Garage Drainange/ Alley Slope Issue [Split from weather]

[photon]

It never can anyway, since the garage slopes inwards, so it just has to evaporate.

[DFO]

The best solution to the alley grade problem is getting it paved. The petition process is a minor pain in the butt compared to the bliss of an alley that drains. It's a pretty minor increase to property taxes if you don't pay the lump sum.

I put a 18' trough (similar to the link) just inside the door in my new garage. It's not plumbed to the sewer (hard to get approval) so I clean it out with a shopvac once in a while.

http://www.hubbellpowersystems.com/drain-systems/

That trough along with a 6" slope front to back has kept the garage totally dry. I'd recommend that type of system for any new construction.

[Yellefan]

Originally Posted by fotze

Well since the city keeps grading the alley so that it drains into my garage, I've got to rip out a bunch of drywall in the spring and probably some of the joistis and floorplate.

The exact same thing happpens to my garage, and I have called the city and my alderman about it several times. The result is that the city comes out with a grader and throws more gravel down which makes my garage worse off than before. At one point in time my garage was above the alley grade, but years of crappy maintenance have resulted in the entire alleyway draining directly into my garage now.

I've got a goot 1/2 an inch in there right now actually, I'm sure it will be a nice swimming pool by the end of the week.

[Yellefan]

Originally Posted by fotze

Aren't you in Killarney/Richmond as well?

I am. Around 26A st & 25 ave.

[Northendzone]

this is a very good idea.....well played sir, well played

Originally Posted by DFO

The best solution to the alley grade problem is getting it paved. The petition process is a minor pain in the butt compared to the bliss of an alley that drains. It's a pretty minor increase to property taxes if you don't pay the lump sum.

I put a 18' trough (similar to the link) just inside the door in my new garage. It's not plumbed to the sewer (hard to get approval) so I clean it out with a shopvac once in a while.

http://www.hubbellpowersystems.com/drain-systems/

That trough along with a 6" slope front to back has kept the garage totally dry. I'd recommend that type of system for any new construction.

[Ducay]

Anyone try using some form of leveling concrete or epoxy coating to help level? I've got a few dips in my garage where the water pools, and I'd love to level out the whole garage pad, but then I guess you'd lose any slope going outwards.

[rohara66]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

Hmmmm, this should almost going into the home problems thread now.

Anywho... air movement can help a huge amount in a garage with water problems. Installing a fan such as the one below will actually get rid of puddles fairly quickly.

http://www.humidex.ca/products/humidexgarage/

I don’t have water issues in my garage but rather humidity issues in the winter. Looked online and found something called the ‘wiz-vent’ and then stumbled upon this humidex one which Home-Hardware sells locally (they need to order it in but it only takes a couple days). Just picked it up last week so I haven’t installed it yet but I hope it helps out.

[photon]

How is it installed? Just hang it on a wall somewhere? Or does it have to vent outside?

[BlackArcher101]

It requires a hole in the wall, and it vents outdoors, plugs into an outlet nearby. It should be placed as close to the floor as possible. My foundation unfortunately is probably too high to make it effective.

There's a lot of DIY solutions. Some install bathroom vents to promote airflow, but that is drawing heat out of the garage too. Other solution is louvers near the bottom of the door.

[rohara66]

Originally Posted by photon

How is it installed? Just hang it on a wall somewhere? Or does it have to vent outside?

Yes, it vents outside. Have to drill a hole, etc etc.

It’s a glorified exhaust fan that plugs in to an outlet that has auto on/off based on what % of humidity you want in the garage.

[Bill Bumface]

I built my own setup for the same price but with over twice the airflow. I bought this:

http://www.amazon.ca/509-Through-Ven.../dp/B000WT8FOM

and wired it to this:

http://www.amazon.ca/Ventamatic-Adju...ic+humidistart

The bonus being you can use it to cool the garage in the summer too.

The big negative is it does cool the garage off big time when it's running. If I know I have some work to do out there, I'll dial up the humidity setting to keep it from coming on as much.

I used to get really rusty tools from winter and a very thick layer of ice on the windows, I no longer seem to have problems with that, and it's been 2 years since I put it in.

[BlackArcher101]

That looks like a decent setup. Where do you have it located on the wall? How does it cool the garage in the summer? Did you install any louvers/vents elsewhere in the garage to replace the outgoing air?

[rohara66]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

I built my own setup for the same price but with over twice the airflow. I bought this:

http://www.amazon.ca/509-Through-Ven.../dp/B000WT8FOM

and wired it to this:

http://www.amazon.ca/Ventamatic-Adju...ic+humidistart

The bonus being you can use it to cool the garage in the summer too.

The big negative is it does cool the garage off big time when it's running. If I know I have some work to do out there, I'll dial up the humidity setting to keep it from coming on as much.

I used to get really rusty tools from winter and a very thick layer of ice on the windows, I no longer seem to have problems with that, and it's been 2 years since I put it in.

That is ideal... however I insulated, drywalled and painted the entire garage last summer and don't want to deal with ripping stuff out to run electrical.

[return to the red]

how about installing some Channel.
http://www.ndspro.com/drainage-syste...egory-overview

http://www.ndspro.com/home-drainage-systems/

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by rohara66

That is ideal... however I insulated, drywalled and painted the entire garage last summer and don't want to deal with ripping stuff out to run electrical.

I just cut the whole through the garage between two studs that had an outlet. That way I could junction off that outlet without any additional work to run the electrical. If you don't have an outlet at a conevenient spot on your wall to junction then you could just wire a plug onto the control unit.

Edit: I see you already bought that other one. If they sold it locally when I was doing this, I probably would have just bought that too.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

That looks like a decent setup. Where do you have it located on the wall? How does it cool the garage in the summer? Did you install any louvers/vents elsewhere in the garage to replace the outgoing air?

I've got mine probably about 10" off the ground near the front of the garage.

I have found that the garage leaks enough air out the overhead door that it is no problem without an air intake. I was also hoping to draw down some of the attic air, as it is normally pretty warm up there.

In the summer it can cool down the garage to outside temperatures pretty fast. I left it set to a pretty high temperature though, as if it was 30 degrees out and the garage was 30 inside, it would just blow hot air around the whole day.

I would turn it on if I had something to do out there, but usually I would just pop the door for the extra light anyway.

I forgot to mention the one other netagive, if it's a very humid day outside because we are getting some rapid melt (like now) it's just going to blow humid air inside the garage, and evaporation is much slower, so you'll still have days with a wet floor, just a lot less.