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For those of you who have built your shop space in garage, how do you control humidity? Most garage spaces, including mine, are not tightly sealed (I guess that would depend on what kind of garage door(s) you have.) Do you seal open spaces/cracks, esp around the door?
I have my shop in the basement and am thinking about eventually using a garage for a larger space. I do store lots of wood in the garage and also have a few power tools there now.
Thank you very much.

Kris, my garage is drywalled, insulated and heated so I can work out there year 'round. Much like you, all of my power tools are there including my downdraft sanding table and my big bench.

I have a work island and small shop in my finished basement that I use for assembly and detail work. The humidity in the basement is maintained at 45% RH by means of a humidifier in the winter and a dehumidifier in the summer months. Rather than trying to control the garage space with it's concrete floors and lots of air leaks; i.e. .. the garage door, I find the basement to be the easiest solution.

All my sawn guitar sets of wood are in a storage area of the basement along with much of my slab wood. I do store some wood in the garage ... but not the good stuff.

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Peter

Kris,

My power tools share my garage with the cars. It's not the best setup as despite my best efforts at dust collection and air filtration, but cars always seem to get dusty. The garage is heated so I can use it in the winter. Humidity does vary quite a bit in there, so I really don't do much building there. I saw, route, and sand there, but all assembly takes place in the basement where my tonewoods are stored.

Ken

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http://www.casperguitar.com

I have come to the conclusion you need a hermetically sealed room ! - I have been patiently waiting for the weather to warm up and the humidity fall from the 70% I have been recording all winter. Now the suns shining summers arrived and guess what 60% humidity !

It is a problem that I knew I had to tackle but didn't realize it was so difficult to maintain 40% - 50%.

What kind of power does a dehumidifier/humidifier consume ?

John

Humidifiers usually don't use very much energy- they're mostly some sort of fan with a device to get water vapour into the airstream.
Dehumidifiers are mostly small refrigerator compressors with an arrangement to collect the water that condenses on the cooling coils. So the energy requirement would be similar to a small (bar-type) refrigerator run with the door open. and, like that refrigerator, they do warm up the room a bit as well. So, in a warm and humid climate you would want an air-conditioning unit that pumped the heat outside.
Of course, the energy used depends on how the unit is 'cycling' - ie how big the job is.

Cheers
John

Kris, I pretty much do like the others-keep the large power tools out in the garage
but do the glue up,fretting,set up and so forth inside. Since there aren't many basements in Florida,I turned an extra room into my shop.The tonewood stays inside at 45 RH. The only problem is,I do too much walking back and forth because the two work areas are at the opposite ends of the house!

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

I am investing in a small portable dehumidifier for my garage

John

John: I think you summarized the main issue for me; in that one needs a hermetically sealed space in order to control the humidity.
I thought that might be the problem of using a garage, unless one completely seals off the door.

I want to thank everyone for very helpful insights!
Kris

Like most everyone who has responded, I have the power tools in the garage (which I went to a lot of effort to put a sub-panel in, to get enough outlets and a few 220 circuits), and wood storage and the real guitar building is in the basement. The transit time in between is called exercise, but I sure wish I got better at planning so that I did less of it.

The garage is unregulated airspace. The basement has the humidifier and dehumidifier stacked up in in one corner, and there is usually only about a week of down time in the switch from one to the other.

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

Hi Kris

I will let you know how I get on.

I forgot to mention that the tap for the hosepipe is in my garage, when I water the lawn it drips and the concrete floor gets wet ! I had never though it about it before now but that is not an ideal situation for controlling moisture. Sealers and dehumidifier will be ordered next week, I will post the results here.

John

I live in Miami Florida and I have the house airconditioner on all year thus humidity is controled in that way. I cut and sand outside in an un airconditioned shed but never leave and wood in the shed overnight. All my wood is stored in the house also and I do quite a bit of gluing and and other work in the kitchen (which bothers the wife a little).
Michael

I have a similar situation. I've had an idea for a climate controlled storage cabinet (humidor) that could be kept in the garage where I could store wood/works in progress. Has anyone ever tried this?

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- Ben Pak
North Wales, Pa.

Kris I have a work area in the back of my garage and was trying to come up with an economical way of controlling humidity mainly for glue up's. A friend suggested using plastic sheet to make a small room. I stapled it to the roof supports and clamped the sides together using clothes pegs. A bit rough but with a small humidifier works quite well. I can post a pic if you want.

Regards
Craig.

Hi Craig

That would be handy to see a picture of what worked for you.

John

This is it. Rough but functional

Craig.

