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Help needed

Willz22

Willz22

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I have a single wall garage freshly painted on the inside and will paint the concrete floor in the coming weeks.

I will soon be adding a lathe, mill and some other machines and didnt think about moisture and rust prevention.

I have a medium size dehumidifier and plan to buy a small log burner but over night what are my options.

How are you all managing this ?

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Ventilation is a must.
And possibly insulate the roof/ceiling.

A frost heater might be of benefit, I had one in a similarly built but smaller armoury and that kept the rust away.
 
That's a lovely space for a workshop!

I've partitioned my garage, with the back half being my workshop. There's a sliding door between the two halves.
The partition is stud, filled with Knauf Eko loft insulation then cladding with ply both sides. The same for the roof.
All the walls are insulated with Kingspan Thermowall sheets 50mm thick then cladded with ply.
I have a small vent above the door.
The heating is from a small oil filled radiator which runs off a thermostat set at 15°C.
I have a lathe, mill, drill press, bench and cupboards all in the back half. My machines are completely rust free.

My tool and cutter grinder and pedestal grinders are in the front half. I regularly have to oil my cutter grinder to try to keep the rust from taking hold.

Another tip that I picked up was to double the amount of sockets you think you will need.
This turned out to be spot on advise!

Good luck with it!
 
I worked with surveyors and damp specialists for decades. It's all about ventilation, not insulation. You shouldn't need a dehumidifier unless you're generating moisture. Water has three main states 1. Water. 2. Steam (airborne). 3. Ice. A sink, cold water tap will be fine (no steam, occasional kettle maybe).

You can heat the internal space occasionally, it'll warm the space and 'purge' airborne moisture, but generally the internal temp should match the outside with no issues and it'll stay dry. My 6 x 3 meter wooden shed is always moisture free and nothing has rusted (three 2 strokes, carpentry machinery) because it's well vented.
 
Again, plenty of ventilation is a must.
Plus, in my garage I found it better when I laid an old carpet on the floor.
Condensation is caused when warmer, moist air touches colder surfaces, so try to keep the internal space
the same temperature as much as possible.
 
Board that roof up and line the walls first step, keeps the heat better.
Cheaper way to improve the cold is lay 5mm durbar rubber matting but it dont last 2 years when coolant gets at it. Have 2 industrial carpeted mats on top, great for dropsies.
Another vote for a diesel heater, mines gone down again but cheap to repair, £19 for a burner thats just arrived.
Rarely get any condensation, usual times are October and around March the chucks rust a bit and absorbs about 6 ltrs per week in winter from coolant tanks, a lot more in summer.

I could fill that area with tools etc, have down sized, gave a lot away and still have to use another area 22 ft long for lesser used stuff. Great bit have windows for natural light.
 
As others have said insolate the walls and especially the roof if it has corrugated tin type this dose get moisture build up --If it is the corrugated type you can add the bitumen type of sheets over the top that will stop any moisture on the inside --This was done to a garage i mate had he started using it as a tool store but was shocked when the colder weather came and he got load of water dropping from the roof we covered the roof with the above mentioned it sorted it --if you have a wood roof it is still worth putting some insolation between the joist's and then boarding it with 3mm ply then paint that and also as said put in some air vents in the door -- Light air flow also helps the dreaded dampness --Also putting in one of these will help suck any water of of the air i have one running in my workshop it fills up from 7-10 days https://www.amazon.co.uk/Senelux-Po...sc=1&msclkid=4e86e512c61215ccc6ad8c862469a38b
 
Appreciate the help gents 👍 I was recommended to partition off part of the garage but wasnt keen on the idea. Guess i have no choice but to stud wall and insulate the whole garage 🫩

Ive had humidity and temp sensors in there for a few days and ive been checking regularly. During the day temp 12c and 75% humidity.....At night 10c and 70% humidity. Not great but thats with no air ciruculaion and also no dehumidifier on. I managed to get it down to 57.7 % and 11c at night with my medium size dehumidifier unit but this was running constantly.
 
My garage is exactly like this, but mine gets worse humidity as I’m a few miles for the west coast of Scotland.

Most items in the garage stay dry, but my motorcycle gets condensation and drips.

