MOLD in Garage

Have been in the new house (rent) for a month now. It’s one where the ground level floor is nothing but garage, and the real “1rst” floor is 1 level up. It’s cinder block all the way around the garage floor with a vent straight to the outside at the base about every 5 feet or so.

Anyway, I’ve only had stuff in there for a few weeks now and anything that is nylon is getting mold on it very quickly. (i.e. suit cases, golf bags, duffle bags, nylon cooler bag). Also, some things with neoprene (grip on fishing rods, a little dive gear) also getting mold on it.

This really sucks as I was hoping to use a lot of the garage for storage. Also, they are dry now, but back a couple of weeks ago, I noticed that a few cardboard boxes down there were a bit soft to touch (like they were wet).

Is there anything that I can do that’s not incredibly expensive? Any way to prevent the mold?

De-humidifier. Couple hundred bucks. You can attach a hose running to the outside if you don’t feel like emptying the water every day. They work. Will add a little to the power bill but worth it if your **** is molding.

It ain’t no mystery…this beer’s history!

Also DampRid work well and gives the air a fresh smell. The pellets absorb 10 times their weight in moisture and drop down into the holding container. Then you just dump it out and refill with new pellets

Paint the wall with sealer.Paint the floor also.

Stonoman

quote:
Originally posted by Blue_Runner

De-humidifier. Couple hundred bucks. You can attach a hose running to the outside if you don’t feel like emptying the water every day. They work. Will add a little to the power bill but worth it if your **** is molding.

It ain’t no mystery…this beer’s history!


You just leave it running 24x7? What does that do to the power bill? Also, will this still work even though it's vented to the outside?
quote:
Originally posted by skinneej
quote:
Originally posted by Blue_Runner

De-humidifier. Couple hundred bucks. You can attach a hose running to the outside if you don’t feel like emptying the water every day. They work. Will add a little to the power bill but worth it if your **** is molding.

It ain’t no mystery…this beer’s history!


You just leave it running 24x7? What does that do to the power bill? Also, will this still work even though it's vented to the outside?

You can buy a unit that has a function that sets the RH (Relative Humidity) to the percentage you want. It will cycle on and off as necessary to keep the space at the target. Shouldn’t be that noticeable on the power bill once things get equalized, though you will notice it when we have long periods of rain.

Most of them have a fitting you can attach a garden hose to, drill a 3/4" hole in the wall and run it through there. Most of the time you won’t even notice that it is running.

Mark
Pioneer 222 Sportfish Yamaha F300
Yeah, but do you consider a dog to be a filthy animal? I wouldn’t go so far as to call a dog filthy but they’re definitely dirty. But, a dog’s got personality. Personality goes a long way.

“Life’s tough…It’s even tougher if you’re stupid” John Wayne

My dad has one in his building and does not have it plumbed to the outside. It automatically shuts off when the bin is full of water. He let me store my boat in there for a while as I was building my shop. When I first put the boat in there he didn’t have the dehumidifier and the boat started to mold pretty good. Put in the dehumidifier and everything was dry as a bone.

I’m not 100% sure about the power bill but recently heard dad say it adds to the bill. I have one I plan to use but have not got the garage door installed yet.

Yours having the vents to the outside - I’m not sure about that.

It ain’t no mystery…this beer’s history!

quote:
Originally posted by Blue_Runner

Yours having the vents to the outside - I’m not sure about that.


Yep, that is what I am worried about. Obviously, it's not ventilated "enough" to prevent the mold, but I don't want to dehumidify the entire neighborhood!

I guess there is only one way to find out!

quote:
Originally posted by stonoman

Paint the wall with sealer.Paint the floor also.

Stonoman


Someone else's house! Also, I think the catch-22 is that your suggestion is to keep the moisture out to beging with, yet it has several dozen vents downstairs, so unless I cover those up, I am not sure if the paint would really "seal" anything...

Check this site out. Good info.

http://www.mge.com/images/PDF/Brochures/residential/Dehumidifiers.pdf

Don’t be concerned about the part about an increase in the electric rate during peak time.

