My garage is part of my house, In Pa here we been missing the big snow.. But had a lot of rain ... Never paid attention but my car in it is wet,damp.... Seems when it rains it fogs up the garage windows in it..Temp been down to the single digits. any recommendations of how to keep it dry... There is no water coming in just moisture.Above the garage is a dry heated room..Thanks
I have a portable A/C unit that has a dehumidifier setting on it, doesnt make it colder but does suck all the moisture outta the air...I would think that they make a standard dehumidifier that doesnt cost what the portable A/C unit does
just the only one that matters.... move to southern california. the only single digits we get here is the humidity and then the wild fires start...woo hooo!! tons of fun running from those babies. later dudes chuck
Run a fan, the air movement will keep the moisture down. if you have a window open it while running the fan & create air movement. It works I do the same thing in my basement I run a box fan just about all year. No flash rust on any of my stored parts, no damp smell. Here in Milwaukee, WI we get similar weather, I use a fan, it keeps the condensation way down. The key is air movement, or very warm air forced in thour garage, also translating to air being circulated. You go ahead & laugh, it works. Carl
could be ground water migrating up from the cold ground into the warmer (relatively) garage space. Get a couple cheapo tarps lay them on the floor, close to the walls as possible ad park on the tarps.
it is just damp ill trade you i should have took a picture of my garage today 3 inches of water took 4 hours to pump it out of the yard and garage Paul Jug
Most likely when the concrete was poured they didn't put down 6 mil poly. It works as a vapor barrier. We use it on every house we pour here in south texas. Most of the older homes do not have it. Concrete is a sponge and it absorbs water.
Same thing here today. My cars were wet in the shop, I actually used a chamois to dry them off. It was so foggy here that you could see the fog rising off the snow. It was 7 degrees here earlier in the week and almost 60 today, add in about 14" of snow and a couple days of rain and everything is wet. I fired up the furnace in the shop and wiped off everything I could; seems to have helped...now we're under a high wind advisory...
Buy a dehumidifier. When I liked in WV, it made all the difference in my garage. Maybe run a heat vent into the area.
It's a problem we have winter long here in the UK. Living near London we don't get really cold weather or bad snow but moisture is a huge problem from October onwards, especially in a concrete garage which many of us have over here. I use a de-humidifier as has been said. Works a treat.
My basement just flooded had inch and half of water in it, we had 2ft of snow on the ground then inch and half of rain today and my sump pump stuck on the off position. Man I hate wet basements!!! Luckily almost everything was in rubbermaid totes so only lost a mat and couple of boxes of paper.
Jeez guys! dont you watch 'Holmes on Homes' !!?? It just a matter of calling the Discovery Channel and gettin Mike to sort out all the big F$#k-ups your builder made when he ripped you off building the place. No insulation and no air movement = moisture.
Go outside and look at your foundation around the garage. Is there water puddled up around it? Do you have working gutters and leaders? How is the grade? Water should run away from the house and garage. Your garage sounds way too tight maybe. Is there soffit and or gable ventilation? I would start there and possibly look into a ridge vent. Apply some waterproofing paint to the floor and along the block foundation. I run a dehumidifier in my basement all summer and it works like a charm. Try one out in your garage, it can't hurt. Bob
I use a dehumidifier and it works a treat. Your garage needs to be "tight" or you will be processing the cold/damp air coming in. On a bad day mine pushes out a bucket full of water every 24 hours, imagine where all that is going!
gable fan works great or one of those roof vents that look like a giant mushroom( both EZ to install). fans are the cheapest way out & work the best.Like someone said even a "box" fan in the window or just sitting on the floor with the window ope a inch or so make a big differance. i had the same problem & solved it with fan. My garage isn't heated though. jimV
Well, this sounds crazy but a good friend of mine swears by it. [ haven't had to try myself ] You get some cardboard boxes break them up so they will lay flat and slide them under the car one layer should do. The car will stay dry. I know he has a light car cover over it so don't know if that matters. From reading some of the statements about the floor preparation it just might solve your problem.
