Help, I have a 30x40 pole building, concrete floor, no insulation, mainly to store cars in, today I went out there every thing is wet the weather has been in the 20,s and 30,s today it is 60. This happens several times a year around here. I have two ceiling fans that run on low all the time most of the time that helps. Any ideas other than full insulation.
Keep some desicant(sp?) in the building, it will help absorb some of the moisture... might put some in smaller containers and put in the floorboard of each car...
I have two pole barns. The first one I built i'm very happy with. Dry all the time . Drive my dad nuts because he has 4 and they drips all the time too in temperature change. The only thing we came up with is mine at the last minute I had eaves lite installed all the way around. Leaves the sun in at all times and we think that is why mine is so dry. But then I built my second the same way, I thought. That one drips all the time. My buddy that built it admits they added some charcoal type fiber mesh at the peak. It suppose to slow down the rapid change in temp. inside or something like that. I'm going to remove it to see if that is my problem. Otherwise I'm at a lost. Both sheds are built identical otherwise. Steve
how's the air circulation? get a lot of infiltration? (air from outside) learned this on another forum, and damned it works well.... get a couple burlap or tight mesh (breathable) bags full of rock salt (~40lbs of it)... hang the bag over a 5 gallon bucket... the bag of rock salt will wick moisture out of the air, and it drips into the 5 gallon bucket. empty the bucket once in a while, but not where the wife's plants are... enough salt in the water to kill 'em. i've got one in my carriage house, which is prone to TONS of moisture... keeps the air quite dry. 3 months ago, the bag was 42.1lbs... last week it was 41.7lbs. doesn't use much salt... so it should last quite a while. i had some concern with metal rusting, because of "salt air".... but have quite a lot of bare metal in there, no rusting. MUCH better than before the backwoods dehumidifier...
I have the same problem.Moisture is always a problem in the cold months.I have a cabin that used to always smell like mold or mildew when it was closed up and the weather was real damp.I took a friends suggestion and painted the floor with a good sealer and I'd say that 85% of my problems were solved.The cement was acting like a wick,and the sealer stopped it.When I get time to get my garage cleaned out I'm going to apply a good floor paint and hope it works.
I use a dehumidifier also. And FYI most people are not aware that concrete never stops hardening and continues to emit alkaline fumes that will dry rot rubber and rust steel. For car guys like us, floors and concrete blocks should be sealed with a good sealer as Oldmanolds said above.
Get a cheap AC unit...not a swamp cooler. the refigerated AC units were originally designed to be dehumidifiers. run the hose into a bucket pour out as needed. A bonus is it'll keep the room cool in the summer.
with the backwoods dehumidifier, if'n ya got a large space and poor circulation, a cheap little fan aimed at the bag of rock salt helps a lot... i don't bother with the fan, because my shop is small. give it a few days to really get going, and you'll notice a sharp drop in humidity. there was enough moisture in my shop, that i'd get condensation on everything. not anymore. $4 for 50lbs of rock salt, had a burlap bag, had a bucket... doesn't get much cheaper than that. i used to run a small a/c in my last shop, for humidity issues... but the damned thing cost me ~$35/month in electricity. then i got a dehumidifier... ran that all the time. lots cheaper on the electric... but the rock salt gets more humidity out of the air, and "runs" for free
Warm, moist air hits a cold surface and condenses. My son-in-law lives in Bowling Green, KY and was complaining about his barn having the same problem. Can't do a lot about it, unless you can afford to run a big dehumidifier, but I'd hate to pay for the electricity it would take to run one (or several) big enough to take care of a 40'x60' pole barn
Used to be a BIG problem in my last garage- When I built this one, I put 6mil visquene over the re-bar before they poured the concrete. End of problem. Outside air infiltration contributes heavily to the problem, as well. Sealing the space pays off even if you don't heat seasonally.
i have picked up old used carpet at the curb on garbage day and spread it on the floor ----works good at absorbing moisture if not real bad ----and it is cheap ---throw it out in the spring -----------daaaah ----make sure you go garbage picking on a dry day -----
I park all my cars on plastic, seems to help. You need LOTS of circulation. Make sure the roof, eaves and everywhere else you can has a vent in it. Just my 2 cents Jim
The problem that I have and most people have is when you throw open the doors on a warm day after a cold spell. All the metal in the shop is cold. the warm moist air that rushes in hits the cold metal surfaces and condenses just like dew in the morning. There ain't a dehumidifier in the world that can work that fast to eliminate the problem. You go into the garage and it's warmer outside. You throw open the doors to warm it up and you get instant rust on unprotected surfaces. It's a major problem with heavy machine tools that take a long time to warm up. If you have heat and can warm up the metal above the dew point of the warm moist outside air before you throw open the door then there will be no condensation. That is why the phenomenon doesn't take place in your house. If you have moisture problems not related to sudden changes in air temps then a dehumidifier can take the excess moisture out of the air.
I have the same problem turned the fan on and it cleared up in a shot time. Keep the moisture on your end of the street.
Yep, lay down some 4mil plastic, then if you add on top of that a sheet of partical board to absorb more moisture the car will be dry. Or you can build a ba*****t under your garage.....Thing is you need a moisture barrier between the ground and your car, and bare cement is not a moisture barrier. If your pouring cement, put some visqueen under the ready rod and pour the cement over that. Takes a day or two longer for the cement to dry, but solves a lifetime of wet floors. Gene
my shop at my old house would keep everything damp, no insulation or interior walls. I bought the house we are in now and Im working out of the attached garage for now. everything is staying dry and no rust is ac***ulating on the bare metal. even my tools stopped rusting. I dont have an answer just an observation...
If your cars have water on them, nothing aside from an actual dehumidifier is gonna get rid of it all... or prevent it. I got "good" one at Lowes for about 189.00 and keep it set at 50% humidity 365 days a year... it kicks off and on as needed... you can run a hose to a drain and forget about it entirely, or be stupid like me and go out and dump the water out of the pan once every few days... You'd be AMAZED at how much water a dehimidifier pulls out of the air. It may cost me a few extra bucks a month in electricity, and of course the initial expense of the dehumidifier, but if you have any cars that are worth anything, the money is well spent... otherwise you would be just as well off to push 'em outside in the snow.
Thanks for all the ideas guys, looks like sealing the floor will help because all of the cars are wet on the bottom, nothing over half way up. Thanks.............
yeh, its in the 60s here too and my original (suede?) caddy headliner is stained from moisture,and the bottom of the car is wet.(cement floor garage) it lasted 48 years until michigan got it. damn you winter! I will try the salt trick before it is 10 degrees again.
I just put a pole barn addition onto my garage. the walls and ceiling have 1" foam panels attached to the purlins in between the studs. this leaves an air space between the foam panels and the metal from the bottom of the walls up to the ridge vent. and keeps condensation from forming on the inside of the metal. It was 55 outside today here with 2ft of snow on the ground-nice and dry inside. I also have 5mil poly. under the slab. My other uninsulated pole barn is wet inside.....
It's called the dew point. The air heats up faster than the car, and the air condenses moisture onto the cold steel like it does on a can of beer. Best thing you can do is keep the temp as steady as you can. You could insulate and never heat it, and as long as the car temp and air temp is the same, you will not have condensation. May work if you can find car covers that seal the car up. Someone should make a cover that you drive onto, and seals like a ziplock bag. Then you could hook a vacuume cleaner to it and **** all the air out. That would do it.
The Jalopy Journal
