Cellar damp / ventilation In old farm house

carlsagen

Hi all,

I've read a few posts in this section about damp but nothing gives me a definitive answer.

I live in an old grade 2 farm house. The house at some point has been separated into two dwellings. The side I have has the original staircase Which also goes down to the cellar via a door under the stairs.

The previouse owner had a lot of sand blasting done and as such the cellar walls are crumbly and dusty. (Yorkshire sand stone) the cellar had a coal chute which has been filled at some point. The cellar is only half the size of the room above.

I wanted to use the room for storage but things seem to start rusting or growing mould after a week.

There is no natural ventilation as the above floor is level with the ground so air bricks would only vent the floor above.

I have tried a dehumidifier but with having to empty the thing every other day it's not very practical.

Does anyone have any suggestions for getting a flow of air in and out (only one wall of the cellar touches a possible external wall even though it's below the external level)

Again only want to use it for storage.

Doozergirl

You're running the risk of damp above ground and rotten joists if the suspended ground floor is directly level with the ground outside.

A french drain, of sorts, would be helpful. You can run air vents through a periscope type arrangement, but there is no way of it being a permanent solution.
It won't help air run through, either, if only one wall is externalz

Positive input ventilation sounds like another option, but again, the floor level is wrong and it really should be addressed as well.

It only involves digging away from the house - a time consuming but easy diy job.

stator

Is there any kind of drain down there? Because many dehumidifiers have a continuos drain facility. You unplug a rubber bung, stick a piece of hosepipe over the end, put the other end of the housepipe in a drain and it never needs emptying. Or you can put the other end into a bath or a large bucket or barrel and you won't need to empty it so often.

carlsagen

no drain, stone slab floor. no joists on 1st floor as is stone slab floor. like i said. its grade 2 listed.

konark

If you had a coal chute then this could be unblocked to give a source of air, probably be a hard job but might be worth it.. Fit a fan in the coal-chute opening to drag dry air from the house down into the cellar and out of the coal -chute.

This could help but a damp cellar is difficult to remedy, it's often thought a damp cellar leaves the rest of the house dry.

Gloomendoom

I wouldn't bother with a dehumidifier. As they dry the air in the cellar the walls will pull in more damp from outside.

The way we cope is to leave the cellar door open all the time and make sure that nothing in there can grow mould, so no cardboard. All timber is treated and the shelves are galvanised steel. We use ours as an extension to the kitchen and it works very well.

carlsagen

I've often thought about a pipe with a fan or opening the coal chute but it would open directly into the path Infront of the house rather than in the wall (as the ground floor is level with the outside). So I'd have to cover with a slab to stop the rain pouring in and thus defeating the object. A pipe and fan might work but again the same issue.

Would a fan/pipe combo work from the cellar steps to the tbottom of the cellar. Or maybe an air vent in the floor of the hallway to allow some airflow.

I get what you mean about it being hard to fix. I just think it's a waste of a room that I can't currently use ...

jc808

can you open up the old coal chute? could give you a nice vent point there

carlsagen

jc808 wrote: »

can you open up the old coal chute? could give you a nice vent point there

Yes but it would open into the path Infront of the house so would have to cover it with a paving slab.

jc808

OK I assume the coal chute hole is still on your land? Or not?

You could build a brick plinth one brick up all round, with a couple of airbricks, and put a slab on that.

Alternatively replace the coal chute cover with a vented one, but youll get water pouring down.....

carlsagen

Yep it's on my land. I need to stick a picture up really.