Solution for a damp garage?

lordrobs

lordrobs

lordrobs

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Joined
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My garage is damp :( Basically I'm getting condensation on the underside of the roof (asbestos) which runs down to the edge of each section then drips off. This means that everything in the garage has a damp feel, ie any cardboard boxes in there feel a bit mushy.

What is my best course of action? My thoughts so far have been to-

Put in an electric workshop heater which I'd have set permanantly low on the thermostat. Problem with this that I would only want to leave it on the frost control setting as I can see it costing me a bomb heating a draughty garage.

Buying a dehumidifier. THB this would have to be £100 max which would get me a unit capable of removing up to 10L a day.

Finally, to mount a / a pair of small fane to the air bricks at the back to try and draw some air flow through.

Any of these ideas any good or should I be looking at a different solution.

Thanks in advace and sorry for the very loose motors link :)
 
I guess removing the roof and fitting an insulated one is out ?

I'd build a ceiling just beneath the roof and insulate it with polystyrene
(fibre batts would just get wet)

and then ventilate the roof space above that with big vents, one at each end


garage floors generally don't have a DPC, so you will get some moisture coming up through the concrete (maybe floor paint would help ?)

I battened out the walls on mine and insulated those too,
I don't feel that heating or dehumidifiers are a solution, mine seems dry without it.


(I'm sure we have some Engineers on here to give you a better answer)


.
 
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Thanks for the reply.

The roof pannels overlap with next doors garage. Problem is its rented otherwise I'd have got a quote for the whole lot and said "what you think to splitting this 50/50"

I like the idea of an insulatd space underneath the roof though, hadn't thought of that. Would have to be a bit careful just how much clearance I give up as at some point its been extended to make a tandem garage, obviously they had to continue the pitch of the original roof so towards the back end it starts getting a bit low. Still high enough for me (6'0") to move around without stooping.
 
merlin said:
Few cans of expanding foam?

Leave it with some breathing space though...
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That was my first thought but after sitting in there when it was hammering it down last night (yes my life is that dull :p ) it isn't actually leaking at all, just moisture condensing on the underside of the roof. I'd have prefered a leak as that would have been easier to fix :o
 
You probably need better ventialtion if the inside of the ceiling is getting condensation issue, check the vents etc arn't blocked with leafs or birds nests etc.

Maybe some gutters added to catch and control where the water is going. The humidity must be resonably high in the garage for condensation to occur on a large scale so dealing with the water ingress is a better solution than managing the water control.

Is it an external garage? Pitched or flat roof?
 
tonyyeb said:
How about asking your landlord to see if they would do anything about it?
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Sorry my post wasn't very clear. We own our house, the bungalow next door is rented and their garage roof overlaps ours and vice versa. I'll have to have a word with the neighbours and see if theirs is the same. If not I can't really see the landlord being too accomodating :D

Jonnycoupe- their are two vey small ventilation bricks which were slightly blocked with cobwebs. I cleared them out but behind that is a fence about 6 inches away so I doubt their is much air flow which is probably the problem.

The inside of the roof is actually dripping wet on a cold evening / morning but bone dry as it heats up so there must be a lot of moisture in there. I'm thinking I'm better off tackling that first then once the humidity is at a decent level tackle the problem long term. Maybe just leaving the door open as much as possible will be enough to start drying it out. If not I might be able to rent an industrial de-humidifier at mates rates.
 
lordrobs said:
Sorry my post wasn't very clear. We own our house, the bungalow next door is rented and their garage roof overlaps ours and vice versa. I'll have to have a word with the neighbours and see if theirs is the same. If not I can't really see the landlord being too accomodating :D
Click to expand...

Ah I see! Thanks for clearing that one up!
 
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