(Topic ID: 123447)

Please help me make my garage GameRoom safe

By futurepinhead

9 years ago


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    #1 9 years ago

    I just bought a house and I fear that I might not be able to put games in the Garage now. The house is built into the side of the hill and I am getting a lot of moisture in it. I fear that they might not have put down a vapor barrier. I have a 12,000 btu air conditioner/heater/dehumidifier going in there now in the dehumidifier mode. I got about 4 inches of water in a bucket overnight. There is no insulation right now. I plan on blowing insulating in the garage attic and am open to building walls inside for better insulation as long as you don't think it will rot the insulation.

    Here are some photos from my appraisal (snow is all gone now by the way) and here is the unit I have in it now.

    http://www.hhgregg.com/haier-12-000-btu-cooling-11-000-btu-heating-portable-air-conditioner/item/HPF12XHM

    Front.pngFront.png Garage.pngGarage.png
    #2 9 years ago

    Insulate the walls, garage door, and seal the floor, there's probably no moisture barrier under the concrete slab.

    #3 9 years ago

    What's the best way to seal the floor? From what I have been reading, if there is not barrier under the floor it will bubble and blister any sealant that I put down.

    #4 9 years ago

    There are waterproofing sealers for concrete available at places like Home Depot that you just paint on, and they work pretty good.

    #5 9 years ago

    I'm doing the same thing right now, I'm installing a mini-split AC in my garage today so I can get some games out of my kitchen. I need to insulate the ceiling, redo the door weather stripping and and bottom seal, insulate the door itself, and seal my floor too. I'm not at all handy with houses, but that seems to be the extent of what most people do.

    I'm mainly trying to prevent high humidity and fast temperature changes which seem to be the problem (although an equal number of posts claim to keep their machines in humid outbuidings for 15 years without issue). Most people see to keep their garage arcades around 50-55%, what was your dehumidifier doing?

    #6 9 years ago
    Quoted from 0geist0:

    There are waterproofing sealers for concrete available at places like Home Depot that you just paint on, and they work pretty good.

    They do work..But, I was told not to use on floors, walls only. He told me some people have put them on the concrete floor and they up heaved. So you may want to look into this more.

    #7 9 years ago

    My dehumidifier doesn't have settings so I am not for sure. Yesterday was my first day in the house during a rapid climate change and a big storm. It was so humid in there that there was water drops forming on the ceiling. I have a vent in the garage attic going to outside but none going to the actual garage. So I plan on installing some sort of electric vent while I am insulating the attic.

    So what I am thinking is painting Dryloc on the walls first, then build a wall over the blocks with insulating. My question is should I use the roll of insulation or something else? I can see if there is water getting through the Dryloc later, it can cause an issue. Find some sort of sealer that's rated for floors. Then I'll insulate the ceiling, install a vent and get a new garage door.

    How does that sound?

    #8 9 years ago
    Quoted from ShinyBall:

    They do work..But, I was told not to use on floors, walls only. He told me some people have put them on the concrete floor and they up heaved. So you may want to look into this more.

    I sealed a garage floor with it 25 years ago and it has had no problems

    #9 9 years ago

    Something to think about after you have it nice and dry. No fluorescent lights and a good solar film on the windows. Both the Sun and fluorescents will both fade your machines.
    Good luck on your project. I dry walled insulated and climate controlled my garage for the same reason now with the snow and cold in Michigan, I want my garage back.

    #10 9 years ago

    Open the walls up and spray foam.

    #11 9 years ago

    We have had non stop water the last few days and it is getting pretty bad. I have a specialist coming to give me an estimate on Tuesday. I think I might start digging down and re tar the walls myself and put in some drains.

    #12 9 years ago

    The spray foam guys will make a 1" hole in the bottom and top of each stud bay - and fill each with expanding foam. Then they take a picture with a thermal camera to show 100% fillage.

    The floor itself can be epoxied, just like a commercial garage.

    #13 9 years ago

    What amazes me is the amount of snow you still have. I live in Central Canada and we've been snow free probably close to a month. Still snowing the odd cold day in the last couple weeks but just amounts to a little slush and it's gone a day later. No wonder you have moisture issues.

    Back on topic... when this is all gone... you need to re-landscape your yard to ensure at least the 6-10ft next to the house is sloped away. That at least keeps the moisture coming down the hill off the concrete foundation directly. However, if enough is left standing, it'll find it's way there. Invest in a small submersible pump. One that you can hook a garden hose to.

