I have a room in the basement, kind of like a root cellar, about 12-14 square meters (130-150 square feet). It’s all unfinished, and I’d like to set up a sort of workshop there. My next step would be to plaster the walls to make it feel a bit more cozy. The tricky part is the floor: the slab in the middle is split. On the left side, there’s a concrete slab, but on the right side, there’s just bare earth. I’m not sure why the previous owner did it that way. I want to level and fill the half with the bare earth to match the concrete slab. How should I approach the construction sequence? Should I dig out to the level of the slab, install a waterproof membrane (like a bituminous sheet) in the earth-contact area to protect against potential hydrostatic pressure, and then fill it with a concrete screed up to the slab height?
Thanks for your help.
Thanks for your help.
Sealed from the ground up. Just make sure you don’t get a moisture problem in the masonry that would require removing the plaster again. Tractor garage with plaster and concrete floor has a severe moisture problem—the plaster needs to be removed; sandstone cellar with clay floor is dry.
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nordanney13 Aug 2020 23:11Peter Silie schrieb:
ok, you have no idea, just say so.I have already shared my experience/knowledge, but you don’t seem interested in hearing it. Still, I think the alternatives are really cool!
It seems to me that Struwwelpeter Silie is in the defiant phase
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Peter Silie14 Aug 2020 08:4711ant schrieb:
It seems to me that Struwwelpeter Silie is going through a rebellious phase No, disappointed that you can’t answer simple questions, probably due to a lack of technical knowledge, and instead you retreat into vague timeframes like the potato cellar being the ultimate solution.
Either I become a cider producer and farmer now, or you skip a thread if you have nothing constructive to contribute.
Yesterday, I managed to get a solution from my private circle that “maybe, possibly, and potentially” was by far better.
Still, thanks for your interest.
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nordanney14 Aug 2020 08:54Peter Silie schrieb:
Contributing productively To be productive: Make the floor waterproof, but please consider the entire basement and excavate completely from the outside to waterproof EVERYTHING. What still needs to be done on the floors inside the other rooms, I cannot say due to lack of knowledge about your basement conditions.
If you only seal the exposed area, water will find its way out elsewhere. Potato cellar dry, rest of the basement wet.
==> Professional advice
Peter Silie schrieb:
Yesterday, I managed to get a solution from a private source that “possibly, maybe” might actually be much better. Then let us poor souls in on what the private wizard is suggesting!
Peter Silie schrieb:
No, I’m disappointed that you can’t answer simple questions, probably due to a lack of technical knowledge, and instead resort to vague times and claim that the potato cellar was the ultimate solution.
Either I become an apple cider producer and farmer now, or you skip a thread if you have nothing productive to contribute.
Yesterday, I was able to find a solution through my private network. Being stubborn is not a "solution." If I couldn’t handle accusations of amateurishness, I should have chosen another profession—politician or used car dealer would have earned me the same level of social respect. But this is not about converting you from a rice and pasta fan to a potato lover; it’s about the fact that the supposed bug is actually a feature, a kind of climate vent for your cellar, and you would be hopelessly foolish to seal that hole out of ignorance. Of course, it’s your house and you can ignore as many warnings as you want. It may take twenty years until your descendants say "Grandpa was an idiot"—but one thing is clear: what you consider a "solution" is nothing more than a time bomb for the building fabric. Moisture will not give in to your stubbornness—it will find a way in, and no one can guarantee that the future damage will be as easily accessible. If you are willing to risk slowly destroying your house for the sake of a workshop foundation that will be the most expensive thing in the long run, then by all means, don’t let warnings bother you. They only come from tradespeople; what do they know about technology?
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