's with a semi basement flat and, as you correctly call it, a cellar below the stone steps up to the hall floor flat, and sometimes extending out below a short path between the steps and the pavement. These spaces were never designed to be waterproof and were originally the 'coal-cellar', with deliveries via a 'coal hole; a circular metal-covered hatch in the path. (It didn't really matter if the coal got a bit wet!).
    Tanking (lining) with cement containing waterproofing solution, or damp-proofing with membrane (as has probably been done inside your flat) is really tricky in such an area. Unless you've been assured that the rent you were paying reflected a promise that the flat had dry storage, and this was somewhere in writing, I'd think it unreasonable to insist on creating a perfectly dry area. And even if it was damp-proofed against rain penetration from above, and damp penetration from the earth(and probably up thoughy the floor, which probably also lacks a membrane) you'd still get atmospheric humidity and condensation unless you heated and ventilated the area.

    So sorry- it looks like your best hope is living with the best solution that your landlord is prepared to fund (a pal of mine held the damp at bay for a couple of years by painting on a waterproofed cement slurry). Otherwise, it's accepting that you can only store lessvaluable stuff in plastic lidded boxes or vaccum packs, and spraying WD40 on the bikes!
  • AlexMac wrote: »
    I think you're unlikely to achieve a perfect remedy or solution here. Your place sounds like a classic London house of the 1890'2- 1920's with a semi basement flat and, as you correctly call it, a cellar below the stone steps up to the hall floor flat, and sometimes extending out below a short path between the steps and the pavement. These spaces were never designed to be waterproof and were originally the 'coal-cellar', with deliveries via a 'coal hole; a circular metal-covered hatch in the path. (It didn't really matter if the coal got a bit wet!).
    Tanking (lining) with cement containing waterproofing solution, or damp-proofing with membrane (as has probably been done inside your flat) is really tricky in such an area. Unless you've been assured that the rent you were paying reflected a promise that the flat had dry storage, and this was somewhere in writing, I'd think it unreasonable to insist on creating a perfectly dry area. And even if it was damp-proofed against rain penetration from above, and damp penetration from the earth(and probably up thoughy the floor, which probably also lacks a membrane) you'd still get atmospheric humidity and condensation unless you heated and ventilated the area.

    So sorry- it looks like your best hope is living with the best solution that your landlord is prepared to fund (a pal of mine held the damp at bay for a couple of years by painting on a waterproofed cement slurry). Otherwise, it's accepting that you can only store lessvaluable stuff in plastic lidded boxes or vaccum packs, and spraying WD40 on the bikes!

    Thank you for this really useful response. What you describe is exactly what I have, with a "coal-hole" and everything. This is one of the area's the water is getting in.

    I am happy to try and work with the landlord on this especially now that I understand some of the costs involved. I had been researching this cement slurry stuff but my fear is that as it is not only damp but water as well, this will not be enough. There are air bricks on either side of the area though so that does nope with ventilation.

    Perhaps they fund the guttering idea I propose-at least that drains the water to a common bucket which can be emptied and directs it away from my stuff!
  • G_M
    G_M Posts: 51,977 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    The best solution you can hope for is to agree an Early Surrender of the tenancy.

    As explained above, tanking, or other damp proof measures below ground, are very complex and expensive. Landlord is unlikely to want to do it even if he can afford to.

    If storage is important to you, move some where with dry storage, and let the LL re-let to a tenant who does not need this storage area.

    Getting into an enforcement situation, eg Environmental Health forcing LL to remedy the damp, will help no one. It will take months (is yours a 6month tenancy? Expect a S21!), be stressfull all round and really not resolve anything.

    Likewise any sort of legal challenge or compensation claim.

    Of course, if the LL refuses an amicable Early Surrender, then it will get messier.
  • As explained above, I don't want to move out. I like this flat.

    Having had the guy come out today, and thanks to AlexMac's helpful post, I understand this is not something that is an easy/cheap fix now.

    I want to work with the landlord to fix it as cheaply as possible and just get it to a usable a solution.

    That is not unreasonable in my mind. Of course I was going to try to get a dry cellar, who wouldn't but I'll take the next best thing.
  • jc808
    jc808 Posts: 1,756 Forumite
    Its not a cellar really, its just an old coalhole or bin room or equibvalent

    never get it habitable, take it as it is
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