    My old house used to slope down big time. I put raised flower beds along the house to keep it's distance. I graveled the flower beds for drainage and trying to keep them reasonably clear of snow all winter. Then when the water pooled 10 feet away in spring I used my submersible pump once or twice a day to pump the standing water out to the alley. Within about two weeks the snow is gone and the water is too. Make sure you put a screen over the bottom of the pump to prevent crap getting sucked in and wrecking the pump. 3 pumps later I figured that out. I just used a piece of screen from a screen door to keep the gravel out.

    #14 9 years ago
    Quoted from Pauz21:

    What amazes me is the amount of snow you still have

    Old photo from my house appraisal, I was too lazy to go out and take new ones but maybe I should so you can see better.

    I like your landscaping idea. I was thinking of making a downward sloping contrete barrier with a metal grate over a drain. Like this

    url.jpgurl.jpg
    #15 9 years ago

    I'm thinking about excavating the outside by hand as well. I need to expose the wall to tar it, I would rather not take any tempory measures. There is no tile work on the outside so all the water is basically coming in. The ground is wet enough right now I should be able to expose it in a couple of weekends.

    Here's the plan
    1. Dig down
    2. Tar the walls
    3. Put in a french drain at the bottom
    3. Fill big ass hole
    4. Install a channel drain and concrete at top
    5. Install sump pump in garage (also got water coming in under the carpet in Living room now)
    6. Paint DryLoc in Garage
    7. Seal concrete floor
    8. Enjoy

    #16 9 years ago

    No real updates yet. The guy who is supposed to give me a quote had to cancel ... again.

    He did ask me what the intended use of the garage was and I told him the workshop for my pinballs and arcades. He said we might be able to work up a trade. SO, I might lose a beloved game but I might get my garage fixed for future games. Doesn't sound like a horrible deal to me.

    #17 9 years ago

    Good luck on your issue. I will be following this thread as I have a similar issue.

    What about the epoxy/resin recoating the concrete?

    From my limited knowledge most moister problems can be solved with french drains, slope, and proper gutter spouts moving water away from foundation.

    #18 9 years ago
    Quoted from nate1981s:

    What about the epoxy/resin recoating the concrete?

    I am just scared of doing a temporary fix on the inside. It might be fine and if he tells me that will work with a new french drain I would be all over it. The hill is just very extreme behind my house.

    #19 9 years ago

    When i built my house the builder recomended after they tar the outer basement walls he put up a wavy type plastic that holds the dirt/clay in my area off the walls so the water could run straight down the walls to the drain tile below the floor for the sump pump. Works really good but it always sound like someone is taking a pee in my sump pump well.

    #20 9 years ago
    Quoted from crlush:

    When i built my house the builder recomended after they tar the outer basement walls he put up a wavy type plastic that holds the dirt/clay in my area off the walls so the water could run straight down the walls to the drain tile below the floor for the sump pump. Works really good but it always sound like someone is taking a pee in my sump pump well.

    Yeah, I've looked into those and I do like those.

    #21 9 years ago
    Quoted from nate1981s:

    From my limited knowledge most moister problems can be solved with french drains, slope, and proper gutter spouts moving water away from foundation.

    Yes to all that and shrubs to soak up what's left over.

    #22 9 years ago
    Quoted from futurepinhead:

    The hill is just very extreme behind my house.

    With that AND what's coming off the roof in back i can see why you have a problem. A French drain and gutters are needed on the ENTIRE back side of the house. Do you have gutters on any part of the back of the house?

    #23 9 years ago
    Quoted from MustangPaul:

    With that AND what's coming off the roof in back i can see why you have a problem. A French drain and gutters are needed on the ENTIRE back side of the house. Do you have gutters on any part of the back of the house?

    Yes, its completely guttered and it runs to the front of the house, no french dtrain that I can see at all. I have done a little prodding to try and find a french drain and could not find any or any outlet for one.

    #25 9 years ago

    Put cars in garage, pins in a guest room/game room.

    Problem solved. AND no dirty hands trenching.

    #26 9 years ago
    Quoted from Blackbeard:

    Put cars in garage, pins in a guest room/game room.

    Problem solved. AND no dirty hands trenching.

    I have a spare room but I would only be able to get about 5 games in it. Plus I need a workshop, there is no way I would be able to do a playfield swap in that room with games stuffed in there. So I need rooms for my 15 games plus room to work.

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