My garage has a humidity/ salt problem

[eljefino]

I've got this jack. I think it came with my old f150.

My garage has a perimeter wall of cinder blocks under the stud construction. So I hung cheezy shelves on the walls with "stuff" supporting the inboard legs. This jack was one of the random things I set up for this ~12 years ago.

I get "car water" all winter. Try to squeegie it up. Losing battle. Only heat is ventless propane, when I run it on a special occasion. The cold concrete is great for condensing muggy air, which I get plenty of.

I also try to sweep up the salt crystals when I see them. They aren't great for concrete. I haven't been sweeping under the shelves though, as it's where cultch accumulates. I think that's a bad wheel bearing for an olds silhouette I got rid of ~8 years ago.

Think this jack had an aluminum body at one point. Maybe zinc? Looks like a spent sacrificial anode, now! It didn't look bad until the paint flaked off all in one chunk.

 

[JC1]

How old is the garage construction? Is the garage stand alone or attached to your house? Are the cinderblocks exposed on the outside? Are they painted?

Sounds like you need some sort of ventilation.

 

[Dinoburner]

Interesting that there seems to be more corrosion than rust in the pic. At any rate ventilation would surely help. An unvented gas heater adds products of combustion depending on how much its used.

 

[Ursatdx]

Galvanic corrosion?
The aluminum is the less noble metal.

 

[eljefino]

Garage is 12 years. Shelves went in months after it went up.

Is there a benefit to painting cinder blocks?

Building is on fill, "bank run". It holds the cold. Detached.

Steel rusts like crazy in these forbidden corners, too.

Guess I'm gonna have to clean up back there. If I don't have junk, I can hose it out every spring.

 

[doitmyself]

Maybe a garage containment mat system and a dedicated wet vac is the best you can do to keep the salt water barrage at bay.

 

[JLTD]

You're in Maine...maybe try keeping the garage a bit warmer in winter?

 

[AZjeff]

That old corroded jack looks like the least of your worries. A good purging does wonders.

 

[talest]

Keep the garage door open as much as you can. As to the water, try to put a fan in there, the movement of the air really helps the water evaporate up and away. On a closed door and a cold day.. if you can get some form of electric space heater, may help, good old fashioned keeping garage door open during the day or warmest part if possible would be my starting point. If that not possible then disregard.

 

[eljefino]

I already evaluate relative and absolute humidity levels with regard to my "cold floor". In March any "nice warm day" also carries with it the fog of melting snow. Though I'd like to get warm air in to warm up my floor, the cold still comes out of the ground and brings temps back down.

The soffits are open-ish-- they have that perforated vinyl on the underside but breathe a little anyway.

In the dead of winter it never gets above freezing. The cars do better with caked on dry salt vs damp salt. Wife has her bay and uses it for car storage... in and out. If I were to add heat it would get closer to freezing and be worse. It's easy enough to sweep snow out, the slush bombs that ride in on the fenders are the source of my issues.

I guess I should say I have a cultch and climate problem. That stuff in my corners traps humidity and bars adequate cleaning.