Weatherpoofing a Shed

Tester46

Hi, not sure whether to put this in the DIY or Construction forum, but I've settled on DIY as I will be doing it myself!

I live in an old farmhouse in a rural area. I have an old stone and lime mortar built outbuilding/shed next to the house. It gets very wet in the winter. It is already electrified as my well pump lives there. I need to weatherproof it so can put a washing machine, freezer, etc. out there.

The water currently comes in in three main ways. First, one stone wall of the shed is up against an earth bank, so some water seeps through it. I was thinking of digging down with a spade to ground level through the earth bank and putting plastic tanking sheets between the outside of the wall and the earth bank. I could also use paint-on plastic tanking on the inside of the wall to be sure, to be sure...

Second, condensation condenses on the corrugated metal roof in winter and freezes. As it melts during the day, it literally "rains" inside the shed - big problem if I have electrical appliances in there. Is there some kind of spray on insulation I could spray onto the inside of the corrugated iron roof to stop this happening?

Third, there is no door on the shed. I will put one on. Obviously. But, it won't be completely waterproof, there'll still be a fair amount of "ventilation", but that should be ok if the shed is mostly dry? Presumably a bit of air movement is preferable or should I be looking to completely dryline and insulate the shed?

All advice is gratefully received - I'm not great with this kind of work, but I'd like to do it myself if I can.

my3cents

Don't have time for a long reply but don't waste money painting anything on the inside of a wall that has an earth bank against it. You have to put anything on the outside so the water pressure pushes the material against the wall put, it on the inside and the water is already behind it and will push it off.

If you can dig out at the back of the wall I wouldn't bother putting anything on it as if it can't come through it will just come up instead so I would dig out to floor level (outside) put in a drain below floor level then back fill with gravel. The drain obviously needs somewhere to take the water. Before back filling I'd repoint the wall if necessary and use a porous geotextile against the earth bank just to help keep the gravel clean.

gutteruu

Can't help much, but on the shed I just built, I used "Alububble" underneath my steel roof. Condensation falls onto it and drains to bottom and out through sofit vents. It works as insulation aswell. Pretty cheap too. (it is under battons and steel roof is on top of battons so 2 inch gap.)

I would dig out earth and tank the wall as its only way to stop it properly. Leave new door as is as ventilation stops condensation (no temperature difference)

monseiur

Hi,
Firstly dig out all the earth bank down to below floor level, a 3 foot wide clearance should do. Depending on the nature of the soil, you may have to build a retaining wall to keep the remaining earth bank in position, a simple stone wall should do, step every row of stone gradually into the soil as the wall rises.
Then remove all the old lime mortar and repoint all the stonework with fresh mortar - add some waterproofing agent to the mix. Depending on the size of the shed and indeed the size of the stones, this can be a slow and tedious job !
If the existing roof is in poor condition i.e. consider replacing it with an insulated sheet, otherwise have it pressure sprayed internally with an insulating material (there are loads of companies who specialise in this kind of work) this will solve the condensation problem.
Regarding the door, you can make one using 225mm x 18mm boards, boards will be standing vertical, side by side, cut one board in 3 to run horizontal, top, middle and bottom, screw or nail boards on to them, use 3 Tee hinges to hang door + slip bolt - job done (consider using pressure treated timber)
If there are no windows for ventilation consider fitting two half doors, the top half could be left open except in inclement weather.
*** Depending on the height of the building etc. before removing the earth bank perhaps you could use it instead of scaffolding / ladder for removing old lime mortar and repointing etc.