Ice on inside help

[davey25]

I have a 26 by 28 garage that is attached on 2 sides to my house..the walls are insulated along with the ceiling..it has 2 insulated 10 foot steel doors along with a insulated man door..there are 2 windows which are apparently not thermal..it has a attic hatch and the attic is shared with the rest of the house..the garage is fully dry walled ..the garage is used daily to park cars..it is not heated..now there is ice forming on the inside of the garage doors the man door and the windows..it's so thick you can't even see outside..even the inside of the metal doors that are insulated have a film of ice like your car would outside..the attic hatch is just a piece of drywall and it also has ice on it...all the walls that are drywall and painted have absolutely no ice or water at all..any help would be appreciated ..thanks guys

 

[Caman]

How old is the home?

From the sounds of it you may have positive pressure in the home and pushing warm humid air into the attic. If you have a heat exchanger check that both the inlet and outlet are free from obstruction, both inside and out.

Also peak up into the attic and check that all of your bathroom vents, furnace/water heater vents, and whatever else that may allow humid air into the attic is properly sealed and functioning properly. May want to look into the roof as well to ensure nothing is iced or snowed over.

 

[rburke65]

It would help us to know where you live to better answer your question. Good luck.

 

[davey25]

The home was built in 2013.. Not quite 2 years..I'm in southern Ontario canada..-25 c here right now but that's not normal..avg temp probably -15 in the winter

 

[ZRH`]

It's extremely cold out (Im in the same general geo), you are just seeing some non-typical freezing of the humid air in the garage.

If it's an attached garage I assume there is a door into the house, everytime you open the door you are letting humid air into the garage and it's freezing on the first surface it hits. Same if you park there, you open car door hot air and water escape it freezes inside the garage.

I wouldnt worry as long as it's not to severe and the meltwater has somewhere to drain. If you melt it now it's just going to refreeze on the ground

 

[davey25]

I see.. Usually it's a bit warmer than outside in there but it's awfully cold in there..when the outside temp gets maybe -5 the ice melts

 

[ZRH`]

Yeah it's nasty out. My house, 12 years of living here the pipes have never froze, last night the drain, cold, and hot run to the far side all froze solid.

 

[davey25]

Minus 35 tonight ..jeez

 

[Jlbc212]

Moisture is attracted to the coolest temperature surface. If that surface temperature is below the dew point temperature, the water vapor in the air will condense into a liquid state on that surface. If that surface temperature is also below 0*C or 32*F, the water will turn from liquid to solid (frost/ice). As others have pointed out, vehicles brought into a garage in the winter are often laden with moisture.

 

[davey25]

Good to know

 

[Speed4Life]

A nice dehumidifier would probably solve that problem. Although unless the ice is a huge issue or bother it might not be worth the expense.

 

[G McKay]

It sounds normal to me to have ice on the inside of a garage door when the garage isn't heated. Especially in your climate.

 

[venturesomerite]

I was just in a house yesterday that was unheated (foreclosure) had 1/8" of ice floor to ceiling inside it on the sides the sun didn't shine on.

I see it pretty often in the unheated spaces.