Metal building condensation

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I would insulate the ceiling of your metal building. The constant humidity change in Georgia makes it necessary. I just bought a used 28x30 metal building that was fully insulated & it was dry as a bone on the inside.
 
before I left Ga for Mo decadses ago, I knew a mopar guy over in S E Alabama, he stored his cranks, heads etc in 55 barrels of used oil. not real handy.
well it works!!!!
 
barbee6043 said:
before I left Ga for Mo decadses ago, I knew a mopar guy over in S E Alabama, he stored his cranks, heads etc in 55 barrels of used oil. not real handy.
well it works!!!!
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I did that for years, I still have some SBC's in them at a friends. Just nasty mess taking them out.
 
Don't have a cheap or quick answer for you or familiarity with conditions in your part of the country. BUT--- believe it or not concrete is not moisture proof . Our home basement smelled like ... well , a basement when we moved in. Since it was one big big empty room that was the time to do something. Found a product called Radon Seal. Looks like water in 5 gallon buckets. (Thought I had been sold headlight oil ). Applied it with hand garden sprayer (follow directions) our basement is much less humid and smells much better ( it's been10 years) product is supposed to penetrate concrete ___inches , form a vapor barrier as well as protect against radon but not cheap. Something like that may help along with other ideas. If not now ,in future.
Yote
 
RustyRatRod said:
I looked a dehumidifiers on the Lowes site. They aint cheap but that might be the best bet for now.
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Did this in my garage and it worked wonders! I was emptying it at least twice a day, but I literally had standing water on the floor, and it dried right up! I also have a metal cage fan that runs all the time to keep the air moving! It's the best bet for now I think, Rob!!!
 
cosgig said:
Did this in my garage and it worked wonders! I was emptying it at least twice a day, but I literally had standing water on the floor, and it dried right up! I also have a metal cage fan that runs all the time to keep the air moving! It's the best bet for now I think, Rob!!!
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Yep, probably the quickest most inexpensive bet right now. Set the humidifier up so you can run a drain line right outside, tube through the wall. No emptying involved.
 
I have a $20 box fan hanging from the ceiling in my metal building, leave it running on low, it seems to help with the condensation issues.
 
dehumidifier fixed brother in law and nephews shops. insulation wont do it. I have a friend with foam blown in walls and ceiling and he has to run a c to keep everything from getting wet. I have the same problem. worked in many shops years ago with no problem of tools getting wet. if I can get pictures loaded, I will show you my shop.
 
Dehumidifier with a drain line. Some kind of fan and or heater will prevent it from having to work so hard
 
I use a propane heater and let it run until the temp inside is warmer then outside and it stops raining on my floor.
 
hoping to get a concrete floor for my "garage" addition to my OPEN car shed this next spring. I have to wonder how much that concrete floor adds to the condensation problem?
I am thinking I will try a heavy plastic barrier under the concrete, but that does not help RRR's problem!
 
If you put little heater strip inside tool box (or light bulb) it will keep above dew point. Can also make sealed box for machined parts and do same.
 
I had the ceiling insulated on my 60 X 40 but not the walls. I will spray the walls once I am happy with all the conduit and electrical. So far no moisture issues other than a bit of water coming in around the chimney for the stove in the shop area.
 
I put 6 mil plastic sheeting over the inside of my pole building, seemed to help a bit as long as I leave doors closed as it created some dead airspace. Plan is r-max over that, starting next year.
 
Lot of good ideas here. Worked in cold storage maintenance over 25 years. If you cant seal it out and you cant heat it up.. The cheapest quick fix is usually fans. Not 100 percent if humidity is extreme, but moving air might be all you need.
 
I have been dealing with the the same issue as you for several years. I have three ocean containers on my property for extra storage. Two of them sweat, one doesn't. Ever. The only difference is where they are sitting. The one that sweats the worst is very much exposed, nothing around it. And during the cooler winter months, especially if it's a frosty morning, it will literally rain inside the container when the morning sun hits it. But on the same day, the inside of the third container will be bone dry. That container is placed directly behind my shop, on the north side of it. The north wall of the shop is over 20 feet tall. So the sun never hits that container. Inside is always dry.

I figured the ones that sweat have to do with the warmth of the morning sun which warms up the space inside the container, but the objects in there are still very cold. Which leads to condensation. My plan was always to install a fan or two. Not to circulate the air that's in there, but to bring in the outside air, which will of course force the warm, humid air out thru a couple louvered vents. I'm fairly certain it will work because it should make everything come up to the same temperature at the same time.


Rob, I hope you can implement some of the ideas that have been posted to save your stuff from water damage. I feel your pain bro, it very frustrating. The unfortunate thing is that the moisture is coming from the air. So unless you can utilize the proper (costly) construction methods, your best bet is to do as suggested with shrink wrap, oil, plastic, light bulbs inside of your cabinets, etc, etc.. On an earlier post I mentioned that dehumidifiers don't work when the temps are low, but that was just my experience, there may be models that can work better. Good luck.
 
RustyRatRod said:
What can I do in the RIGHT NOW that's cheap or NO COST to help with condensation with my metal building? I am going to end up losing some valuable parts and engines due to rust. I have a 24 x 28 x 12 metal building on a concrete slab. I have not had problems like this except in the past few recent years. I need to know what I can do NOW to help combat it, or I may as well just cart it all off to the scrap yard.
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Rusty, they make a bubble wrap looking insulation that has like a R15 or R20 rating. We put it in a 20 by 32 x 16 building, stopped the condensation and kept the temperature constant. Right now, it's 67 degrees in there and it's only 48 outside, with no heat running. It cost us around 250 to do.
 
OK, Rusty.
Two people have told you to use fan(s).
That was my suggestion, if you have or can afford a big honking fan.
The problem, as has been pointed out, is that the items are remaining cold while the moist air temp rises forming condensation on the cold item. And the air is relatively stagnant.
I have found, from experience, that if you circulate the air it will hasten the rise of the temperature of the cold items. This is one step. Next the air blowing over them will tend to dry what ever condensation might form.

Yes, we are fighting it too.
Another option is to wrap the items in a moisture proof barrier.
Tarps. Plastic, etc.
The water will then condense on the outside of the plastic and not the item.
 
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