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I have a root/cold cellar underneath my front porch. The walls appear to be poured concrete as I can't see any bricks or cinder blocks.

The room sweats like crazy so there is an obvious moisture problem. The door to the room is just made of what looks like whatever wood the previous owner had lying around.

I don't use the room and I'd like to eliminate it all together. Is this as simple as removing the door to the room and closing it off?

The only problem I foresee is that the pipe that supplies natural gas runs to my home right through that room.

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  • Do the pipes have any control surfaces on them, knobs, switches, or anything like that? Also is there a reason to wall it up, like children or pets you don't want getting in there?
    – allindal
    Apr 7, 2011 at 19:38

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It probably sweats because it isn't vented properly to the outside and blocked from the inside. If it's truly a cold area, it should be vented to the outside and also vapor blocked from the inside. Most likely hot wet air from your house is mixing with cold air in the cold room and condensing on the walls or something.

They deal with these on episodes of Holmes on Homes all the time. In one episode I think they removed the vents and spray foamed it to be part of the inside house and in another they added vents and a better door to make it separate from the house.

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I wouldn't.

The moisture will just build up and rot your porch from underneath, and you'll risk mold and other unpleasant stuff. Who wants a 'mold cellar' attached to their house?

Plus, hey, extra storage. Put a little time and money into it and you should be able to turn it into cold storage. Paint the walls and floor with some dryloc, put a vent or two in. If you don't have enough 'stuff' to fill it with, rent it to a neighbor as a storage unit. :)

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