Has anyone had their cellar damp-proofed, or "tanked" as I think the expression is, or know anything about it?

I'm wondering what's involved exactly, whether you can easily do some or all of it yourself, and what the cost is?

It seems a shame to have an entire room in the house that is virtually useless, I can't even store cardboard boxes in mine as it's just too damp.

I'd be grateful of any advice...

Oh... and also, could anyone recommend a builder, or company, in Sheffield that specialises in this?

Tanking - there are some firms who specialise in tankingin Sheffield, yellow pages prob the best place to start.

Tanking involves the building of an 'inner wall' usually concrete block, whilst the original wall behind is covered in a membrane to prevent the ingress of dampness from the ground through to the inside.

I was thinking of doing the same thing to our basement and putting a pool table in there. Its not too hard to heat that space either, as the piping runs along the roof down there for the central heating.

Ventilation must be a major consideration for you though, otherwise it will just stink down there - tanking or not.

hope this help's a bit!

1M&HB

Builders - feel free to flame me if im wrong on here somewhere!

It's a great idea until one morning you go down to get something and you step into a foot of water and all the stuff you stored down there is mush!

andyb

Once bitten twice shy

there is a place on langsette road, about 200 yards up from Maplin Electronics, called 'Sentinel'
i used to work there some years ago.
They DO all types of general building work too

sory i dont have the number to hand, it will be in the yellow pages!

:D

Not like I'm any expert on this but basements are incredibly hard to make livable.
There in constant darkness with no natural sunlight and to be honest it may be worth considering if its really worthwhile.

A loft conversion is a better alternative if its an extra room you are after and mine is the warmest room in the house now compared to the cold black dusty loft it once was.

You can always brew beer down there i suppose as the conditions are right for that.

Last year I had my double garage (half underground and wet!) converted into an office by a company in sheffield and I have never looked back. It is a great place to be and I love working in it. It's cool in summer and warm in winter and no damp anywhere (I have a membrane system with sump/pump that can pump up to 160l of water per hour so it will stand almost anything).

I wouldn't recommend a slurry based tanking system as they hold back water which creates pressure and breaks walls and floors!

You can easily make light in a basement !. Dig out a light well or even a full stair well from one wall to the garden etc and fit a big window or patio doors.

The company I used was basementdreams.co.uk

Mine was plastered out nicely when I bought the house but mould would spread up the walls and everything would go soggy. The water was rising through the floor. Last year, I dug out the sand/concrete by a couple of inches (it was very wet clay underneath), laid a plastic membraine and put paving slabs/concrete over the top. I now have a very useable room with electricity that could house a tumble drier, computer etc. The roof is a bit low at just over six feet. I could also open up the coal chute for light.

The walls haven't been sealed. The plasterboard is 'glued' on to the brick and this provides a route through for a bit of damp but it wipes off and is about one percent of the original amount. The job cost me about £200 and a lot of time.

If you have it tanked it probably will fail at some point in it's life - could be next week or 50 years down the line, basically when it's subject to exteral water pressure it will eventually fail. Drained cavity membrane systems are the way to go such as cloudranger has had installed. They're also usable straight away - you don't have to wait for any tanking render to dry. Plus doing it properly you have an official extra room and not just a pretty storage room.

just having mine done now theres a fair bit of work in it but its looking like its worth it

fnkysknky is spot on - traditional tanking will always fail at some point as you are fighting nature trying to hold back water pressure and you will always lose - you need a system that works with the water not against it.

Anyone can make their basement dry (initially) even on a small budget but it will never last and never stay dry and you will never trust it enough to do anything useful with the room like put a plasma telly in it!. I needed absolue certainty for an office (papers/computers etc), so went down the expensive route (about 25k all told I think) but it was well worth it - I have added value to the property, I have a building regs certificate to prove it complies so I have no trouble selling my house later. I have a 10 year installers guarantee and a 30 year manufacturers guarantee and I have a proper office I can sit and work in 8 hours a day and receive clients in, with it's own toilet and kitchen and underfloor heating for the winter.

If I have added 25k to the value of the property, then it has effectively cost me nothing. If I have added more (which I think I have) then I'm in profit. If someone spends 2k or 10k on a diy job that is not building regs approved then it may be useful for a short space of time, but ultimately you may have as well just rolled a splif with the cash and burned it as it is worthless, and you will have probably had loads of hassle and grief along the way (dampness/failures/damaged property/health issues etc).