brainstorming and need some advice....

here we go....
Got a useless basement under the barn. useless I say because it gets a little ground water in and the humidity when closed (necessary to keep temps above freezing in wither) is 80-100% and potatoes/carrots which are the only 2 things I tried to store, rot ion a couple weeks).
However, It's easy access with only a few steps and a wide door and that door is about 8ft from the barn door. Barn is used as a garage when I need to work on something out of the weather.

Also have a workshop the same size as the cellar that is OK to get to but a PITA to get things in/out if they are heavy/bulky but at ground level and temps/moisture match environment.

Now the brainstorm.....
Could use the workshop space for an addition to another room which is pretty much a junk room (workshop is an even worse junkroom at the moment) as a nice addition to the house since it's connected and only needs a door installed.

Was thinking to smooth the floor in the cellar with a little gravel (enough to go an inch above existing drain in wall at floor level), put down a sheet of plastic, then some crushed limestone/ gravel on top for a floor. Then use this as a workshop because I could then put in vents to control humidity and use a propane radiant heater when I am there and need some heat.

Advice now, what is the highest humidity that I could afford to keep from ruining tools, wooden workbench, etc, etc????

Next advice concerns fruit/veggie storing.......

Piece that I'm calling a workshop now has one end that is 2/3 under ground. Thinking about a wall/door to make a root/fruit cellar to store potatoes, carrots, some apples and pears. What temp/humidity do I need to maintain?

Thanks for any help.

Dave

Use post hole diggers to dig a hole in the low corner of the basement and put in a sump pump.

KEH

high humidity shouldn't be a problem for most stuff.
here is a list

http://extension.missouri.edu/p/MP562

I would guess most problems come from the wrong temp, improper ventilation, too much light........
Putting a workshop in a proper root cellar is not a good idea.

Dave for a basement like that you just need an appropriate monster! Perhaps one with large luminous green eyes...He could take care of the varmints and in his spare time could chip the grass clumps out of your finish mower.

Tou could call him Baron Von Gollum or some such.

Brad Buchanan

My grandmother had a root cellar with a sump in it. Had to, the water table was like 3 feet.

I don't think you would want your tools and stuff exposed to lots of humidity. Rust and condensation would be a real problem and wood would probably swell badly.

The idea of using a sump pump, with your floor improvements might help some. But I think you would need to run a dehumidifier that drains to the outside to make the space useful.

The other thing I would worry about is flooding. My Uncle in Georgia had a house with a full basement that had moisture problems. He ran a couple of dehumidifiers and a sump pump all the time and it seemed to work OK. He stored a lot of stuff in that basement, including all his guns and his knife collection, book collection and who knows what else he had accumulated. But then my Uncle had a stroke and died. A few months later, they had a terrible storm, which had a lot of precipitation and which caused the power to be out for several days. Of course the sump pump and dehumidifiers quit working because there was no electricity. My Aunt went to stay with relatives for a few days, and when she came home, there was about 4" of water in the mostly finished basement. Everything down there was really damp, if not saturated. The guns were saved by carefully cleaning them right away, and most of the knives were not damaged very much. But all the presentation boxes were ruined, as were most of the books and other collectible items my Uncle had accumulated over 80 years. They filled a huge dumpster with things that had been in the basement and had to pay to have it hauled away. It was estimated that my Uncle's estate lost at least $100K of value from the water damage to the basement and contents. The upstairs had a little humidity damage, but I don't think they did much more than a little repainting and cleaning carpets. I don't know what might have happened if my Uncle had not died. Maybe he could have arranged for emergency power for the sump pump, or maybe he could have moved out some of the valuable items. But my Aunt, in her grief and lack of understanding of how things worked, did nothing. What a mess!

Anyhow, I would never store anything that mattered to me in a space that had water problems. Good luck!

Bad idea, Tools will rust! Also an unvented propane heater will add a lot of moisture to the air, 3 quarts for every gallon of propane you burn. Also a gravel floor would be frustrating if you drop a small part on it.

(quoted from post at 13:26:54 09/26/11) My grandmother had a root cellar with a sump in it. Had to, the water table was like 3 feet.

Click to expand...

Was talking to a guy today that told me what to do to use the basement for food storage and showed me what he did in his (pretty much all basements in the old part are the same size, depth, etc......

Gonna open things up to get the humidity down and try again. Perfect temp for beer in winter and lust need to set up a cooler in summer for a few cold ones. He said (if I understood right) that the moisture wasn't the problem but the stale air was and that ventilation would make all the difference. (???)

We'll see.

(quoted from post at 08:14:44 09/26/11) high humidity shouldn't be a problem for most stuff.
here is a list

http://extension.missouri.edu/p/MP562

I would guess most problems come from the wrong temp, improper ventilation, too much light........
Putting a workshop in a proper root cellar is not a good idea.

Click to expand...

So.......where's my problem???????????? Stale air??