Excessive moisture... what to do

[Alejandro__]

Hey guys,
Third post. I've introduced myself, I've shown my work to date...

now my issue.

The guy who built the garage just poured a pad and put the 2x4's right on top. Over the last 40 years, the pad has moved, the wood has rotted, etc. There's a depression outside so that the patio is lower by the corner of the garage and water pools there sometimes. i.e. heavy rain. The patio is interlocking brick... I suspect I'll have to address that this summer.

The epoxy I put in used a pvc baseboard that brought the epoxy up 6" and that stopped the water from coming in the garage. I suspect its still back there rotting the wood. Hence the need to address the grade.

But I think I might have made the garage too air tight. What I'm seeing now is that cars come in, snow and ice melts into pools of water... and it never goes away.
The glass on the two windows is completely soaked. You walk in there and you can smell the moisture. You can see the effects on my tools (rust) and I suspect its no good for the cars.

Initial thought is a bathroom fan on a humidistat. I saw something called a Wizzvent which seems like the same idea but in a single package.

Thoughts? Comments? Concerns?

Anyone else have drastic moisture issues? How did you deal with them?
thanks guys.

 

[motorcycle79]

Get Celing fans and dehumidifier squeegee the floor clean. After I give my floor a good squeegee I crack the garage door a in or 2 and it dries fast.

 

[Krodad]

I think for the time being I'd move some air in there and put the first priority on the other water issue. You mentioned you already have rotten plates, and now you're stopping the water in the wall cavity.
That needs to be dealt with toots sweet!

 

[911mike]

Get some fans and run them constantly. My garage is heated and I run 2 ceiling fans and a 24" fan along the floor. I have to mop up as much water as possible but only after a heavy snow fall. The basic rains or 1-2" snow just evaporates.

 

[Alejandro__]

Ya, I got a couple quotes near the end of summer to fix the grade by the problem corner. With an interlocking brick patio that was done quite a while ago... that happens to continue from the front city sidewalk, up to my front door, around the back, covering a large area between the house and garage, then continues along side the garage out the back gate...
is do I just fix that one part? Do I fix the parts where the roots have pushed up the bricks? Do I tear it all out?
But once I fix the grade in that corner I think that should prevent a lot of issues. Still have to deal with what I bring in on the car (i.e. snow). I squeegee. But it just seems perpetually damp in there.
Nobody's heard of, or tried that wizzvent thing?

 

[pieceofwork]

I had the same issue when I lived in Colorado. Does the water pool in an area that might allow you to install one or two floor drains? Where I live now, a garage floor drain can be treated like a gutter and drain into the yard - and doens't have to run to septic or sewer.
Edit: Just read that you've epoxied the floor so you might not want to hammer it up to install a drain.

 

[Alejandro__]

I had the same issue when I lived in Colorado. Does the water pool in an area that might allow you to install one or two floor drains? Where I live now, a garage floor drain can be treated like a gutter and drain into the yard - and doens't have to run to septic or sewer.
Edit: Just read that you've epoxied the floor so you might not want to hammer it up to install a drain.

I thought about floor drains... or rather, just drilling a hold through the slab in the problem areas to let it drain.
I've got a squeegee, but its still almost always wet.

I'll start with the fan.

Is there such a thing as a 'two stage' garage heater? i.e fan on, no heat. fan on, heat?

 

[sucking chest wound]

I have more or less the same problem. New construction home, 8 years old. The driveway has settled in such a way that water seeps under one of the garage doors and pools in a corner. Happens when it rains, or when snow on the driveway melts. It needs addressing by a mason (trench drain) but the quotes I've gotten have been outside my budget for now.

I'd probably never really have a problem with it, except that I have two large windows in the garage and the moisture collects on the windows and the sills and trim is already rotting.

I bag the windows up now with 3M film in early winter, and that stops the moisture collecting on the glass and causing problems there. I squeegee any pools of water out, and on dry days I run a fan with the garage doors cracked or open. It's mostly solved a problem I thought was getting away from me.

Still, I'd like a vent-fan like solution. I'd have no problem blasting a hole in the side of the garage and installing a vent that was triggered by humidity or even manually controlled.