How to get rid of excess moisture and humidity in your garage

Many people enjoy spending time in their garage, working on projects or even working out in a home gym. However, if you notice that your garage is damp or humid, it can become unpleasant to spend time out there. Even without considering comfort, humidity and dampness could lead to things like mildew and mold buildup, or even rust and corrosion of metal elements, such as your garage door track or the parts of the opener system. This usually happens in areas with humid, hot summers or cooler climates that are near water. If you want to win the moisture battle for good, keep the following tips in mind.

Cambridge CL, 16' x 7', Claystone door and overlays, Clear Panoramic windows

Where is it even coming from?

If you’re like most people, you’re frustrated at figuring out where the moisture is coming from. Here are some factors:

  • Lack of proper insulation in the garage will lead to humidity and dampness
  • Firewood storage in your garage can create moisture from the logs
  • If there are a lot of liquids in the garage, they can emit moisture into the air
  • Your epoxy paint floor could be creating dampness in the air
  • A garage door that isn’t weather‑stripped properly or insulated
  • If you keep the laundry appliances in the garage, they can create a lot of humidity
  • Your floor drain may have a catch basin that is clogged
  • Cardboard boxes used for storage can draw in moisture
  • If you park in the garage, you can carry water (or snow) in on your vehicle

After you’ve figured out the cause, you may be able to resolve the issue on your own. For example, ensuring that your dryer is appropriately vented or that your floor drain is clean can reduce the amount of humidity in the air.

Now that you know where it’s coming from, you’ll want to measure just how much is in the air. A hygrometer can be used to measure the humidity and should be placed in the garage for about 24 hours in order to get an accurate reading. Of course, everyone is going to ask what a “good” humidity level is—typically, the lower, the better. In your garage, it’s going to be a little higher than your living space, but that’s to be expected.

If you don’t have a hygrometer on hand, you can easily check your humidity by checking a window or windowpane that is in the garage. If you live in a cold area, look at the edges of the window along the bottom. You may see a buildup of condensation, or even ice, which is an obvious sign that you have more moisture than you should in the garage.

How to Reduce the Humidity in Your Garage

There are a number of remedies out there that claim to help resolve garage humidity issues, but there are two very basic elements that can resolve most humidity problems. First, your garage should be insulated and insulated properly. If you don’t have an insulated space, it’s not going to be easy to maintain temperature or moisture levels. If you live in a cooler region, consider heating your garage without spending a fortune by installing some kind of wood heating unit.

Your garage door is the second element that counts. This is essentially the fourth wall of your garage, and without it being insulated and weathertight, the garage is still going to be prone to humidity and moisture buildup despite the insulation in the rest of the walls.

Insulated means that your garage door should provide an R‑12 or better thermal resistance factor. To accomplish this, polyurethane foam can be injected into the doors until the right insulation level is achieved. You should also look at the weather seals and ensure that the exterior perimeter weatherstripping is intact and overlapping so that it effectively keeps the weather out and keeps the humidity low. It should overlap by about 1.5 inches for the best protection.

Does your door threshold correctly slope outward? This could be a cause of water getting into your garage during all times of the year, as an incorrect slope can actually redirect more moisture in your garage. Ultimately, if you can figure out the cause, you can probably find a fairly simple solution.

Now that you know where it’s coming from, you will need to decide which sources you will tolerate and which you want to change or eliminate. That will make it easy for you to reduce humidity levels when you have more than one source.

*Moving forward, it will be assumed that your garage and garage door are insulated. After all, it would be pointless to continue investing time and money on improvements if you don’t have this one thing right.

To reduce the humidity in your garage, the first thing that you can try is to turn off the heating system (if there is one) and open the garage door a tiny bit to let the moisture escape. You can also open an access door or a window to create airflow and help speed up the job.

If you have a serious moisture problem, consider installing a home dehumidifier, which you can run for an entire day to help reduce the humidity by as much as five to eight degrees when operating on high.

Home dehumidifier

If you use your garage more often, you may want to invest in a longer‑term solution like the available commercial dehumidifiers that can be integrated into your existing HVAC system for whole‑home comfort.

Device to vent humidity of the garage

You can purchase an exhaust fan that is about 6x9 inches to help filter humidity out.

A lot of people assume after reading this that they can simply install a vent. This isn’t effective, even if it opens and closes, because it really doesn’t do enough to take care of the entire basement space. It is, however, really effective at getting rid of odors.

Are you ready to make changes and purchase a new garage door?

If you live in the St. Catharines or Hamilton area, contact us at 1‑800‑263‑4972 to let us know how we can help make your garage a more comfortable space even when you’re working with a tight budget.

We can advise you on the best products and can even email you a quote if you desire. You can even check out our Design center and image gallery for sneak peeks and inspiration.

Add new comment

Plain text

  • No HTML tags allowed.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.

Copyright Garaga Inc. | Privacy Policy and Conditions of Use | Sitemap