Home › Our Work › St Albans basement
A damp, cold cellar, and a brief to make it a room somebody would want to sit in. The floor was dug out, a sub floor laid with reinforcing mesh, and Diasen Watstop waterproof tanking applied to the walls all round.
Diathonite Evolution lime-cork-clay insulating plaster then went over the tanking, including the feature wall, finished with an Argatherm lime smoothing coat. The floor was tanked, insulated and screeded with electric underfloor heating before tiling. The old coal chute was altered and insulated, and a walk-on window put in above it to bring daylight down.
I was very suspicious of companies that sell basement tanking as if it was a magic solution and that's why I seeked Eco Renovation when converting our Victorian cellar to an office room. Adam is very knowledgeable of old buildings and is absolutely passionate about sustainable construction practices. When tackling an issue like a very humid basement, he really consider things holistically and will take into account the outside drainage situation, ventilation, air brick capacity, flooring types, insulation, heating capability, even advising us on breathable paint type and risks of blocking the air circulation with joinery. We were accompanied from the beginning of the journey when assessing what's possible to the last final detail of getting the room built and ready to be lived in. I couldn't recommend enough him and his team as the final result is better than anything we were expecting when embarking on this project.
Digging up basement floor for insulation
Humidity in basement before insulation
Basement sub floor installation with reinforcing mesh in place
Basement sub floor installation
Diasen Watstop waterproof tanking applied to basement walls
Diasen Watstop waterproof tanking applied to basement walls
Diasen Watstop waterproof tanking applied to basement walls
Phonotherm Structural insulation board behind electrical sockets for secure fixing and to minimise thermal bridging
Old coal chute alteration and insulation
Diasen Diathonite Evolution insulating breathable lime plaster being applied to walls
Diasen Diathonite Evolution lime plaster applied to feature wall
Diathonite Evolution lime-cork-clay insulating plaster applied to basement walls all around
Internal wall insulation with plaster application
We have a guest - checking works
Reinforcing steel being laid for screed
Installation of screed floor
Insulation of perimeters
Basement floor tanking
Insulated basement floor slab
Application of Argatherm lime smoothing coat
Application of lime smoothing coat
Application of Argatherm lime smoothing coat to walls
Installation of electric underfloor heating in basement
Finished, tiled basement floor
Finished, tiled basement floor
Walk on window installed above old coal chute
Walk on window installed above old coal chute
Walk on window installed above old coal chute
Basement fully tanked, insulated, decorated
A cellar does not have to stay a cellar, but tanking it without insulating it only moves the cold somewhere else.
