Garage - To ventilate or not?

[pyestudiocolour]

Following the sale of my old Mini Clubman Estate this weekend, the garage is now free for my pride & joy (1969 1000 Saloon) to use. The garage is, to use estate agent speak, "part integral", i.e. partly built into the house, 1970s style. It currently has no ventilation other than small gaps around the door.

What does anyone reckon about me putting in a couple of air bricks? Would a bit of ventilation be good for when the car is put away slightly damp? Or would it just let in damp air in the winter causing more problems? I know I could go the whole hog with a dehumidifier etc. but can't really afford that at the moment and the car is, ahem, less than concourse. . .

[MoggyTech]

As long as the garage isn't damp it should be fine. I used to run a de-humidifier 24/7 but with higher energy prices I only use it on really wet days. One thing that is cheap, is a decent quality humidity meter. You can get a good quality one from most garden centres (digital) and they only cost about a tenner.

What can be quite scarey, is the amount of water a dehumidifier collects over a short period of time. An old cheap trick is to lay large pieces of thick cardboard on the garage floor, they soak up moisture from the air, but need changing quite often (or dried outside when warm). Be aware of the flamability risk though.

[AndrewSkinner]

If the car is used everyday in the wet and then put into the garage, then adding air bricks would be a must in my eyes!

If you have a nice damp car in a nice warm garage then you are simply asking for rust to come and eat your car away

Realy the best thing for a wet car is a car port as it keeps the wet off but allows it to dry quickly with the breeze.

If the car has already started to rust then I would definetly put air bricks in and even consider leaving the garage door open if it is put away wet (Depends on area and things in garage) just to simply get is dry asap

[bmcecosse]

Being integral it will be relatively warm in winter - mine is! The golden rule is to NOT put the car away wet - but if you must do this regularly then yes you do need some ventilation. Mine has 4 airbricks one side (but quite sheltered by the house next door) - and window vents on the other, plus not very tight fitting doors. I have to say - clean steel left out even for years - doesn't rust over.

[Peetee]

It would depend on the immediate surroundings of the garage. If the side is restricted and gets damp in poor weather the keep it as it is. You might consider putting a extractor fan at the rear to get an air flow through below the front door and under the car to the rear. I have a car port which I will add doors to shortly but only because the wind does push rain in some considerable distance at times. I will put vent panels in the bottom of the doors. and the back is semi-open anyway.

[jojax64]

I use a de-humidifier. It's a Unibond model...(bought in B&Q)...quite cheap, and dosen't use any power at all. It takes round, white refills and it does collect a substantial amount of water. I've put one in my van, too.

[pyestudiocolour]

Thnks for the replies. I'll pop down to B&Q and have a look at the cheap dehumdifiers, and also get some airbricks (Brick size ones would be easier than the big square ones to fit, by looking at it).

I don't use the Morris every day, but there are times when it will get wet as it is not a "summer only" car.

I wonder if one of those low wattage bar type heaters (like you would have in a greenhouse or shed) would help, by keeping the air temperature a bit higher?

[Axolotl]

If you have a freezer in the garage, will a de-humidifier stop it frosting up?

(The freezer that is, not the garage) .

[Orkney]

A dehumidifier is great for a sealed room or space - if you run one in a room with airbricks then your just trying to dehumidify all the air outside too.
Airbricks is the way to go, cost little and nothing to run
Thing there are some tube ventilators you can gt which just need a big hole drilling rather than having to replace bricks or blocks - drill the appropriate hole size cut tube to length insert in hole and pop the ventilated caps on either side.
More likely available at a builders merchants than a B&Q type place though.

[bmcecosse]

Good idea Orkney!
The simple no-power de-humidifiers are just using some silica gel - and can absorb almost nothing in way of moisture. My powered de-humdifier used to fill the two gallon bucket overnight - but not where I am now.
Ventilation is the answer - and don't put car away wet - let it dry off outside first, or at least leave the garage door wide open until it is dry.
And of course, the REALLY important thing is to NEVER take the car out when there is/has been SALT on the road. It's a death sentence to Minors.