I should have added that I have a window mounted reverse cycle air -conditioner that I use when humidity is too high. The portable humidifier easily achives 45% in my little closed in area when things are too dry. I keep my tops and backs inside until I 'm ready to glue.

Craig.

Hi Craig

Thanks for the pictures

The dehumidifier has been on for about a week and my Rh has come down to 40 - 50 - however when it rains it can go back to 55 - 65. We have a warm spell at the moment so it is difficult to say if it has made a difference. I have also sealed the garage doors and had a fan heater on a thermostat to kick in when it gets cold.

J

My Garage Shop

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Catherine∞Guitars®
  F. Scott Campbell
     Pike Road, AL
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John it sounds like you have the more difficult task of de-humidifying most of the year. I can talk to the air-conditioning mechanic at work and see if he has any ideas for you to try. 40-50 % should be ok . The tighter the control the better especially if you are building true flat tops rather than domed tops. Heating and sealing the area should help for sure.

regards

Craig.

Update

The de humidifer has been on for 24/7 for more than a week and I have emptied gallons of moisture, the garage doors are sealed (best efforts) and I have a 500w heater permanently on. My RH this morning is 60% and it isn't raining ! - I have come thge the conlusion it is a waste of time en energy trying to control a larg volume of air to work on a small volume item. I am thinking of building a cupboard with a heater for all my wood and partial builds, I can control the RH in a much smaller space.

J

"24/7 for more than a week"

That's not long enough!
When you first start to control Humidity in a garage.
Not only are you taking water from the air but also from the concrete slab and concrete walls.
You are literally Drying Out the whole room.

I've had two Car garages.
First one was a one car garage = took 6 month of running the De-humidifier before reaching equilibrium at 50% RH.
Second one a Two Car garage = took 12 month of running the De-humidifier before reaching equilibrium at 50% RH.
So I can predict that when I get my new three car Garage it will take 18 month to dry out the garage.

I'm in my two car garage now 12 years and I hardly have to turn on the Humidifier. just the AC is enough to control humidity at 50% - if I want to drop the RH, I turn on the De-humidifier and it takes me less than an hour to drop to 45RH for the whole garage.

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My garage door is sealed.
One more thing. What Kind of AC are you using?
IF it is to big it wont run long enough to bring your RH down,
and if it is too small it will run to long and drop your HR to low and you'll still be hot.
It is better to have a slightly smaller AC but not to small.
After your Garage is dried out.
You'll just need the De-huminifier to fine tune the RH.

Elman

"24/7 for more than a week"

That's not long enough!
When you first start to control Humidity in a garage.
Not only are you taking water from the air but also from the concrete slab and concrete walls.
You are literally Drying the whole room.

I've had two Car garages.
First one was a one car garage = took 6 month of running the De-humidifier before reaching equilibrium at 50% RH.
Second one a Two Car garage = took 12 month of running the De-humidifier before reaching equilibrium at 50% RH.
So I can predict that when I get my new three car Garage it will take 18 month to dry out the garage.

I'm in my two car garage now 12 years and I hardly have to turn on the Humidifier. just the AC is enough to control humidity at 50% - if I want to drop the RH, I turn on the De-humidifier and it takes me less than an hour to drop to 45RH for the whole garage.

-----

My garage door is sealed.
One more thing. What Kind of AC are you using?
IF it is to big it wont run long enough to bring your RH down,
and if it is too small it will run to long and drop your HR to low and you'll still be hot.
It is better to have a slightly smaller AC but not to small.
After your Garage is dried out.
You'll just need the De-huminifier to fine tune the RH.

Elman

Hi Elman

I can appreciate that it can take longer, however the basic design of a garage with no wall cavity and no ceiling insulation
is not conducive to creating a totally moisture free environment.

I am considering building a cupboard large enough to store my tonewood and part assembles builds. It may be heated but I want to try a dessicant method of drawing out moisture. I will be testing some dessicant moisture inhibitors in a box to see If I can control humdity in a smaller enclosed environment.

John

Sorry for the double post. Don't know how that happened.

I don't think you'll be able to achieve a "totally moisture free environment" no matter what room you are in.
You don't need a "totally moisture free environment" anyway.
Just 45% RH.
It is better to air dry your wood for no less than one year - but the longer the better.

IMHO, Boxes are a PITA specially if you have a lot of wood.
If you are going to be doing this for a long time I recommend you control the RH for the whole room.
It will make your working environment so much more efficient and pleasant.
You'll thank me in the future.

P.S. I did insulate my ceiling.

What a pain - I would move.
My shop once had the RH get over 55%. My problem is the opposite - low RH which is much easier to deal with.

Best wishes to you. I sounds like you are doing all the right things.

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