moisture problem

[dustym]

Good site, I am glad i was pointed here.
Some of you have some really nice garages and shops, then theres mine.

I had this put in place a couple of years ago, and I put the front and back walls up last year. I have a bad moisture problem and I am not sure what else I can do. I have put a vent in front and have a open window in the rear. I put 2" styrofoam on the ceiling and the walls, and have a gravel floor. I have all kinds of moisture running fron the walls and ceilings. All of the wood that didnt have a finish is moldy tools are getting a light rust on parts and water gets all over my car. What else can I do,except move to a warmer climate.
Here is what I have.

I do have doors on this.

Thanks for looking.
Tim

 

[goodfellow]

Most likely because you don't have a moisture barrier in the floor. The bare ground wicks moisture into the interior of the garage and it condenses on the colder exterior walls. This is a continuous process and without proper air circulation it will continue to damage everything in that enclosed area.

I'd put down a good moisture barrier membrane, (not plastic sheeting) and then add gravel, or spend a few bucks and add a proper concrete floor. Other than that, go back to what you had before and allow more air to circulate.

 

[Kevin54]

Yep....moisture is coming up from the floor. Without a moisture barrier, you are pretty much screwed. If you have the walls and ceiling insulated, and are not planning on any concrete anytime soon, I would put down some visqueen (plastic) and toss some gravel down over that. but be aware that the gravel would eventually poke holes through it, if running the car or anything heavy in and out.

 

[Torque1st]

Vent fan on a humidistat.

 

[e-tek]

Vent fan on a humidistat.

x2. All ou need is to remove the moisture as it is produced. The Humidistat will run the fan when humidity is over your setting (40-50% is good) and turn it off when it's right.

But you need a decent fan. A 1/4-1/3HP barn fan is good.

 

[dustym]

Thanks for the tips. I do plan on pulling the gravel out and put a barrier down, but since I cant do anything too permanent, I was going to go with concrete blocks at this time. I will look into the fan though.

 

[FXR]

Maybe you could scoop out the gravel, put down heavy mil plastic over some sand, more sand, then use some sorta landscape paver/walkway slabs to give you a hard surface that will not be all dusty etc..

 

[Bucknut]

Do a barrier. I had a similar problem in my newly constructed house on a crawl space. Did a lot of research on the web, and I found that a dirt or gravel crawl space can release up to 20 gallons of water a day into the living space. I put down a vapor barrier in the crawl and have not had one drop of condesation on the windows since.

 

[ironman2424]

scoop out the gravel. put in a layer of sand and compact it good. lay down a good 6mil plastic and use concrete pavers for a floor. sweep sand between any cracks and see if that helps. if it does great and if it dont then make a nice walkway to the garage with the pavers. and try something else.

 

[ironman2424]

or put plactic down and leave the gravel in place and put sand then pavers over that.

 

[Torque1st]

Some people use sand mix sackrete between the pavers and let it harden with moisture. It cracks but stays in place better than sand.

 

[SteveU]

This time of year is bad for getting condensation from the warm moist air outside hitting the cold objects inside. Is this an ongoing problem or just happen around times of large temperature & humidity changes?

 

[raccoon]

I'm sure you'll fix it, the dog seems pretty happy with the garage haha..
Great tips on here. wish i could help out in a way. Although everything said here makes complete sense.
Just need the money ..

Good luck!

 

[dustym]

or put plactic down and leave the gravel in place and put sand then pavers over that.

I need to lower the level inside, so thats why I am going to try to take the gravel out.

 

[dustym]

This time of year is bad for getting condensation from the warm moist air outside hitting the cold objects inside. Is this an ongoing problem or just happen around times of large temperature & humidity changes?

A lot has to do with the changing temps, thats why the vents at each end has help to a certain degree.

 

[mpraddict]

The reason you're seeing recommendations about putting the VB (actually vapor retarder is the more correct term) in a sand bed is so that it doesn't get damaged by the gravel. The problem with putting exposed gravel directly on top of a VB is that in a short amount of time the gravel will puncture the VB leaving it useless.

 

[dustym]

The reason you're seeing recommendations about putting the VB (actually vapor retarder is the more correct term) in a sand bed is so that it doesn't get damaged by the gravel. The problem with putting exposed gravel directly on top of a VB is that in a short amount of time the gravel will puncture the VB leaving it useless.

I wasnt going to replace the gravel. This is built on hard clay as it is, so I was just going to level it out, vb then some sand and then the concrete blocks. I an tired of the gravel as it is.

Thanks for all the suggestions and help.

 

[Torque1st]

I wasnt going to replace the gravel. This is built on hard clay as it is, so I was just going to level it out, vb then some sand and then the concrete blocks. I an tired of the gravel as it is.

Thanks for all the suggestions and help.

Without sand under the VB to protect it from the gravel it will be totally useless to put it down. If you don't do the job right don't do it at all.

 

[dustym]

Without sand under the VB to protect it from the gravel it will be totally useless to put it down. If you don't do the job right don't do it at all.

I am taking the gravel out, putting the vapor barrier on the clay soil then sand,then blocks. the gravel is going out into the drive way, and not being brought back in. It would raise the floor too much if I left it in.

 

[Torque1st]

You will still need sand under the VB to protect it from the gravel embedded in the clay or sharp chunks of dried clay.