Joe Sallustio wrote:
Huh?

Pittsburgh is one big lump of clay and we have water infiltration
issues galore, it has to go somewhere. Most of our foundations are 8
to 12 inch cement block with waterproofing on the outside and french
drains on both the inside and outside in new construction. We usually
fill the ouside perimeter with either gravel or crushed limestone to
get the water away from the walls, we backfill to about 1 foot from
the surface. I would never enter a hole over 6 feet deep without
really well built walls, when they collapse it's a really bad day.

High humidity can cause mold to grow on the outside of a real cork but
it just looks bad, it's not an issue if it's a good cork. That's why
they used to use lead capsules, it would cover the cork and it did not
corrode since the lead was coated too.
Joe


I guess our clay must be different from yours. I know of multiple
100yo+ bare clay root cellars 6-8' deep that are yet to cave in. The
oldest of these was forgotten in the 1910's when the new house was built
over it and rediscovered in 1984 when my father fell through the floor
above this 8' cubed pit. Had he not caught a solid beam with his arms,
he'd have broken a leg or worse. I remember having to walk out across
the floor to my dad with a rope, since I weighed 60lbs and his brother
weighed 290lbs. When the floor was replaced, a trap door was
reinstalled and a new insulated roof was put over the pit. My great
uncle still uses that root cellar for potatoes and the like. Maybe
cave-ins are just a matter of time in all these cases, but I find it
doubtful.

Of course, drainage is mucho important to keeping all those cellars open
(as is keeping the cellar small and built underneath a much larger
structure with its own drains as well) but I didn't think r.c.w was the
appropriate venue for the subject.

Thanks for the tips on avoiding moldy corks. I'd rather just keep my
humidity in the ccrrect range, but if that becomes impossible, I will
look to wax sealing.