Advice re cellar wall

sol2017

Hello, I'm looking for advice regarding my cellar. I live in Victorian mid terrace which is on a slope and has half-basement - back door (and window) opens to the garden whereas front door opens to a street on the floor above. The space in the basement is split in two where the 'cellar' room (with the retaining wall) is used purely for storage and the other is used as utility and storage area. I would like to improve this latter space a bit to use it as gym and perhaps more but not a proper living space (which would require waterproofing).

But the question really is about the 'cellar' itself. It's a bit damp as expected, that doesn't worry me too much. But I'm not sure about the state of the wall. It has some paint or tanking slurry or something that has seen its better days. What's the best thing to do about it? Try to get it off (how and how much could it cost?) and leave bricks exposed? Leave it? Somehow I think tanking isn't a good idea, am I wrong?

Thanks in advance!

(Hopefully adding pics below works)

sol2017

Ok that didn't work...

https://ibb.co/7kpRKqr
https://ibb.co/GTXMPGq

sol2017

Any thoughts anyone please?

Tom99

Looks like it might be salt crystallisation, it might brush off but applying any kind of sealing layer may make matters worse and damage the bricks.

Davesnave

You won't be able to tank the cellar at a price you'd like for incidental use.

The bricks will stay damp as they're below any DPC, so you don't want to paint them with anything that attempts to seal that moisture in; it won't work long term and it'll eventually crack and peel. The bricks need to shed some moisture into the air. Breathable paints/coatings for older houses exist.

If you decide to wire brush or abrade the surface coating on there, wear a mask, because you don't know what harmful stuff might be in it.

FreeBear

Davesnave wrote: »

you don't want to paint them with anything that attempts to seal that moisture in; it won't work long term and it'll eventually crack and peel. The bricks need to shed some moisture into the air. Breathable paints/coatings for older houses exist.

This has already happened with much of the paint already, so point proven. Lime wash would be the cheapest paint to use and dead easy to prepare. Downside it isn't particularly durable and would need recoating every five years or so.

A silicate paint such as SecilTEK would last longer, but is darned expensive.

sol2017

Thank you all for advice. As I thought, sealing the wall would probably do more harm than good so that's a no go.

I'll try to clean the existing paint/covering off the brick. Is wire brush the best way? Sounds like a lot of elbow grease and dust!

Silicate paint sounds great! And expensive! Earthborn paint and primer are available in smaller volumes and slightly cheaper (still around £115 for both!) - worth considering as I'd prefer to get it done once and not worry about it again.

sol2017

Could anyone advise what's the best way to clean the brick? Been reading about Peelaway, would it be suitable? Thanks again.

FreeBear

Peelaway will get very expensive over the area you're looking at doing. Grit blasting with a soft medium such as walnut shells would be quick - Would be very dusty & dirty, and there is a risk of damaging the bricks (so don't use sand). If you're not too worried about damaging the bricks, a cup brush on the end of an angle grinder would also work.

Get yourself a decent CSI style disposable overall and a good quality face mask. Damp down the dust with a water spray as you go, and put a sheet over the door/hatch to the cellar.

sol2017

Thank you, FreeBear. That was my mistake not checking how much of that stuff I'd need. It is very expensive indeed.

I'd like to try and not damage the bricks, but I'd equally wouldn't want to overspend or stay in that cellar for longer than necessary.