Turning Victorian Cellar into Dry Storage and Work Space
Posted: Sun Sep 22, 2019 8:07 am
Hi all, first time poster - thank you in advance for your help!
We recently moved into a Victorian semi. Beautiful house, loads of character but lots of work! One of my projects is sorting the cellar - I don't want to spend much but want to take it from a musty, dusty space to a good storage and workspace.
I've attached images and a diagrams. The cellar floor is ground level to the front (RHS of diagram), joins next door one side (top), and is below ground on the back and other side (LHS and bottom). There's two opening windows and a couple of vents. The only room that shows any sign of damp is the bigger room at the bottom which used to have a pretty leaky coal hole. I've sealed that up now and installed a dehumidifier and it's much dryer - no more puddles!
So far I've removed the lath and plaster ceiling and installed a plasterboard one, scrubbed the walls and floor and ripped out the unused pipes and old electrics. I want to paint and possibly level the floor and want to paint the walls.
Floor wise I think I'm ok - they're concrete so I'll prob level them and then paint with a garage floor paint. Sound reasonable?
The walls are my main issue. Ideally I'd like to keep the brick look so don't really want to cover them with slurry if I can help it. I've also read lots about avoiding stopping them breathing, though can't decide if that's so important when when we're ground level to the front. Basically, can I get away with paint, knowing it might only last a few years and if so what paint should I use?
Any advice/suggestions will be very gratefully received!
Thanks,
Rich
We recently moved into a Victorian semi. Beautiful house, loads of character but lots of work! One of my projects is sorting the cellar - I don't want to spend much but want to take it from a musty, dusty space to a good storage and workspace.
I've attached images and a diagrams. The cellar floor is ground level to the front (RHS of diagram), joins next door one side (top), and is below ground on the back and other side (LHS and bottom). There's two opening windows and a couple of vents. The only room that shows any sign of damp is the bigger room at the bottom which used to have a pretty leaky coal hole. I've sealed that up now and installed a dehumidifier and it's much dryer - no more puddles!
So far I've removed the lath and plaster ceiling and installed a plasterboard one, scrubbed the walls and floor and ripped out the unused pipes and old electrics. I want to paint and possibly level the floor and want to paint the walls.
Floor wise I think I'm ok - they're concrete so I'll prob level them and then paint with a garage floor paint. Sound reasonable?
The walls are my main issue. Ideally I'd like to keep the brick look so don't really want to cover them with slurry if I can help it. I've also read lots about avoiding stopping them breathing, though can't decide if that's so important when when we're ground level to the front. Basically, can I get away with paint, knowing it might only last a few years and if so what paint should I use?
Any advice/suggestions will be very gratefully received!
Thanks,
Rich