Concrete garage insulation

[Woody]

My mother in law has a concrete garage which she had put up a couple of years back.
She gets quite bad condensation and doesn't like storing much in there as it ends up damp if it touches the walls etc.

What's the best way to add some insulation to cut down the condensation?

Cheers

[PAULJ5555]

What heat will the insulation keep in if you do it, is there heating in there?

Where is the condensation coming from, what is wet/damp in the garage?

[V8RX7]

Is the roof metal ?

[battered]

Concrete garages are a pain. The slightest leak will have it damp for ever.The biggest problem is there is no or minimal ventilation and the walls are utterly impervious.

In order I would:
- Ventilate
- dehumidify (needs trace heating in winter)
- insulate
- start again

If you are going to insulate you need to build a box in a box so that moisture that forms between the 2 leaves will ventilate to the eaves and not soak through to the inner leaf.

[Woody]

Roof isn't metal - it's the cement sheets.
No water ingress that I can see, the inside of the concrete panels just seem to have condensation on them.
It gets used for keeping the car in, so there's one heat source when the car is put away I suppose.

[Spuffington]

We have a prefab concrete garage with a tin roof and it's absolutely beyond useless for anything other than locking away my car.

We also have masses of condensation, a decent gap between the tin roof and the tops of the walls which allows birds to nest in there - fine example was parking my Uncle's i8 in there for two weeks and opening it to find swallows had shat on every single panel!!

Only good thing is that I'm not to blame - previous owner put it up and as soon as I have enough spondoolies, it's coming down and being replaced with something fit for purpose!

Sorry - that doesn't help much. But is completely empathetic!

[V8RX7]

Woody said:

Roof isn't metal - it's the cement sheets.

No water ingress that I can see, the inside of the concrete panels just seem to have condensation on them.

It gets used for keeping the car in, so there's one heat source when the car is put away I suppose.

Condensation even now ?

Ventilation rather than insulation IMO

[Woody]

Will get her to keep the window cracked open and see how that goes.

Seems odd to provided double glazed windows/doors in a single skin concrete construction.

[Tommo Two]

You have me nervous now! I'm about to order a Hanson Garage for storing of race car & Tools & Spares, etc.

Is there anything i should or can do before building it or include on the order to minimize condensation?

[battered]

Lots of ventilation.
Prevent leaks.
Seal the floor/wall joints.

[S11Steve]

We have a similar concrete sectional garage which has a corrugated concrete/asbestos type of roof. The barn doors at the front are starting to perish and rot at the bottom, and the rear door is not the best fit in the frame, however it is dry because of the ventilation.

A new garage will be built next year, and the existing one will become a bike shed & lawnmower store.

[Woody]

Thanks guys - will try and sort some ventilation out.

I'm guessing if I wanted a nice workshop/bike-cave in the garden I'd be better off going for a decent wooden one?

[battered]

Woody said:

Thanks guys - will try and sort some ventilation out.

I'm guessing if I wanted a nice workshop/bike-cave in the garden I'd be better off going for a decent wooden one?

I'd say so, unless you dry line the concrete job. However security and fire aside a wooden workshop is always nicer than a concrete one.