Dehumidifiers in your work shop

[briman87]

FWIW, I now have a LG in my shop.  I bought it used for $40 and so far it's been fine.  I've had it about a year now.  I bought it specifically for it's manual controls.  Less to go wrong.  

I had two Honeywells.  Junk.  The first one got replaced under warranty in year two I think.  The second got replaced by a recall with another brand which also died.  

John

Good to know. when they died, how did you know they just wouldn't turn on or was it that the humidity was high. The company that did my drains said that mine may not be as efficient as it should be. I looked at it the other night and it says it was made in 2019 and is a 30 pint

[jteneyck]

Good to know. when they died, how did you know they just wouldn't turn on or was it that the humidity was high.  The company that did my drains said that mine may not be as efficient as it should be.  I looked at it the other night and it says it was made in 2019 and is a 30 pint

Pretty easy to tell they no longer worked.  They ran non-stop but no water accumulated in the reservoir.  Your 2019 unit should be up to the latest efficiency standards I would think.  My old inefficient General is a 30 pt unit and has no trouble maintaining the RH at 55% in my shop of around 700 ft^2 in the Summer.  The LG is similar size.  

John

[iclark]

From what he stated the drains would not cause this issue.


That is what I assumed as well.  The drain system is supposed to be a "sealed system" Really it just seemed to be that they ran a bead of caulk over the top of the mira drain where the plastic meets the cement floor.  This was done on 3 walls in the basement.  Reason why I went with this company is because of the "sealed system".  We put the french drains in because any time it rained hard we would get water in the basement never in my shop area but closer then what I would like.  A lot of sleepless nights and a lot of anxiety had been spent on the basement.

The floors of the basement are not sealed but before the french drains the dehumidifier was working fine for the basement in the summer months and when it rained. After speaking with the owner of the company because I'm pissed at the fact that now I have this humidity issue and the only thing he can come up with is selling me a $1300 dehumidifier after I spent 9k on these drains that yes they fixed the water in the basement issue but seem to have created this humidity issue.

What brand dehumidifier do you have?  From my research there was a new set of standards for measuring the pints per day and most of the 70 pint units from a few years ago are now considered 50.

I do not understand (yeah, easy straight line
).

Are you saying that, instead of installing a French drain around the outside of the basement, that they scabbed something onto the inside of your basement walls and called it a "French drain" connected to a floor drain that you already had?

[briman87]

I do not understand (yeah, easy straight line
).

Are you saying that, instead of installing a French drain around the outside of the basement, that they scabbed something onto the inside of your basement walls and called it a "French drain" connected to a floor drain that you already had?

Now what they did is what is in this picture . Where that grey plastic meets the wall they put a bead of caulk along the top to make it a "sealed system.

After doing some more research it is suggested that you use corrogated pipe with holes that are not running along the bottom because the water really just drains through the holes and into rock and ground below it and can be a breeding ground for iron ochre bacteria that produce a musty smell

[jteneyck]

Holes everywhere in the hose should still move excess water to the sump.  My house is old enough that it has clay drain tiles laid in crushed stone, effectively the same as what you have.  The dimpled plastic looks like it's acting like an expansion joint where it meets the wall.  That's no different than the old school way of using asphalt expansion board, although that stuff might do a better job of reducing moisture transmission, hence the bead of caulk to seal the dimpled plastic to the wall.  

The system you have should work w/o putting excess humidity into your basement.  One thing that occurs to me is the fresh concrete will give up quite a bit of water while it's curing.  That could be some of the reason for the excess humidity in the short term.  After the concrete has cured you might want to paint it and the rest of the floor to help control moisture wicking through it.  

John

[briman87]

Holes everywhere in the hose should still move excess water to the sump.  My house is old enough that it has clay drain tiles laid in crushed stone, effectively the same as what you have.  The dimpled plastic looks like it's acting like an expansion joint where it meets the wall.  That's no different than the old school way of using asphalt expansion board, although that stuff might do a better job of reducing moisture transmission, hence the bead of caulk to seal the dimpled plastic to the wall.  

The system you have should work w/o putting excess humidity into your basement.  One thing that occurs to me is the fresh concrete will give up quite a bit of water while it's curing.  That could be some of the reason for the excess humidity in the short term.  After the concrete has cured you might want to paint it and the rest of the floor to help control moisture wicking through it.  

John

Do you think the concrete could still be curing under the top of section of concrete after 4 months? I wouldn't think so but could see that being the cause of the issue.

[AHill]

One consideration about adding a dehumidifier is static electricity. If you don't have adequate grounding for dust collection, I'd recommend recommend incorporating it before installing and using a dehumidifier.

[AHill]

Do you think the concrete could still be curing under the top of section of concrete after 4 months?  I wouldn't think so but could see that being the cause of the issue.

Typically, complete curing takes about 30 days.

[briman87]

Typically, complete curing takes about 30 days.

So then that can not be from the cement since it has been past the 30 days.

To address your other post Alan. My shop shares the basement with the washer and dryer and basement storage. The idea is one day to put up a wall to separate my shop from the basement. Currently the dust collector is probably around 15 feet from the dehumidifier. Currently the dust collector only has one hose that is moved around from tool to tool. Eventually I am going to run some ductwork and have 3 drops at different spots in the basement and for that work I will ground all the ductwork.

[jteneyck]

So then that can not be from the cement since it has been past the 30 days. 

To address your other post Alan.  My shop shares the basement with the washer and dryer and  basement storage.  The idea is one day to put up a wall to separate my shop from the basement.  Currently the dust collector is probably around 15 feet from the dehumidifier.  Currently the dust collector only has one hose that is moved around from tool to tool.  Eventually I am going to run some ductwork and have 3 drops at different spots in the basement and for that  work I will ground all the ductwork.

You may do so if it makes you feel better, but there's no need to ground the ductwork of your DC.  It's an urban legend that static buildup can cause an explosion.  Wood dust isn't wheat flour.  

If the RH in your basement is still high then I would seal/paint the floor where the new concrete was cast.  And run a dehumidifier of course.  

Do you have water constantly draining to the sump or only when it rains?  

John