Garage, moisture, low temps and ventilation

Vinnie,

I have a 50' X 80' with 14' eve height garage. It is insulated with 6" of insulation. The two garage doors are 14' X 12' and are foam core insulated with rubber seals up the sides. All my windows are double pane gas filled and the window frames are foam filled. Last year I only had a small space heater in the garage and it never got out of the 40's F when it was 5 F outside. I kept house plants in the garage and they did not freeze. I do have water in garage but put the frost free type connections so they do not freeze.

When they poured your floor if they did not put down gravel and then cover with plastic moisture will always wick up through the concrete. They even taped the joints in the plastic when they did mine. They also sealed my floor the day it was poured. I have had no moisture issues. It is a steel building.

If I were you I would put the dehumidifier in and it will automatically control the % of moisture in the air. This is link to large one I have in basement. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Frigidaire-70-Pint-2-Speed-Dehumidifier-ENERGY-STAR/50299673

If you have mold do not blow it around the shop. That is how it spreads through the spores. Lots of people think that chlorine bleach will kill mold on wood but it will not. Bleach molecules are too large to go into the fibers of the wood to kill the roots of the mold. Yes mold has roots. What we call dry rot in the U.S. is caused when the wood gets wet, grows mold from spores that float in and the roots eat the wood and make it decay.

Here in the U.S. you can buy Moldstat a brand of chemical that does kill the mold. They make a machine that makes a fog to do large areas or you can apply by hand for smaller areas. It works I had water pipe break in house while I was in China and had over a foot of water in basement and flooded three rooms. Took months to dry out and had to tear out the walls and remove wet insulation and treat with the Moldstat. They even suggest you seal the wood after that to protect for another attack. I actually just tore the floors out because of tongue and groove that you could not get into to treat. This is link to a site that sells the material I used and also has info that backs up the myth about bleach killing the mold. http://www.cleanertoday.com/mold-killer-moldstat-plus-p/moldstat16.htm

A good sized dehumidifier will also add some heat and might be all you need depending on how well insulated and how cold it gets. I have one in my basement that i do not have to empty it has a garden hose hooked to it and goes to a drain.

You might have to put an electrical heat tape and insulation on your water pipes to protect them. They also work off a thermostat so not on all the time.

I did purchase a good sized propane heater this summer to go in the garage to give some more heat. I have a separate room that I work in so I do not have to heat the entire garage to be comfortable to work in a shirt.

When working around the mold wear a mask to prevent getting into your lungs it can grow inside you also. Mold can be very dangerous depending on what type it is. Now is the time to fix the problem before it has done damage to your new garage.

The only time I might put a vent in would be if you are getting a build up of Radon Gas that happens in some areas of the U.S. coming from the rock in the ground.

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Everything is still fine except for the green dust on a certain type of wooden shelves. I’ve bought a device to measure  the humidity. We’ll see.

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Update: Humidity has been hovering between 60 and 80% since and I haven't discovered any new mold growing anywhere so that's all good. The ventilation seems to be making a BIG difference!

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