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Green Building Bible, Fourth Edition
Green Building Bible, fourth edition (both books)
These two books are the perfect starting place to help you get to grips with one of the most vitally important aspects of our society - our homes and living environment.

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General: constructing a cellar

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  1.  
    • CommentAuthorhowdytom
    • CommentTimeSep 20th 2007
     
    I want to include a cellar in a barn conversion project, but whats the best construction.
    It would be nice not to use concrete, my subsoil is mainly boulder clay 16foot on limestone. The site is fairly level so digging a drain would be impossable unless I go 300 meters !. I used to live in an old house with cellars it had limestone walls but I have no idea what they used behind as a water barrier... maybe nothing. If I dug it out cast a concrete floor with DPC , built limestone walls, what would be best for the roof ?. I would hope to end up with an internal size of 3meters by 5meters:confused:
    • CommentAuthortony
    • CommentTimeSep 20th 2007
     
    E mail me if u can and i ll tell you how I built one.
    • CommentAuthorjon
    • CommentTimeSep 23rd 2007
     
    Why do you think it would be nice not to use concrete?

    Jon
    • CommentAuthorhowdytom
    • CommentTimeSep 23rd 2007
     
    Hi jon,
    Simply that concrete is the least green item used in house construction, above ground I'll be using straw bales for the north wall adobe/cob on the west and east with shaded glass on the south

    tom
    • CommentAuthorjon
    • CommentTimeSep 23rd 2007
     
    Asking perhaps a dumb question, but why do you think concrete is the least green?
    • CommentAuthorhowdytom
    • CommentTimeSep 23rd 2007
     
    • CommentAuthorjon
    • CommentTimeSep 23rd 2007 edited
     
    Hi Tom

    Thanks: One has to be very careful when saying that something is green due to its low embodied content: This is not always true, particularly if maintenance, durability and other lifecycle issues are taken into account.

    On this one, you should take specialist advice. Waterproofing and vapourproofing, will be an issue that you have to consider together with the impact, particularly during construction, on your existing foundations. Waterproofing is always easier if you can get an open cut.

    Nice talking to you Tom.

    jon
    • CommentAuthorhowdytom
    • CommentTimeSep 24th 2007
     
    Hi jon

    A cellar is a fantastic storage space for produce and needs an amount of moisture to vapourise to reduce the ambient air temperature. In the good old days it was considered essential ... no fridge.. no supermarket. As a kid I can remember my gran using a earthen ware milk jug with a cloth draped over it into a dish of water. 'tis the simple things in life that we need to get back to, if we are going to survive the 22 century, fancy technology is just exasperating it. Hence this forum... or so I thought.
    looking at some of the postings (is 23kw of stove enough !! should it have lambda controls etc) I dis-pair at where we are heading.

    tom

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