Not in play for residential folk’s…yet.

Would be nice if those vents were the type that you could close but guessing they’re not:question:

Hope this helps.

NN

07, 23 Key West, Twin 115 Yammys

“Coastal Bound”

www.joinrfa.org/

See if you can find a place to buy some Microban. Kills mold for 5 years.

Umm, you gonna eat that?

Thousands have died to save my freedom. Only one has died to save my soul!

When I was finishing my master’s degree in Wake Forest (the city, not the university), we had to run a dehumidifier. Turned out to be because of a pinhole leak in the washroom that went unnoticed for a very long time. The apartment was only 800sf, and the dehumidifier added $10-15 a month to the bill, if my observations were correct. It ran a LOT on high.

By the way, a larger dehumidifier is not going to necessarily cost more. It will simply do it’s job quicker and then shut off once the room hits it’s target humidity range. The bigger, the better.



“Sire, it belongs in truth to the Church of God, in whose name I speak, to endure blows and not to inflict them. But it will also please your Majesty to remember that she is an anvil that has worn out many hammers.”…Theodore Beza

quote:
Originally posted by jstrange

See if you can find a place to buy some Microban. Kills mold for 5 years.

Umm, you gonna eat that?

Thousands have died to save my freedom. Only one has died to save my soul!


and get a fan to move the air, will help a lot!

“Those who have the ability to make a difference have the responsibility to do so.” Thomas Jefferson

Do the holes lead outside? As in directly to the yard or do they run to a drain along the foundation? I.e. underground? I can’t seem to think of a reason why you can’t just plug them, then run the dehumidifier, it will run less, just remember to check the plugged holes often to make sure there not holding water in the garage.

Get a couple of cheap box fans and keep them running. If the air is moving, it won’t cause milew as quickly.

If you’re lucky enough to be fishing, you’re lucky enough.

quote:
Originally posted by Gradyfan243

Do the holes lead outside? As in directly to the yard or do they run to a drain along the foundation? I.e. underground? I can’t seem to think of a reason why you can’t just plug them, then run the dehumidifier, it will run less, just remember to check the plugged holes often to make sure there not holding water in the garage.


Yes, the holes lead directly to the outside. It's essentially a "missing" cinder block that has a screen over it. You can see the outside. This is a 4 car garage. I haven't counted them, but there are probably 40-50 of these vents all the way around. It seems that it would be enough to ventilate, but evidently it's not.
quote:
Originally posted by skinneej
quote:
Originally posted by Gradyfan243

Do the holes lead outside? As in directly to the yard or do they run to a drain along the foundation? I.e. underground? I can’t seem to think of a reason why you can’t just plug them, then run the dehumidifier, it will run less, just remember to check the plugged holes often to make sure there not holding water in the garage.


Yes, the holes lead directly to the outside. It's essentially a "missing" cinder block that has a screen over it. You can see the outside. This is a 4 car garage. I haven't counted them, but there are probably 40-50 of these vents all the way around. It seems that it would be enough to ventilate, but evidently it's not.

From what I understand, those holes aren’t designed for ventilation. They are designed in case of flooding.
http://crawlspacedoors.com/articles/how_to_protect_your_home_with_flood_vents.php

Scott Fulton
AgentOwned Realty
Scott.Fulton@AgentOwnedRealty.com

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They are for flooding, 1 sq inch of vent for each sq ft of floor.

“Those who have the ability to make a difference have the responsibility to do so.” Thomas Jefferson

I have the same problem with a camper at the hunting club. I spent a fortune on Damp-rid and time going back and forth every month during the off season only to lose ground. I ended up leaving two windows cracked for a slight cross breeze and havent had a problem since. Set up a cheap fan the will blow air through one of those vents you spoke of and put ot on a timer. Adjust the run time according to the results until you find the right set-up. Mold/mildew loves cool damp spaces and with Charleston humidity, its a constant battle when dealing with non climate controled areas. Opening the garage door often will help too…

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