“My cellar started crying. There are always drops of water on the ceiling, the wooden hatch is wet through, the carrots and cabbage have long since rotted, the potatoes are still holding on, ”writes a FORUMHOUSE member Syava_1.

A crying cellar is always a big problem. How to dry it urgently and what to do to no longer face increased dampness? We will tell you what the members of our portal are doing.

For high-quality storage of vegetables, the temperature in the cellar should not be higher than +5 degrees, the air should be clean and fresh, but without drafts.

BogAD FORUMHOUSE Member

The Russian scientist A. T. Bolotov wrote more than two centuries ago that the room where vegetables are stored should not have damp and musty air - the vegetables will rot. And at the same time, he notes that there should be no draft, since it will dry our vegetables.

But it is also impossible to overdry the cellar, there is even observation data by FORUMHOUSE participants behind their cellars, which suggests that excess moisture is not as dangerous for storing vegetables as excessive dryness.

The moisture level for optimal storage of stocks should be 70-80%.

Having measured the temperature and relative humidity in the cellar with a thermometer and hygrometer, we bring them in line with the required indicators (recommendations BogAD):

• If it is cold in the cellar (the temperature in winter is below +2 0 C), we insulate the basement or create.
• If the cellar is too warm (the temperature is above +5 0 С), we lower it by isolating the cellar area from heat sources. Provide adequate ventilation and isolate the area from heat sources.
• A slight excess in relative humidity is corrected by ventilation.
• With a significant excess of relative humidity (abundant condensation on the walls and ceiling), we make waterproofing, and then we are already engaged in ventilation.
• If the air is stale, the ventilation system does not correspond to the area or is absent, we eliminate this omission.
• If there are drafts in the cellar, the ventilation system also needs modernization, perhaps it will be enough just to add a damper to the supply.

Based on the diagnosis given to the cellar, a work plan is drawn up. But there are situations when the stored crop needs emergency assistance, and there are several ways to provide it.

The picture on the left is a diagram of draining the cellar, which the FORUMHOUSE participant DoctorBo seen in some book from the Soviet era.

DoctorBo FORUMHOUSE Member

A light bulb heats the air as it rises through the open cellar hatch.

The right picture shows an improved, modernized scheme, in which the light bulb is located not under the hatch, but under the exhaust pipe. This scheme is better, especially when we are not dealing with the cellar, which is located under the building - then the air does not go into the house, but outside it.

Variants of this method, successfully tested by members of our portal:

1. A refrigerator lamp, 5-7 cm, is inserted directly into the pipe.
2. If the light bulb does not fit into the tube.

Glebomater FORUMHOUSE Member

Put a lampshade on the pipe from below, there is a light bulb in it. The light is on, heats the air in the lampshade, the draft starts to work.

Instead of a light bulb, you can use a candle (in order to avoid the occurrence of fire hazardous situations, the candle is placed in a tin can). It is better that the candle is as much as possible to the floor, and to improve traction, the exhaust pipe is lengthened by attaching a tin link to it.

A burning candle or light bulb accelerates air circulation, intensively ventilates the cellar. The musty atmosphere of the cellar is replaced with fresh air, and within a few days the cellar is usually completely dry.

If instead of a candle or a light bulb, we use dry alcohol tablets, then we will get an additional advantage: alcohol combustion products have antiseptic properties.

Member of FORUMHOUSE topos proposes to involve the science of chemistry in the service of draining the cellar.

topos FORUMHOUSE Member

1 kg of dry calcium chloride takes 1.5 kg of water. You buy 50-100 kg. Downloading. After a day, remove, dry (heat) and load again. Have fun.

You can also use a good household dehumidifier (such as the one that dehumidifies swimming pools), a heat gun. Or put an ordinary oil oil in the center of the cellar - in this case, drying will be carried out due to thermal radiation. But this process is long and expensive (it may take several weeks of continuous operation of the device). Most importantly, without normal ventilation of the cellar, the desired effect with the help of a heater can hardly be achieved.

topos

Driving air with an electric heater is a stupid thing in wet soil, humid air and lack of ventilation. You will create a regular bath. You need an exhaust ventilation with air intake from the basement floor.

To store supplies in the cellar, weak ventilation will be enough. Strong ventilation is more likely to hurt.

Jeeper FORUMHOUSE Consultant Moderator

Strong ventilation violates the climate in the cellar - for example, you can cool it down a lot in winter and heat it up a lot in summer. This contributes to the formation of condensation and mold.

Nevertheless, competent, well-thought-out ventilation of the cellar is the key to the successful storage of vegetables until next season.

Tocon FORUMHOUSE Member

The ventilation started working, the cellar stopped crying (before that, one might say, it roared without ceasing).

Ventilation in cellars and basements is arranged as follows:

An exhaust pipe is installed on the north side of the basement, which drops 10-15 cm relative to the ceiling.

On the south side, a supply pipe is installed, which should be lowered to a level of 10-20 cm above the floor.

Usually pipes are installed diagonally, in opposite corners of the cellar. To avoid the formation of condensation in the cellar in the summer, during the warm season, the exhaust openings are closed, and also make sure that the lid is tightly closed and insulated from heat as much as possible (for this, you can put a piece of foam on it). In autumn, when a lower temperature is established outside than in the cellar, the cellar lid is opened and left open until the temperature reaches about +2 - +3 degrees. The warm humid air of the cellar will be replaced by dry and cold air from the street, therefore, during such ventilation, a wet cellar usually dries out quickly.

For the winter, with the exception of especially frosty days, only the inflow is closed.

Efh FORUMHOUSE Member

I can advise you to leave one hood open for the winter and insulate the pipe itself well (so that it does not tighten with a kurzhak). No supply, and nothing will freeze.

Some members of our portal do not have ventilation in the cellar, but condensation does not form in it, since there were other reasons for dampness - bad and cold walls and floor. Sometimes these shortcomings are easy to eliminate, and sometimes a global rework of the cellar is required.