Damp in cellar/tanking

drfleece

Hello all
I recently noticed a bit of damp in our cellar underneath the lino. It runs along the join of the wall and floor. It's not huge; at it's highest it's one brick's height. It runs along several walls, not all external ones. I had Tanking Slurry recommended to me so I applied two coats along the first row of bricks but the water is still there, now proudly sitting on top of the waterproofed brick rather than soaking into it. Does this sound like I haven't applied enough of the product or is it indicative of a bigger problem?

Many thanks

JohnB47

Could it perhaps be airborne moisture condensing on the coldest part of the cellar walls/floor?


OK, maybe it was damp actually in the walls at first but now you've sorted that and the moist air is condensing on the proofer rather than sinking into the walls.


How's the ventilation?


Perhaps you need a dehumidifier, at least for a while?

Doozergirl

Cellars are supposed to be damp! Not a lot of use in fighting it unless you're going for a full blown London style cellar conversion.

frankie

I applied a slurry to a similar situation and had some condensation settle on the slurry coat. This soon disapated though. The slurry instructions did say to really soak the area to be treated so I guess the moisture was arising from that?

drfleece

Thanks for the replies. Yes the ventilation isn't great so I may try a dehumidifier for a while. i'd really like to use the area for storage hence my battle with it. I'll try a couple more coats of slurry as well

I can't work out where the water is coming from; if it is indeed in the air and settling on the coldest part of the wall or if it's soaking up from the ground. The fact that the otherside of one of the walls is dry makes it confusing

Gloomendoom

If you waterproof one part of an untanked cellar, the water just finds somewhere else to go.

Somebody I know suddenly had terrible damp problems in their cellar. The cause was traced to their next door neighbour tanking theirs.

drfleece

it makes sense, I was concerned I would end up just pushing it further and further up the wall