I second the dehumidifier. I bought one at HD and it works great. Mine has a bypass, so I can connect a garden hose, that way I do not have to worry about emptying a bucket. I also bought a heavy duty timer, so it doesn't run 24/7. I think I have it running about 8 hours a day. It wasn't expensive, under $200. Bonus: it expels warm dry air, so it can actually warm up the garage a bit as well.
start with http://ugl.com/drylokMasonry/masonryWaterproofer/index.php finish with http://www.ucoatitchicago.com/ I'm doing the cardboard thing until I can get mine coated. it helps.
Important please read Not sure whats going on with your garage but this is worth mentioning non-the less. A few years ago we had moisture on all of the windows in the house. We tried everything but nothing helped. At the same time I had a guy helping me with my furnace. One day he said, Do you know that carbon monoxide causes condensation? We checked the pipes inside the walls and they were rotted away. We were very lucky we didnt get poisoned from the gas. Even if this doesnt relate to your problem everyone should check their pipes from time to time.
I added heat to my garage. I think it was the best choice for me. I keep it down to 55 when not working and turn it up to 60-62 when I am working. I head south for the winter months and turn it down as low as it will go. Keeps everything from freezing and warms the air enough to keep it dry and I live on Cape Cod and have lots of salt air. I think everyone should have a decent place to work. If at all possible get that first then move on to projects.
I have the same problem, also in Pa. It's not construction, it's the humidity. Right now we're foggy and 50 degrees f with 100% humidity. My garage looks like its raining indoors. I'll fire up the cars with the doors open, let em warm up, and then shut em down and close the doors. At least it'll dry the engine compartment.
i went out yesterday, sat morn and opened the garage after the cold from this past week...even had it toasty warm friday nite...went out sat just before dark to find all 3 cars soaked from condensation i guess due to all the warm air trying to get in cause it was super cold from the nite and was 60 druing the day.........suck ass part is now i have a bad case of flash on everything that i have bare...so i gues this week will be re scuff and color it week..really pissed me off cause i was just braggin the nite before about how well the new super bell front was doing without paint on it to my buddy..........oh well i was tired of looking at it and the body being shinny metal colored...just wasn't in the game plan to be throwing paint on it yet....figured i was good for a few months with the cold of michigan winter set in...was a nice 60 day, but my garage didn't like it!!!!!!!kept me from stripping any more off the new nose grille...........what seals best?? doesn't primer soak up moisture???????????was thinking a few cans of cheap rattle can paint instead of primer???????????
Don't use an unvented heater, water is a byproduct of combustion, if the heater isn't properly vented the moister will be trapped inside. Also when bringing a wet or snow or ice covered car in, that moisture is trapped inside the garage. A dehumidifier is pobably the best way to go.
I'm from upstate N.Y. we always had a walk in basement, we always had a dehumidifier running and the basement was always dry. My new home in Kentucky also has a walk oout basement, and I've got a big hinkin' dehumidifier running in it too. My wife shut it off a couople of weeks ago, and when I came in the glass was all fogged over. I turned it back on, and its dry as a bone again. Rather than empty a pan continually, like we didi in N.Y., I've got this one plumbed into the floor drain.
Exactly! this is what I have! I went ot Lowes today ,my garage for the house is a one car one... So I got the smallest one 25 pints less than 1 hour the floors started to look like summer dry! took the car out for a drive.. Pa today mostly dry cool sunny 51 degrees so I left the door open and all is dry! NOW I can enjoy the STEELER game ... Thanks alot for the info...DANiel
I've got the same problem. It's not the concrete! When the temp goes down at night, the 'stuff' gets cold. When the temperature warms up, moisture condenses on the cold 'stuff'. Same thing happens to a glass of cold water/ iced tea/ cold beer? The only way to fix it,... keep everything in the place warm and water will not condense on it. Good Luck! Lucky667
The Jalopy Journal
