Garage Updates, And How to Test a Garage Floor for Moisture

Don’t think that we talked a big, inspirational game about taking on the garage, and then didn’t do anything!  Although this project has proven itself to be a lot more complicated than we originally thought (more on that in a bit) we’ve at least taken our first step toward progress.

(If you’re just at this post to read about about how to test a garage floor for moisture, then feel free to just skip on down to the second half).

(Some Very Ugly) Garage Updates

When we last left our heroes my garage, it looked something like this:

Dirty, dark, sad, and crammed full of stuff.

Of course, the first step was moving out all of the stuff, and the basement was the prime candidate to take in the refugees.  However, it looked like this:

Yes, also dirty, dark, sad, and crammed with stuff.   Don’t get me wrong, most of this is GREAT STUFF. (You might recognize the craigslist table we acquired for our friend Stephanie’s patio, which she has since picked up, and a whole lot of treasure we pillaged salvaged from a local school.)  But we still had to organize and downsize to fit in all the stuff from the garage.

After a bit of effort and some tough calls that sent a good 1/3 of it into the “sell on craigslist pile,” we had much more room.

Which of course we immediately filled with stuff from the garage.

I’m sorry.  Looking at those photos is making me stressed out and claustrophobic, too.  But DIY is not mainly fun-and-pretty projects, but instead is the boring, icky, carrying of dirty junk from room to room.  At least in my experience.

We also had to remove a metal shelving unit, which our home’s previous owner had cleverly “built in” using some wood and long, rusty nails.

While this is a very solid (read: VERY heavy) shelf, we decided that with its rust, dings, and overall cumbersomeness we wouldn’t want it in our finished space.  We passed it off to our neighbor for other uses.

At the end of Day 1, we had this:

The garage cleared of everything except the trash we needed to take out, the old paint and other items waiting for the next Hazardous Waste Disposal Day, and the reeeally big and heavy workbench that we couldn’t move on our own.

(We did eventually move that out with the help of BOTH our families.  But I can’t prove that because I asked them if they wouldn’t mind holding it up and posing for an “action” photo, and they surprisingly declined.)

Day 2 was devoted to washing the walls and sweeping the floor a bajillion times.  We also cleaned some of the gunk off of the floors in preparation for fixing them up, including removing old paint spills.

Hey, I promised you ugly photos, didn’t I!

We also dug out some holes that had collected dirt.  The most notable was drilled pretty much straight through the floor.

It was so deep that we couldn’t even reach the bottom with a long screwdriver.  The bonus was that we found a good 35 cents in there!  Who doesn’t like a house that pays you to fix it up?

At the end of Day 2, we were pleased to have this:

A garage that is dark, sad, but not-as-dirty and not crammed full of stuff!

We, of course, were very pleased, and were looking forward to getting on to some of the more attractive parts of the project.  However, we hit a snag…

How to Test a Garage Floor for Moisture

Based on my non-expert knowledge built from many hours reading about damp garage floors on the internet over the last few weeks, garage floors could be damp for two overall reasons.

First, it could be damp due to condensation, particularly during humid days.  The cement slab is generally a lot cooler than the surrounding air, so the humidity collects and absorbs into the floor.  Second, it could be damp because it doesn’t have a proper moisture block beneath it, and so water from the ground seeps up through the porous slab.  This latter one is worse, because you can’t just dry it out with a dehumidifier and seal it from the top.

(I fear that ours is the latter because our garage is actually set into a hillside under our house, so the back half of it is nearly entirely underground.  But I don’t actually know yet.)

Why is this a problem?  Well, most of the affordable ways to fix up a very ugly garage floor like ours require the floor to be (and to stay) relatively dry.  Peel and stick tiles require a dry surface for their adhesive to work, and the epoxies I was so excited about as a cheap way to brighten and jazz up the floor can’t work if it is wet because the epoxy is water-tight and forms a strong bond with the floor.

There are tests that you can buy for this, but a simple home test is a good place to start.  It just requires duct tape and plastic sheeting of some kind.

Cut the plastic sheeting into a square about 16″ x 16″ and tape it to the floor.

The floor definitely has to be clean because you want the duct tape to form a good seal to trap any moisture under the plastic.

Leave it for about 24 hours or more, and then come back and peel it up.

If you notice condensation on the underside of the plastic, or the plastic leaves a dark square behind on the floor (like above) that shows that the floor is holding moisture.

Of course, it rained a couple of days later, and this happened:

Yes, actual pools of water formed on the floor.  (Pro tip: If your floor looks like that, it is a pretty good test of whether your garage floor is moist.  You’re welcome.)

Like I said, I do suspect that it is coming up through the floor, but it is possible that it is condensation caused by our recent cool temperatures being closely followed by some very hot and humid days.  Unfortunately, this puts our garage progress on a temporary hold while we call in the cavalry (i.e., actual experts who know stuff about home improvement).   Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to update you on all the exciting details and everything that I learn about how to work with a damp garage floor!

 

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