What can I store in damp cellar?

[SIHastingsLiketheBattle]

We're a family of five and have a pretty big cellar beneath the living room that's currently empty. It is damp but is there anything i could store down there without it getting ruined? Obviously anything wooden/fabric is out.

We let a relative store stuff in a cellar we had when they had to leave a home quickly. Everything had to be thrown away when they eventually picked it up.Nothing survived.

We have a damp cellar that floods in winter. We store plastic stuff like the cat carrier, spare litter tray, etc and we store spare jam jars for when we make our own jam. That is pretty much it.

Wine

Moonshine!

Nothing will survive. MIL has a damp cupboard. Everything gets destroyed.

If you are willing to buy waterproof storage, we bought large Really Useful plastic boxes which are fine in our very damp coal cellar. Things like outdoor cushions survive winter absolutely fine in these boxes.

www.wickes.co.uk/Really-Useful-Clear-Storage-Box---145L/p/143494

Dead bodies

Only waterproof stuff that can be washed to get rid of mildew. Everything else will be ruined.

Wine, glass wear, stuff in tins, Christmas decs but only in plastic lidded storage tubs, tools. Nothing in cardboard, fabrics or anything like that.

[quote Porridgeislife]If you are willing to buy waterproof storage, we bought large Really Useful plastic boxes which are fine in our very damp coal cellar. Things like outdoor cushions survive winter absolutely fine in these boxes.

www.wickes.co.uk/Really-Useful-Clear-Storage-Box---145L/p/143494[/quote]
Agree. Get these and you can basically store anything you choose.
They also stack, which is brilliant.

We had a damp cellar.
It was ranked and a auto pump out system installed

Then it was turned into a utility room with separate shower room.

Was very useful then

My washer is down there...

I do keep tools, paint, Christmas decs, old paperwork etc in mine, with anything paper or decorations in plastic lidded storage boxes (the ones with the clip down lids) at the bottom.

At the top on the stairs are shoes in an open basket, my hoover and trunki cases- but there’s much more airflow at the top and much less mildew, and that stuff is in and out a lot.

You could breed silverfish.

you can put things in those plastic storage crates with tight-fitting lids. Preferably get plastic shelving units so nothing is touching the floor or the walls.

Everything exposed will rot or rust.

Thanks for the suggestion about the boxes, interesting idea! I do have a lot of tools/tins of paint and similar that aren't used often which could go in the cellar in some boxes... might do a test run first to check.

For anything fabric (duvets, pillows, towels etc) then you can use large vacuum sealed bags.

Wine

@Onedropbeat do you mind saying how much it cost?

Also, increase ventilation to the max. If you can ventilate out the water vapour fast enough, the cellar will be less humid. You need vents on at least two sides so you get a through flow of air.

Just the place to make cheese! I did this in lockdown 1 but the lack of damp cellar really held me back.

@CardiganOfDoom fantastic idea

Mushrooms.

@Onedropbeat what do you mean? Like a sump or something that reduces damp in the air? Did you have any problems with mineral leaching and did this fix it?

Sorry, have a currently flooded cellar as sump packed up. Usually dry but mineral leaching is causing an issue and I want to fix it.

Yes an auto pump sump

Il try and find out what it was / cost etc