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+-- Thread: Drylock for garage shop floor? (/showthread.php?tid=7357269)
Drylock for garage shop floor? - RayFleck - 08-19-2020
I recently realized that most of the moisture that my dehumidifiers removes from my shop is coming from the concrete floor. It's old construction with no vapor barrier. After a hard rain the floor is damp in places.
I was told to paint the floor with Drylock.
If you have any experience or thought's I'd appreciate your feedback.
TIA,
- Ray
RE: Drylock for garage shop floor? - Robert Adams - 08-19-2020
Drylock is good stuff but not durable on floors. Then with water coming up through there is nothing you can put on that concrete that will stick. The water coming up from underneath will push off any coating you put on it. You can epoxy coat it but it's a loosing battle.
I wish more builders would put down a moisture barrier under slabs. Here they just look at you funny when you say something about it and say why would you put plastic (or worse yet insulation) under a slab. Construction methods here in Texas are decades behind the civilized world.
RE: Drylock for garage shop floor? - Snipe Hunter - 08-20-2020
The moisture on the floor is most likely condensation from wet air. You'll still have a wet floor if you paint it with a moisture barrier. To get rid of it, you'll either have to heat the floor or use a dehumidifier. To prove it to yourself, put down a plastic sheet on part of the floor with no air-gap between. Next time it rains, look to see which side of the plastic is wet, the top or the bottom. I'll bet it's the top. An insulated garage door will help, as would an air conditioner.
We have a tile front porch. It's wet in the morning in high humidity. Doesn't even have to rain.
RE: Drylock for garage shop floor? - RayFleck - 08-20-2020
(08-20-2020, 07:07 AM)Snipe Hunter Wrote: The moisture on the floor is most likely condensation from wet air. You'll still have a wet floor if you paint it with a moisture barrier. To get rid of it, you'll either have to heat the floor or use a dehumidifier. To prove it to yourself, put down a plastic sheet on part of the floor with no air-gap between. Next time it rains, look to see which side of the plastic is wet, the top or the bottom. I'll bet it's the top. An insulated garage door will help, as would an air conditioner.
We have a tile front porch. It's wet in the morning in high humidity. Doesn't even have to rain.
I have two dehumidifiers plus an AC in the garage. This weekend I bought some 2X lumber for a project and laid it on the floor. Next day, the floor was damp under the wood. So I'm pretty sure its the floor and not the air.
RE: Drylock for garage shop floor? - Phil Thien - 08-20-2020
"I have two dehumidifiers plus an AC in the garage. This weekend I bought some 2X lumber for a project and laid it on the floor. Next day, the floor was damp under the wood. So I'm pretty sure its the floor and not the air."
I run AC all summer in my house, my cold drinks still sweat. You need to use plastic for the test, not wood.
If you get water between the concrete and plastic, you cannot paint the floor, it won't adhere.
RE: Drylock for garage shop floor? - Snipe Hunter - 08-21-2020
(08-20-2020, 09:12 AM)RayFleck Wrote: I have two dehumidifiers plus an AC in the garage. This weekend I bought some 2X lumber for a project and laid it on the floor. Next day, the floor was damp under the wood. So I'm pretty sure its the floor and not the air.
Then you have a drainage problem under and around the perimeter of the garage. Odd situation.
RE: Drylock for garage shop floor? - toolmiser - 08-22-2020
(08-19-2020, 01:07 PM)RayFleck Wrote: I recently realized that most of the moisture that my dehumidifiers removes from my shop is coming from the concrete floor. It's old construction with no vapor barrier. After a hard rain the floor is damp in places.
I was told to paint the floor with Drylock.
If you have any experience or thought's I'd appreciate your feedback.
TIA,
- Ray
Years ago when I was a kid (50), my parents built a new garage and the grade was elevated 3 ft. They always had issues with moisture on their floor from sweating (of course no plastic underlay), The garage was insulated and they found out if they opened the attic door in the summer (Wisconsin) that it dried it out. No "sweating issues" in the winter.
RE: Drylock for garage shop floor? - Bit_Fiddler - 08-26-2020
Have you looked into a silicate type sealer for your slab instead of painting it? A silicate sealer chemically reacts with the concrete at and just below the surface to seal off the pores in the concrete - spills don't soak into the concrete and humidity doesn't come through from the ground. I applied it to my shop slab several years ago and have been very pleased so far. I remember noticing the humidity drop almost immediately when applied - I was really surprised. Glue drops don't stick to the floor very much and are easily flicked off with a putty knife or something similar.
RE: Drylock for garage shop floor? - Snipe Hunter - 08-27-2020
Have you tried the plastic on the floor test yet?