Using a garage over winter for a daily.

[EnthusiastOwned]

Hello All,

I finally have a garage to park my car in, for the first time in my life.

The car will be used regularly - Not every day but I'm sure it will go out in the rain, snow and salty British roads at some point over the winter then go straight back into the garage. Realistically no matter how much I want to, I'm not going to be able to wash and dry it every time I use it.

It's a small brick garage (2.1m x 5.4m x 2.8m) and is usually dry over winter and fairly insulated.

What do people recommend to keep the car from prematurely rusting or paint damage from being soaking wet then freezing? I have a cheap oil heater and de-humidifier which can be used but not sure if it's best to heat the garage etc?

Any help here would be appreciated.

[mini1380cc]

If the car is to be used regularly through the winter then i don't see the garage offering any benefit. It is only beneficial for storage to keep cars away from the salty roads. This is where carcoons and the like are good.

[djdestiny]

It won't do it any good at all putting a wet car in a garage, I tried it years ago and even after a few days of it sat in the garage there was still water sat on the bodywork and damp underneath.
It just doesn't get the wind/fresh air to help dry it

[stumpage]

Just park it the garage. No harm will come to it as most garage doors have a good draught coming from them.

Oh and enjoy not having to scrape those frosty windows during winter.

[TommoAE86]

djdestiny said:

It won't do it any good at all putting a wet car in a garage, I tried it years ago and even after a few days of it sat in the garage there was still water sat on the bodywork and damp underneath.
It just doesn't get the wind/fresh air to help dry it

Would putting the car in a carcoon type thing in the garage help? There is one that I'm looking at that has a fan to regulate the humidity... plus the indoor version is a good chuck less than the outdoor out

[kambites]

We garage our cars in the winter. Our garage isn't heated, but it is fairly well insulated and attached to the house so it never drops below freezing. I run a condensing dehumidifier, although the colder it gets the less effective it is.

If you can't keep the garage above freezing there is little point but if you can keep it even slightly above freezing, it's nice to know you wont have to de-ice the thing in the morning or go out in the rain to get to it.

[djdestiny]

stumpage said:

Just park it the garage. No harm will come to it as most garage doors have a good draught coming from them.

Oh and enjoy not having to scrape those frosty windows during winter.

That depends on your garage obviously.
Ours has an electric door which is totally sealed, it does have windows too but even if you leave them open for some air the car will still not be dry after a couple of days.
As for a carcoon, would you really want to mess about with one every day? Seems like a lot of bother just to avoid scraping the windows on a frosty day!

[djdestiny]

kambites said:

it's nice to know you wont have to de-ice the thing in the morning or go out in the rain to get to it.

Unless you have access to the garage from the house and an electric garage door you would get more wet getting the car out of the garage and then having to shut the door once the car is out than just walking to the car on the drive and getting in!

[steveo3002]

car will mostly be wet or damp if left outside , at least inside its keeping the frost and ice off so easier in the mornings if nothing else

just wash and dry when you can , leave the garage open if theres a nice dry breezy day

[EnthusiastOwned]

Well, it's garaged mainly for security and safety - I don't have to worry about it being scratched or marked being outside. The garage has to be closed as I keep my bikes in there.

The car isn't used daily, more like once or twice a week really so if it's wet it'll stay wet for a few days which is what I want to avoid.

I live in a flat and the garage is in the middle of a row of garages next to the flats. It has an electric door and it is sealed pretty well. The only water which gets in the garage, including condensation is what the car brings in. It has a small vent to the rear of the garage but in all intents and purposes the garage is well sealed with very little airflow, even when it's windy.

I was considering insulating the garage door further and weather stripping it, hooking up a humidity extracting vent in place of the brick vent to the rear of the garage (similar to that of bathroom extractors) then just having a decent humidifier running constantly with a permanent water feed to a drain at the front of the garages.

I think that will dry it out pretty well. Will heat help here or make things worse? The oil heater I have can keep the garage toasty hot if needed.

Edited by EnthusiastOwned on Tuesday 26th August 10:29

[sawman]

A few years ago I rented a house with a fairly shonky garage, with holes in the corrugated plastic roof - fortunately the holes were not over the car, I never noted any condensation in that garage. From there we moved to a house with an integral and weatherproof garage. Condensation was tremendous and I had to open the door as much as possible to avoid corrosion

[OldBuoy]

Don't use an oil heater whatever you do, too much moisture generated. No actual point in heating the garage, warm damp is worse than cold damp.

I sometimes leave the doors open front and back when I've put the car away wet, increases ventilation to dry it.

Don't seal the garage, ventilation is the key.

Edited by OldBuoy on Tuesday 26th August 14:53

[kambites]

djdestiny said:

kambites said:

it's nice to know you wont have to de-ice the thing in the morning or go out in the rain to get to it.

Unless you have access to the garage from the house and an electric garage door you would get more wet getting the car out of the garage and then having to shut the door once the car is out than just walking to the car on the drive and getting in!

Indeed. Manual garage doors are the spawn of the devil.