What do you think of this cellar?

Knockonwood

Considering putting in an offer on a lovely Victorian semi, but it has this cellar. I don’t intend to make it habitable, but wondered what your views on the black/damp bit might be? It’s mainly round this chimney area and not in the rest of the space. Thanks for your insights 😊🙏

Albermarle

How do you know it is damp?

Knockonwood

Albermarle said:

How do you know it is damp?

Don’t know for sure - thought because of the white mineral deposits and it being in a cellar

dinosaur66

its salts where it gets a bit damp

this is very  common / and overall it looks in very decent condition

i like that yellow london brick 

i have never done a cellar but have tanked garages to make them watertight  and it is an easy diy job / but i think by the photos the cellar looks watertight

2 weeks of rain and you would know for definate but that staining would not put me off and i would love a cellar / in london they dig them out to make the ceiling height suitable and put on square footgage to the property increasing the value

FreeBear

dinosaur66 said: in london they dig them out to make the ceiling height suitable and put on square footgage to the property increasing the value

After the number of catastrophic collapses, getting planning permission for basement conversions/extensions in London has become more difficult.

I'm wondering if the black mark is either down to historic flooding of the cellar or stains from coal. Regardless, a wonderful space to have.

twopenny

I wondered the same thing...........used to store coal. I had a side attached brick and tiled coal shed that looked like that.

Then I found there was a couple of small holes/slight cracks from age. Once filled it made all the difference.

It could also be that the modern insulation isn't allowing it to breath.

But it doesn't look like recent damp to me from the photo.

If unsure why not buy a damp meter to check for yourself. They aren't expensive for this type of query

Bigphil1474

That looks a great cellar, better than the one we used to have. Cellars are designed to cope with damp and flooding. We had about 18 inches of water in ours for about 4 years, had no effect on the house, but does need good ventilation. I think that's flood marks myself. Looks like the current owners have insulated it well. Wouldn't put me off. You can use it for storage but just don't have cardboard boxes sat on the floor. We used to keep stuff on shelving and it was fine until it flooded. After that, we only had the leccy meter in there and only went down there to read the meter, before we got a smart meter fitted.