moisture control in a garage

[ezridr60]

I've got a garage built into a hillside, cars are parked on the lower level which is mostly below grade. The upper level houses my woodshop. During the transition from winter to summer as the ground thaws there is a lot of moisture and high humidity within the garage area. I'm assuming the walls, and quite possibly the floor need to be sealed to prevent moisture ingress. the question therefore is what products has anyone used that have worked well. The garage has a heater, but I use it only if I have work to do on the truck, so it's infrequently used. I'd eventually like to paint the walls, but without a sealer I'm afraid the moisture would just peel the paint. Ideas appreciated.

 

[gatewaysysop]

Welcome to the forum. Surprised nobody beat me to it, but I'll be the first to say that you definitely should share some pics of your setup, it sounds pretty cool.

 

[olytdi]

Make sure that you do some focused searching. This topic has been explored previously and there are definite dos/don'ts involved. Usually, you cannot seal out water by putting some sort of coating on the interior surface. The water has to be stopped prior to reaching the floor/wall material.

Alternatively, you can use a ventilator (this is the method I use for a "weepy" floor in winter) or a dehumidifier.

Good luck!

 

[djkeev]

First a question.......or two.......

Is it ground water making the journey through the concrete?
Or......
Is it warm moist air contacting cold concrete and condensing? Not unlike a glass of ice "leaking" all over you table on a hot humid day.


Different problems, different "solutions".

Dave

 

[Milton Shaw]

Tape a piece of clear plastic to floor and wall, if water on top of plastic its condensation if its under the plastic its coming through the floor/wall. Work from there on fixing the problems. Do it in several places as you might have both problems in different areas of the shop.

 

[ezridr60]

First a question.......or two.......

Is it ground water making the journey through the concrete?
Or......
Is it warm moist air contacting cold concrete and condensing? Not unlike a glass of ice "leaking" all over you table on a hot humid day.


Different problems, different "solutions".

Dave

I believe it's warm moist air contacting a cold surface. I have a personnel door on the lower level with glass in the top half. Water droplets form on the glass. Someone suggest taping plastic to the wall and I intend to do that to verify moisture or water leaking in. But I think you can see from the photos the ground has a pretty steep grade away from the building