I tried more ventilation and it did not help, I ended up restricting the ventilation to stop more moist air entering, and I’m also running a couple of low wattage fans 24/7 for air flow round the bike.

This has made things better, but not solved it completely. In a month or two I’m getting a load of batteries installed as part of a solar array I’m putting in, and I’ve deliberately put them in the garage to increase the air temp by a degree or two so it’s warmer than outside to try and limit the condensation.

There are lots of people saying get more ventilation, but that does not solve certain situations, and the fact I have two fans permanently moving air round the bike prove this.
 
If you get an arete one 25l dehumidifier, it would do that room no problem, it turns itself on and off when needed and you can set the humidity down to 40. No mould, moisture or rust problems, especially if combined with a little heat now and then as previously suggested.

Then get the walls and cieling insulated and boarded up, then cover with mould resistant paint.

Awesome space btw.
 
jesim1 said:
My garage is exactly like this, but mine gets worse humidity as I’m a few miles for the west coast of Scotland.

Most items in the garage stay dry, but my motorcycle gets condensation and drips.

I tried more ventilation and it did not help, I ended up restricting the ventilation to stop more moist air entering, and I’m also running a couple of low wattage fans 24/7 for air flow round the bike.

This has made things better, but not solved it completely. In a month or two I’m getting a load of batteries installed as part of a solar array I’m putting in, and I’ve deliberately put them in the garage to increase the air temp by a degree or two so it’s warmer than outside to try and limit the condensation.

There are lots of people saying get more ventilation, but that does not solve certain situations, and the fact I have two fans permanently moving air round the bike prove this.
Click to expand...
Ive also been asking gemini alongside this thread and Ai mentioned exhaust will not only remove humid air but it will draw it back in from outside and stated the exhaust fan can be a benefit but to be used in an automated setup with a heater and actually only exhausting the garage 3 times a day for only 10 minutes to help with stagnant moisture/air 👍
 
mrmetheman said:
If you get an arete one 25l dehumidifier, it would do that room no problem, it turns itself on and off when needed and you can set the humidity down to 40. No mould, moisture or rust problems, especially if combined with a little heat now and then as previously suggested.

Then get the walls and cieling insulated and boarded up, then cover with mould resistant paint.

Awesome space btw.
Click to expand...
My unit is 16L/day and managed to bring down to 57 - 62 so im hoping once fully insuated it will work as good as yours.
My only concern is running a 400watt dehumidifier constantly.
 
Willz22 said:
My unit is 16L/day and managed to bring down to 57 - 62 so im hoping once fully insuated it will work as good as yours.
My only concern is running a 400watt dehumidifier constantly.
Click to expand...
Yea, 400w 24/7 is a big draw, my little fans are about 8w, but being so close to the bike you can clearly feel the air flow. The idea of putting the home storage batteries in the garage as passive heating is hopefully the answer while not costing me any more by harnessing produced heat which would otherwise be lost outside.

Insulation is not an answer for me, the high costs make it unattractive, and without additional heating it would still be subject to the outside elements, so I’m hoping my solution is the answers.
 
I think with the arete one, turned on constantly for the full year costs about £330 additional on my electricity bill.

BUT it doesnt stay on constantly, it turns off at set humidity levels, then turns on every half hour without the compressor to sense the humidity levels, then either turns on or remains off... and repeat.

Also when the container fills with water it turns off until emptied.

My assumption is to expect a £200 increase. The benefit is it stops the mould completely.
 
I went on ebay, bought a pallet of seconds insulation board, and placed them behind sheets of OSB
this lets me easily attach anything anywhere, all the electrics run on the outside in trucking so a spur can be easily added
Diesel heater on the outside wall, and a dark grey fibreglass roof looking south and it keeps it warn during the nights
Without heat I've not seen it drop below 4c even with snow outside
A roller shutter added last year was another massive improvement,
 
My experience. cold & damp atmospheres will cause surface rust on exposed metal surfaces, to reduce this threat a dehumidifier when working well is effective, as for the cold, insulation and low level heating makes it comfortable. The building being totally weatherproof & draughtproof goes without saying.
 
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