New Stone Flags in Cellar

[StevieJB]

Hi there, we have a 150 year old Victorian terrace with a large cellar, the cellar is stone flagged except for one room, where the flags have been lifted and used in a patio extension, hence the room currently has a dirt floor and is not in use at this time.

 

I've got a few plans to use the room for a model railway..(subject to 'approval'!) and have recently purchased some stone flags approx 60mm thick, but just have some queries on laying, I was intending on adding some sand to the floor and levelling out, laying the flags and just pointing the gaps with a lime mortar.

 

I'm trying to make the cellar a bit more usable, it is not habitable as such but has a workshop and our washer room down there, it is damp from time to time, and needs some improved ventilation, hence I'm not trying to use materials such as cement that may increase damp in walls etc.

 

Any advice on my proposed re-flagging would be appreciated.

 

Many Thanks

 

Steve 

[markc]

Good morning and welcome.

Cellars were built to be cold and damp .... a railway modelers and model engineers nightmare.

Dig out some of the floor, sand layer (blinding) DPM (Damp Proof Membrane / plastic sheet) insulation and then concrete or the flags if you have them. plus some background heating.

Edited October 28, 2020 by markc

[markc]

oh, be careful with depth of digging out - Victorian houses usually had very shallow stepped footings which are often only inches below the cellar floor level.

[StevieJB]

On 28/10/2020 at 08:06, markc said:

Good morning and welcome.

Cellars were built to be cold and damp .... a railway modelers and model engineers nightmare.

Dig out some of the floor, sand layer (blinding) DPM (Damp Proof Membrane / plastic sheet) insulation and then concrete or the flags if you have them. plus some background heating.

Cheers Mark, thanks for the information, I wasn't planning on using any cement, just a layer of sharp sand between the dpc and the flags, do you think this would be okay?

[PeterW]

I think you will find just sharp sand will move. I would be doing a semi dry mix of sand and cement to lay the slabs onto.