Mouldy shed

[myvision]

I had a shed built 24 foot by 8 foot to store my bikes it's fully insulated but I'm starting to see some mound appearing in the corners.

It easily holds the heat but I switch the heater (oil filled radiator) off when I leave I'm now worried about the bikes getting damp and rusting has anyone used one of these dehumidifiers?
https://www.screwfix.com/p/wdh-316db-16ltr-dehumid...

Im thinking leave the heater on and keep the shed at about 10 degrees C and run the dehumidifier over winter.

Anyone any experience of this?

[dern]

I have one of those dehumidifiers and it's pretty good. I use it in my track car to dry it out when it gets condensation in it over winter. You can attach a hose to it to empty the the tank out constantly. I don't know how well it'll work in that kind of area though and you'll need to keep an eye on the electricity it's using.

[3DP]

Just an alternative option to fighting damp - My Godfather used to store some of his classic cars in a shipping container. These get very wet with condensation. Carcoons were his answer that worked well. They do the bike bubbles now, but if multiple bikes, probably cheaper to get one of the carcoon car options and put multiple bikes in it.

https://www.carcoon.com/carcoon-bikebubble

I've had positive results with dehumidifiers too, but you need to get one with enough horse power to cope with the level of damp present. This can be hard to gauge.

[podman]

Perhaps the good work with your insulation has limited the amount of ventilation in the shed , making sure you have decent air flow and you havent blocked every orifice with insulation, install some vents if needs be, id also also check it isnt leaking anywhere.

It shouldn't be that bad , I have some old papers in my wooden shed and they are bone dry without any dehumidifier assistance.

[myvision]

podman said:

Perhaps the good work with your insulation has limited the amount of ventilation in the shed , making sure you have decent air flow and you havent blocked every orifice with insulation, install some vents if needs be, id also also check it isnt leaking anywhere.

It shouldn't be that bad , I have some old papers in my wooden shed and they are bone dry without any dehumidifier assistance.

You might be right with the ventilation I'll get the dehumidifier tomorrow then look at installing some kind of vents.

[Krikkit]

I'd try ventilation first as the running costs are zero. That's the key to a dry, unheated space even if it seems counter intuitive.

[myvision]

Krikkit said:

I'd try ventilation first as the running costs are zero. That's the key to a dry, unheated space even if it seems counter intuitive.

I'm arguing with the shed builder yet that he should be doing it and fixing a few other issues but they're closed till the 7th.
I want to resolve the arguement before I take a saw to it.

[RemaL]

3DP said:

Just an alternative option to fighting damp - My Godfather used to store some of his classic cars in a shipping container. These get very wet with condensation. Carcoons were his answer that worked well. They do the bike bubbles now, but if multiple bikes, probably cheaper to get one of the carcoon car options and put multiple bikes in it.

https://www.carcoon.com/carcoon-bikebubble

I've had positive results with dehumidifiers too, but you need to get one with enough horse power to cope with the level of damp present. This can be hard to gauge.

I have my Bike in the bubble from the above company and used for 2 years. Seems to do a great job. I have tried the Dehumidifier and ventilation but still was not happy with the condensation
My garage is not connected to the house and at the bottom of the garden

[graylag]

dern said:

I have one of those dehumidifiers and it's pretty good. I use it in my track car to dry it out when it gets condensation in it over winter. You can attach a hose to it to empty the the tank out constantly. I don't know how well it'll work in that kind of area though and you'll need to keep an eye on the electricity it's using.

Dehumidifiers cost peanuts to run, worst case scenario if it’s on 24/7/365 would be about £100 a year.

[Rubin215]

graylag said:

dern said:

I have one of those dehumidifiers and it's pretty good. I use it in my track car to dry it out when it gets condensation in it over winter. You can attach a hose to it to empty the the tank out constantly. I don't know how well it'll work in that kind of area though and you'll need to keep an eye on the electricity it's using.

Dehumidifiers cost peanuts to run, worst case scenario if it’s on 24/7/365 would be about £100 a year.

Most dehumidifiers are about 250-500 watts; not exactly cheap if you're running it 24/7, so look for one that has an economy setting or has a humidistat so it turns itself off and on when needed.

Also, if you're running one in an unheated garage a standard compressor dehumidifier won't suck a lot of moisture out of the air, you need to look at buying a desiccant version instead.

The Ecoair DD1 is pretty good, but it's a bit more expensive than what you're looking at, normally about £150.

[Bob_Defly]

If it is properly insulated, and heated, then yes you just need good ventilation.

[myvision]

I went and bought this https://www.screwfix.com/p/wdh-316db-16ltr-dehumid...
This morning I've had it running an hour and I'm amazed at the water it's pulled out the air so far when I plugged it in it was saying we were at 81% I've set it to 60 and the current temperature in there is 14.5C.
So let's see what happens overnight.

[TvrJohn]

can remove 16 litres a day, wow

[Bob_Defly]

That's pretty high humidity, what's the floor?

[leighz]

ventilation as others have said
well sealed roof
functioning guttering that takes rain away from the building makes a massive difference also.

[myvision]

Bob_Defly said:

That's pretty high humidity, what's the floor?

Concrete.

The Mrs has now told me that the day they built it it hammered it down so I'm beginning to wonder if half the issue is the insulation was piss wet when they installed it.
My CCTV will be overwritten now so can't check that but looking at the couple of pictures she took on the day it's all laid out on the lawn in the rain.

I'll empty it at 20:00 and see what we remove overnight.

[Krikkit]

How long between it going up and bring used? Perhaps it needs to dry and it'll improve it.

[myvision]

Krikkit said:

How long between it going up and bring used? Perhaps it needs to dry and it'll improve it.

Built on a Thursday I came back on the Friday and in use on the Saturday I had no option to move gear back in. So yes I hope it's a matter of dry it out and away we go.

Below is what it has removed between 17:00 and 20:00 just over 500ml. The jug is full to the brim!


I don't have any 13mm pipe to put onto the continuous drain but I think the tank will fill overnight.

[LuS1fer]

Bleach kills moss. Instead of water based preserver crap, use Ronseal 5 year stuff. The concrete base should have had a polythene liner but ventilation is key

[gareth h]

myvision said:

Concrete.
.

That'll be the problem, concrete will take a while to dry out, and with no ventilation there's nowhere for the damp to go except condense on the inside walls