Why is it wet in my Garage
Why is it wet in my Garage
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Discussion

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

85 months

Wednesday 12th January 2011
quotequote all
Think this may have been done to death but...

Twenty year old detached garage, single brick, tile roof ( no leaks) Wooden doors,wooded window frames, quite drafty.

I just dryed my car with a leather and had to wring it out each side of the car.

Once tried a dehumidifier but it froze, it is 10 degrees outside tonight but why so much condensation?

David

Aussie John

1,021 posts

262 months

Wednesday 12th January 2011
quotequote all
Air temperature gone up, everything in the garage is cold , the air is moist so the moisture condenses on the car. Mine is almost white with damp but in about one or 2 days all the temperatures equalise and everything dry and back to normal.

Milky400

1,960 posts

209 months

Wednesday 12th January 2011
quotequote all
Aussie John said:
Air temperature gone up, everything in the garage is cold , the air is moist so the moisture condenses on the car. Mine is almost white with damp but in about one or 2 days all the temperatures equalise and everything dry and back to normal.
+1

have mine covered in the garage which keeps the car dryer

SILICONE KID

14,997 posts

262 months

Wednesday 12th January 2011
quotequote all
I have a concrete garage with the same problem,im going to fit these boards to the ceiling.


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/POLYFOAM-FLOOR-BOARD-INSULAT...


roysum

961 posts

220 months

Wednesday 12th January 2011
quotequote all
That's amazing ! tonight is the first time I have ever noticed the Tiv looking damp in the garage. That's in two and half years of ownership.

Roy.

scruggs

419 posts

197 months

Wednesday 12th January 2011
quotequote all
Aussie John said:
Air temperature gone up, everything in the garage is cold , the air is moist so the moisture condenses on the car. Mine is almost white with damp but in about one or 2 days all the temperatures equalise and everything dry and back to normal.
As has been said. All to do with the fact that warm air can hold more moisture in suspension than cold air. The surface of your car is cold due to the low temperatures so far this winter in the UK. Today we have a warm moist atmosphere invading your garage. It comes across a cold car and hey presto the cold surface cannot hold as much moisture in suspension so it condenses out onto the cold car body.

If you had a totally sealed garage where the warm moist outside air cannot penetrate you would not get this problem, but as most garages leak like sieves.......

Regards

Scruggs
Certificated Meteorlogical Observer.

blueg33

46,904 posts

255 months

Thursday 13th January 2011
quotequote all
scruggs said:
Scruggs
Certificated Meteorlogical Observer.
Wow how do you get certified? I am an uncertified meteorlogical observer - I look out of the window at the weather getmecoat

Hoover.

5,993 posts

273 months

Thursday 13th January 2011
quotequote all
It's a problem at this time of year......

a few years ago, with out thinking I put the car in the garage wet... and two weeks later it was still wet.

The problem is the water did not evaporate as the mositure content in air was high, and no air circulation as all garage doors shut... probably would have been btter left outside to dry.

scruggs

419 posts

197 months

Thursday 13th January 2011
quotequote all
blueg33 said:
scruggs said:
Scruggs
Certificated Meteorlogical Observer.
Wow how do you get certified? I am an uncertified meteorlogical observer - I look out of the window at the weather getmecoat
It came with the job. But most Met Observers are 'certifiable' anyway!

I would guess an airtight heated garage would avoid the condensation problem and some way to balance the outside and inside air temperatures and humidity.

A rub down with a chamois leather would be cheaper. (the car not the owner)

Edited by scruggs on Thursday 13th January 08:33

fatjon

2,299 posts

244 months

Thursday 13th January 2011
quotequote all
My new house has a wood burning stove in the garage. Now my cars are dry but stink of wood smoke..

P400PLS

404 posts

258 months

Thursday 13th January 2011
quotequote all
Last winter I opened the garage to find what looked like muddly spots of rain on the car.

It was actually condensation on the lining fabric on the inside of the roof tiles, that had dripped on the car.

The car had been in the garage about a week so I don't know the exact weather conditions but I suspect this was as a result of warm air in the garage being cooled at roof level, giving up the moisture and then this dripping down.

My garage is bone dry 99% of the time. There is no heating but when the car gives off a lot of heat during cooling which may have created the dripping.

S6 ROR

1,590 posts

296 months

Thursday 13th January 2011
quotequote all
cliffords said:
Once tried a dehumidifier but it froze, it is 10 degrees outside tonight but why so much condensation?

David
I have an Amber/Ruby Dry which is designd to work at lower temps. Have used it for past two years with no problems. Its amazing how much water they pull out, and the chassis is now bone dry, rather than being soaking wet with condensation. Have a look on here www.dry-it-out.com


Edited by S6 ROR on Thursday 13th January 11:17

Badmutha

658 posts

224 months

Thursday 13th January 2011
quotequote all
Another point worth considering is leaving the car in the garage with a deposit of road salt on it.The car could be dry but the salt will attract moisture in damp conditions and it will soon appear on the cars surfaces.I had this problem and had to wash the body and chassis to get rid of the salt but once it dried off it stayed dry.

dogbucket

1,256 posts

232 months

Thursday 13th January 2011
quotequote all
I have a brick garage but separate to the house. I went the route of completely sealing it up, filling gaps with expanding foam and draft excluders on the doors. Got a cheap dehumidifier which I run sometimes, but of course it ices in the cold.

On the whole this keeps it all pretty dry compared to before. Biggest problem is starting the car to pull it out causes all my tools in the box behind to become instantly soaked.

VXT Tim

55 posts

246 months

Wednesday 23rd February 2011
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Sorry to drag this up, I've just noticed I have this problem although if anything I've made this worse as I have porcelain tiles on the floor.

I'm |--| this close to ripping them up this weekend. I've be told fitting air bricks would help but as suggested above sealing the garage would be a better way to go.

I'm tempted to get some cheapo carpet and put that ontop of the tiles but part of me thinks that will just get damp!

Barkychoc

7,848 posts

235 months

Wednesday 23rd February 2011
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Can't remember who told me to put an old carpet on the floor but it works a treat.

VXT Tim

55 posts

246 months

Wednesday 23rd February 2011
quotequote all
Barkychoc said:
Can't remember who told me to put an old carpet on the floor but it works a treat.
I'm tempted but on top of the tiles, I hope it does stop it as wet carpet would be worse biggrin

bubblehead

264 posts

224 months

Thursday 24th February 2011
quotequote all
I know it's not going to help alot of the posters on this thread but if you have the choice when building/buying a timber garage has none of the damp and condensation problems associated with concrete.

CuffiaDB

174 posts

249 months

Thursday 24th February 2011
quotequote all
I got untold grief from friends and SWMBO when I took an old bedroom carpet and cut it to size in the garage. I also have a couple of cheap large desk fan attached to the wall low down. One in front of the car and one to the rear passenger side. Overkill maybe, but cheap and effective. Fans can be set on a timer, and I've never had problems with condensation or damp ( just mucho urine extraction.... small price to pay!).

Cuffia

Barkychoc

7,848 posts

235 months

Thursday 24th February 2011
quotequote all
CuffiaDB said:
I got untold grief from friends and SWMBO when I took an old bedroom carpet and cut it to size in the garage. I also have a couple of cheap large desk fan attached to the wall low down. One in front of the car and one to the rear passenger side. Overkill maybe, but cheap and effective. Fans can be set on a timer, and I've never had problems with condensation or damp ( just mucho urine extraction.... small price to pay!).

Cuffia
Just don't hoover the carpet in the garage with the door open - the ribbing is even worse!