Tanking

[10ClarionSt]

I'm considering damp-proofing my cellar by the tanking method. Has anyone ever done it? Is it messy? What about cost? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[mikeni]

As Anyone with any knowledge of cellars or basements knows .. tanking is the damproofing of the walls and floor . thus turning the cellar into a "tank" . advantages are of course that you are left with a nice dry atmosphere and a useable space .. the steps are .. stripping plaster back to brick . painting 3 layers of bitmuen onto the bare brick and floor making sure all the joints are watertight then putting a 2" cement screed on floor and re plastering the walls .. disadvantages are that it might cause damp to travel up behind the damp proof membrane into your ground floor brickwork . this can be cured by exposing the brick just above ground level oustide but below your houses original damp proof course other problems can be you cannot put up shelves or fittings because as soon as you drill or nail through the membrane you let the damp escape back in to the plaster .

its very messy very expensive ..
another method if the damp is not too severe is to waterproof the floor as above .. then line the walls with plastic sheet ( as used for new concrete flors
affix batons to the walls and insulation then foil backed plasterboard over trhat it reduces the space by the thicknes of the batons air bricks might have to be installed on outside walls under your existing damp proof course . to allow stale air to eascape .. not as long l;asting but far cheaper !! you can use the batons to fix hangers to for shelves radiators etc and also you can install flush power points . . hope this helps