Cellar conversion for storage

[Princessmardybum]

Has anyone had any experience of turning a very damp cellar into a useable dry space? Our house is about 400 years old with a very manky cellar which is just wasted space at the moment as it is so horrible to go down there. I would love to convert it into a useable pantry type place. I’ve contacted a few places but none have got back to me so I’m not sure if it’s because I’m asking the impossible! Any advice would be appreciated.

Has anyone tried this in your cellar before?
What are the walls finished in and floor? Does it flood?
I would think the minimum is a new floor with built in sump pump capable of out pumping any flood, maybe drainage underneath also, tanking of all walls, new electrics, maybe stairs.
Could be an interesting thread.

What are you hoping to store OP? I'd be thinking really long and hard if the stuff I wanted to store was worth the ££££ it will cost to make your cellar dry. It's a huge and expensive job to fully waterproof a cellar, especially one that's 400 hears old.

We built a basement (including a pantry) under our house although we dug it ourselves rather than creating it from an existing cellar.

The main thing to make sure it's water tight down there. Ours is sealed with a Sika waterproofing membrane, which a basement specialist applied. It was expensive but we really couldn't cut corners on waterproofing.

Also check whether you need planning permission or other consents. Is your house listed?

Would your property accommodate an outdoor, above-ground storage solution instead, eg a shed type thing?

If it doesn’t flood and you just want storage you may find significantly improving ventilation is all you need.

We added a low noise extractor fan which runs continuously and a couple
of vents and it was transformational. Our damp was condensation though so it’s worth getting an idea where your water is
coming from.

We use our cellar for cold storage. It will always be a bit damp because we have the original flagstone floor, but it's perfectly fine for tins, wine, and veg. I have a tumble dryer in there too, with venting to outside.

What kind of ventilation do you have down there?

I don't have a basement, so I definitely can't use it for storage. In general, the apartment is quite small, so I decided to use as many options as possible to organize storage space. The Fitted Kitchens I ordered at https://www.mgnbm.co.uk/kitchens-bedrooms/kitchens/ here are a great solution because everything looks tidy but there is so much storage space.