Is your garage suffering from too much moisture and beginning to grow mold? Have you tried for years to keep the mold away to no end? POM Waterproofing has some solutions that might be enough to finally prevent mold growth in your garage for good.
Waterproof Subterranean Walls
If your garage is partially built against soil, the moisture from that soil can leak in through the walls. Many houses have a basement garage that’s open toward the driveway but is built into a hill. Other homes may even have standalone garages built this way. Some home building sites simply didn’t have enough flat surface to prevent this. So, part of a hill was dug away and the building was placed against the soil.
If your garage has even part of a wall flush with the soil, it may be suffering for that reason. The only surefire way to prevent surround ground water from leaking in through stone walls is to waterproof those walls on their exterior. Exterior waterproofing is most often used for basements, but can be applied to any building that’s backed into a hill.
Exterior waterproofing involves applying liquid, then solid membranes. These are waterproof and prevent water from even touching the walls of your garage. Just remember, don’t try to fill cracks in the wall from the inside, as this can trap water in the stone and lead to extensive damage as it freezes and thaws from year to year.
Install a French Drain
If your garage is at the bottom of a hill or slope, you may be getting water penetrating from regular old rainfall. Preventing garage flooding and, therefore, moisture problems, is easy with a French drain.
A French drain is basically a long, covered trench that sits in front of the garage opening. You’ll be able to drive over it with no problem, but rain will get stopped in its tracks.
Prevent Mold Growth
When you’ve successfully prevented more water from entering your garage the next step is mold removal and prevention. Remove mold and prevent future mold growth in your garage by using:
Bleach
For removing a lot of mold, you may want to use bleach. This is great for a lot of mold removal because it’s cheap and effective. Just remember to leave the garage door open while you clean to allow lots of airflow. This will not keep mold from growing there in the future, so you’ll want to follow it up with something like:
Concrobium
Concrobium is a bit on the expensive side, but is non-toxic. This is an EPA-approved mold killing chemical. It can be used on things like plastic without damaging it, unlike bleach. Plus, once you’ve treated an area with concrobium, it will no longer grow mold in the future.
Grapefruit Seed Extract
Grapefruit seed extract can be mixed with equal parts water, sprayed on, left for 5 minutes, and then wiped off. It also prevents future mold growth on the cleaned areas.
Dry Out the Garage
Once you’ve prevented drips, leaks, and floods, removed mold and prevented more, there’s just one more step. If your garage still gets very humid and you’re worried about mold growing on things in the garage that can’t be treated, it’s time to dehumidify. A dehumidifier does the exact opposite of a humidifier and sucks the moisture from the air. This will keep things like cardboard from growing mildew or outright mold.
