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Depending on its size, condition and accessibility, a cellar has the potential to hold almost anything.

Older houses often have nonhabitable cellars which have traditionally been used for coal and junk — but with careful thought and planning they can be transformed quite cheaply into efficient and capacious storerooms. Some of the best uses for the cellar are:

• Wine and food — the cool conditions suit wine perfectly and will help a freezer to run more efficiently.
• Tools and decorating or building materials. If there is room, the cellar may also form a convenient workshop.
• Long-term storage of little-used items (such as holiday luggage or seasonal sports equipment).

Practical considerations

A dry, clean, well-ventilated cellar with a solid floor and the walls in good condition can be treated as an extension of the house as far as providing safe storage is concerned. It will be colder than elsewhere indoors, but you might even consider extending the heating system into the cellar if cool storage (such as for wine) is not important. Any suspicion of damp, however, and you are immediately limited as to what you can store in contact with the floor or walls; broadly, only items made of plastics, glass, noncorroding metals such as copper, aluminium and galvanised steel, and preservative-treated timber. Rodents and other pests are another point to watch out for, especially if the floor is bare earth.

The usage will also depend on how easy it is to get into the cellar and whether or not there is enough headroom. Cellars with steep steps and low ceilings are not ideal for manoeuvring heavy, bulky objects in and out of! For the same reason, it makes sense to keep things which you will need frequently near the door. Shallow shelves and wall-mounted hooks, racks and brackets which do not restrict access are best here. Use the hidden depths for storing items that will receive less regular visits.

Surveying the possibilities

To give yourself a clear picture of the potential, work through the points below and check what needs to be done to make the best use of the space.

Construction: A cellar may be completely below ground or may be partly above and partly below ground level (semi- basement). The latter type often has a window, exterior hatch or grille, whereas a below-ground cellar will probably have little or no ventilation or natural light. Extra lighting is fairly simple to arrange, but ventilation may be tricky.

Damp: This is a major consideration since it restricts what can be stored without damage. Test for damp with a meter (available in DIY outlets and builders merchants) or call in a specialist firm for an estimate. If you test after a spell of dry weather and find no signs of damp, don’t assume that this automatically gives the all clear — check again after a period of rain.

Walls can be damp-proofed with chemicals or physically with rendering and waterproof panelling. Both really mean calling in the professionals and can be expensive. There is also some risk that physical treatment may force damp to rise into the room above if there is no damp-proof course (DPC).

Bare earth floors are never completely dry, but can be screeded with concrete incorporating a plastic damp- proof membrane (DPM) if there is sufficient headroom to permit the build-up in level.

Ventilation: A good airflow is important if the cellar doubles as a workshop, and is essential if you will be using solvents which give off harmful vapours. In any case, ventilation prevents mustiness and helps to control damp and associated problems to some extent. Airbricks can be installed if any of the cellar walls are above ground, whereas an extractor fan (controlled by a humidity detector if desired) can be fitted through a wall or window, but will have to be ducted into a below-ground cellar.

Cleanliness: General junk and coal are the usual obstacles. Junk can be sorted and disposed of as required; anything useful can be rehoused in the cellar afterwards in a more orderly way. Removing coal is a bigger task — even if there is very little left, the dust has usually impregnated all the surfaces. The only solution is rubble sacks, a shovel, old clothes, a dust mask, an industrial vacuum cleaner and time and energy. When you have removed as much as possible, follow up by cleaning and painting.

Lighting and power: Storage is only efficient if you can see what you are looking for, and most cellars are lit by a single bulb or nothing at all. Adding fluorescent lighting coupled with white walls will give the best illumination of all areas. If you are in any doubt about what is involved, contact a qualified electrician.

If there is no existing light point to extend from, a separate 20 amp radial circuit from the consumer unit (which is often conveniently sited in the cellar) is the best solution. This can provide power as well, with the lighting being taken via a 5 amp fused connection unit. Another option is to run a 5 amp fused spur from the power circuit in the room above, making sure that by doing so you do not exceed the maximum floor area that the circuit can serve: 100 sq m for ring circuits; 50 sq m for 30 amp radial circuits. The light switch should be close to, but just inside, the door so that it can be turned on without entering the cellar, but cannot inadvertently be switched on from outside and left on unnoticed.

A separate spur will be needed for power outlets. This should be RCDprotected if you intend using power tools.

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