How to Keep Your Garage Floor From Sweating

Your garage is temperamental, and it can feel like a constant fight to prevent its floors from becoming wet, which makes for a damp, musty atmosphere no one wants to work in. A sweating garage floor is not only an annoyance, but it can also present a real safety hazard. A wet garage floor creates a slippery surface, and if you're not careful, serious injuries can happen to those not paying attention.

Fortunately, there are a few things you can do to prevent your garage floor from sweating, creating a drier floor and an overall more pleasant, less musty garage.

Why Does My Garage Floor Sweat?

Before you stop the floor from sweating, you have to investigate what's causing it. For many homeowners, the reason for a slick, sweating garage floor is condensation in the garage. Condensation occurs when moist air comes into contact with the cool concrete of the garage floor. Upon this meeting of two conflicting temperatures, the air begins to cool below the dew point, condensing on the concrete's surface. The result is a misty looking, wet garage floor.

Sweating Slab Syndrome and Warm Weather

This happens often enough in the concrete industry that the condition has even earned its own term: sweating slab syndrome. Condensation is more of a problem when warmer months hit, thanks to the moist, warm air. That's why a garage floor often gets wet from humidity and wet in summer. When spring rolls around, you can expect to see this issue take root rather than in the colder months.

Moisture Rising From Below the Slab

Condensation isn't the only problem behind garage floor moisture. Moisture can travel upward from beneath the slab, which is different from the floor itself sweating but is commonly mistaken for it. This is often why a garage floor is wet when it rains or stays damp after rain.

For many homes, this occurs because the concrete garage floor lacks a protective moisture barrier beneath its surface. Homeowners don't realize that even concrete is susceptible to moisture penetration. Concrete is surprisingly absorbent when it comes to water, as it has pores that act like a sponge.

Is Your Floor Sweating, or Is It a Deeper Moisture Problem?

It's essential to test whether your garage floor is sweating or if you have a deeper moisture issue at hand. Fortunately, there's an easy test you can do yourself to identify the source of the floor dampness.

The Plastic Square Test

Tape a sizable square piece of heavy plastic down on top of the concrete floor when it's verifiably dry, and make sure all of the edges are properly sealed. Leave the plastic square taped to your garage floor until the next time your floor shows signs of moisture.

Reading the Results

Now, remove the plastic and examine the concrete floor underneath. If the surface beneath the plastic is dry but the surrounding concrete is not, then you have a sweating garage floor. If the plastic is wet as well as the area beneath it, but the surrounding concrete is mainly dry, then the moisture problem isn't from sweating, but is being caused from below the slab.

Is a Sweating Garage Floor Bad?

A sweating garage floor isn't usually a sign of structural damage, but it isn't something to ignore either. Beyond the slip hazard, persistent garage floor moisture can lead to rust on tools and equipment, musty odors, and even white mold growth on walls and stored items. Left unchecked, that dampness creates an unhealthy, unpleasant space, so it's worth addressing sooner rather than later.

How to Stop Your Garage Floor From Sweating

You now know that you've got a sweating garage floor on your hands thanks to the quick and easy plastic square test, but how do you fix it? What you're really trying to fix here is condensation. A wet garage floor solution starts with the air, not the slab itself.

A sealant over the garage floor is not the solution for fixing a sweaty surface. You have to focus on tackling the conditions that make the garage floor sweat in the first place.

These five guidelines will help eliminate condensation and keep moisture out of your garage:

• Decrease the humidity in the air
• Increase air circulation in the garage
• Increase the air temperature in the garage
• Change the garage floor surface
• Keep doors and windows sealed

Reduce Humidity With a Dehumidifier

Changing the conditions within your garage isn't actually that difficult. You can start with a dehumidifier, which will dramatically reduce the humidity in your garage, thus helping to eliminate the issue of floor sweating. Remember to empty the water from the dehumidifier to keep it running efficiently.

Improve Air Circulation

Next, help your garage out with increased circulation. This can be done by means of a fan directed at the floor. If the air lingering near the concrete cannot rest long enough to cool down, then it won't condense, and you won't have to worry about a sweating floor. It is ideal if you can set up an oscillating fan in your garage.

Seal Doors and Windows

Keep your garage protected from drafts and your garage floor will stop sweating, too. You'll also notice other benefits from sealing your doors and windows, like preventing unwanted rodents from making nests in your garage as well as helping to regulate a more comfortable temperature inside.

Examine things like the garage floor door seal, which often goes neglected by homeowners after years of use. Replacing the door seal will also ensure better security when your garage door is closed and help prevent moisture problems before they start.

Change the Floor Surface

If you're serious about never having to deal with garage floor sweating ever again and you don't want to bother changing the conditions of the garage to prevent it, then you could spend some money and change the type of surface of the garage floor instead. It's expensive, yes, but if this is your forever home and you plan on spending a good deal of time in your garage, it may not be a bad idea. Try going for interlocking floor tiles, vinyl, or nature stone, all of which are not prone to moisture and sweating like concrete garage floors.

Garage Floor Sweating Is an Easy Problem to Fix, but a Time Consuming One

Garage floor sweating doesn't have to be an indication of anything more than condensation, but it's always a good idea to check whether what you've got is really floor sweating or a deeper moisture problem.

Once you analyze your floor situation and decide that what you've got is garage floor sweating, you can easily tackle the conditions that make up your garage's interior atmosphere to prevent and control condensation on the floor. Fixing concrete sweating is inexpensive, but it will demand time and patience.

Upgrade Your Detached Garage

You can do more with extra space, and a detached garage from Danley's comes custom sized to fit your needs. From one to three car size garages, Danley's can build it. Speak to a specialist and get a free quote online today.