New Damp in Cellar

[Jayneven]

Novice here, and no Dad to ask since he inconveniently popped his clogs a couple of years ago.

We have 2 cellars, front and back in a late Victorian semi. Both have an opening window and central heating and are well ventilated. They were “sort” of tanked by the previous owners around 30 years ago. Around 4 years ago they were flooded to around 6ins by the water table rising locally but were all dried out and have been fine. We’ve been here 27 years and have never had problems until now.

Front cellar okay to now (used for storage).

Rear cellar used as adult son’s bedroom, maybe used one night a week. Never had any damp problems. However, the walls are now running with condensation and it feels damp (not just cold). No black mould to be seen anywhere yet. We recently put vinyl flooring in there - would this be what’s causing the issue?

 

[Deleted member 174758]

It might be something as simple as the weather at the moment. My understanding is that cellar walls are normally going to be something like 8 to 12 degrees C, so if the atmospheric air is warmer than that and contain a lot of moisture, in other words warm and humid like it is now, then condensation on cold, smooth surfaces is inevitable

My own limited experience of tanking is that tanking done with impermeable finishes, such as tanking slurry, can break down over time or fail with changes in the water table

 

[Jayneven]

We did wonder if it could be the weather, as it seemed to start when the weather got really warm the other week.