Park in damp garage or leave outside?

[ryan2022]

Hi guys, I left this over at autobody101, but the site is a bit slow right now.

I hope this is the right section for the post, here goes.

Ive got a single car garage, thats NOT insulated. Its usually not cold enough to melt the snow in the - temps, but can be quite damp. I bought a tarp to lay on the floor to isolate the tires from the cement, but the snow that does melt pools on the tarp!

Would it be better to just leave the car outside, or am I okay parking it in the garage. Its always undercoated, but I want to keep her clean.

Scraping two cars in the morning is a big PITA, but if do it in a heartbeat if it was the best move.

Thanks for the help.

Ryan

 

[addyguy]

Put a heater in the garage to take the damp/cold out. Could even use drained oil in a waste heater.

 

[The_Jeff]

I'm wrestling with the same question. I don't want the humidity wrecking my tools as well.

My answer is no tarp, bare cement, and I sweep the snow/slush out manually. On real cold (dry) days I leave the door open so the ice can sublimate* away. Also my roof soffits have vents.

Colder than freezing is a good thing, IMO, as far as underbody rust goes-- ice doesn't rot like liquid salt slurry does.

I also believe heat given off by a just-parked car could help evaporation but could also help create a localized fog near the undercarriage.

I get some 40 degree days in the middle of winter; there's fog rolling out of the snowy woods and the concrete slab of the garage is below freezing, leading to clamminess. I'd take a 12 degree day over this anytime.

Interested in others' musings as well.

*evaporating without melting first

 

[JHZR2]

If the smow does not really melt that much, Id use the garage. It is damp, wet garages and liquid water that worries me the most. You dont want liquid water seeping all over all the time, IMO.

Do you have a leaf blower? You could blow a lot of junk off your car (and liquid water would potentially be blown away too), then park it.

Garages are great for UV protection and protection from copious amounts of water getting into every little nook and cranny in your car.

Your car will get wet, you cannot help it. Ive heard the issues related to a damp garage being troublesome. Id avoid putting a wet car away as much as possible, and would try to keep a car in the garage as much as possible in the sunny summer months. Winter is always a compromise. Do as best an effort as you can, and then just deal. A garage in the winter is more of a convenience thing (the car stays clean in snowstorms, in theory), than anything else. Remove what you can, clean what you can, then put it away.

If there are no high winds/snow drifts, etc., you might want to consider leaving your garage door open with the car in it, if your situation allows...

 

[duaneb9729]

When i was a kid we had a nice older neighbor that installed a bath fan in his garage, piped to outdoors and he hooked it up to an old timer, from a dryer.

Every time he came home he would turn on his timer and ventilate the garage for 20 minutes. and it seemed to work well for him.

This fellow would always wander on down and give me guidance when i was working on some old car of mine.

I hope some day i can return the favor for some young guy.

 

[The_Jeff]

There was a wicked old guy on my paper route who had a pair of 1971-ish olds cutlasses. (He wasn't "cool" though, he added a 3rd, and a 4th rear brake light inside the rear window, and drove real slow.) This was about 1990. The cars looked great for the salt belt, if not perfect. He washed the things with a hose, turning his driveway into a skating rink for myself as a bicyclist. Then he'd pull the wet car into his garage.

Guess it worked for him.

 

[ryan2022]

hmmmmmmmmmm, well, thanks guys, still not quite sure what Im going to do. Is the concensus still to ditch the tarp?

We'll see.

Ryan

 

[Kestas]

Automotive Engineering had an article about this a long time ago. They studied the effects of winter parking on corrosion. They found the worst thing you could do was to park in a heated garage. The warmth would really get the corrosion going on a car. A cold garage is better to reduce corrosion. The best thing to do was park in a covered car port with one, two, or three sides walled.

 

[The_Jeff]

If you do run a heater don't run a ventless kind, they emit lots of water vapor as a combustion byproduct.

 

[oil_spaz]

I would leave it in the garage based on your description, as long as it's consistently cold with no big temperature variations. In fact, road de-icers are much more active at higher temperatures. Ventilation will also help. You might consider cracking a couple of windows/doors to keep a little air moving.

Avoid heaters, IMHO.

 

[Pablo]

I have a similar situation. Well not for a car but my SBP company shop. Just make sure the salt is off the car.

I fail to see the problem with some electric heat and high watt bulbs and 4 or 6 of these: http://www.drizair.com/products.html with some small fans. Works for me.

(Other than the cost)

And let be tell you when it goes from big snow and 12°F to 55°F and pours 12"+ my place gets dank.

 

[Bamaro]

IMO, the garage still beats the outside. The main problem I have is damp warm mornings after a cold night with the condensation.

 

[ryan2022]

That sounds like a good bet. I never even though, Ive got a window on the side of the garage I can open up. Its not insulated, so it stays cold. Most of the time, its ice on the floor, and not water.

Thanks again.

Ryan

 

[Drew2000]

If the car is filthy and slushy, I'd park outside. For the ice and snow, cut a piece of heavy poly plastic big enough to cover the windsheild with enough to wrap around the "A" pillars and a bit inside so you can close the doors over the plastic and hold it in place.
Real easy to clear the windscreen in the morning.

 

[Cogito]

Originally Posted By: ryan2022
I bought a tarp to lay on the floor to isolate the tires from the cement, but the snow that does melt pools on the tarp!

Are you trying to isolate the tires from the cement, or water, or both? I would not want to park my car in a damp garage due to the rust reason, but I'm not sure I understand your concern about the tires?

 

[65cuda]

I wouldn't think that in a unheated garage it would hurt anything to have the car in there even if it did melt and leave water on the floor. I'd be more worried about the water freezing and then slipping on it than anything.

 

[ARB1977]

I deal with any snow but it gets pretty chilly outside. I park the tacoma outside...been that way for the last three years. Wax it every six months or so and it should be fine.

 

[demarpaint]

The garage beats leaving a car outside hands down. If the garage is damp, open the door, or leave it slightly open it will vent out. If you have to put the car away wet, just think of the guys car that's sitting outside in the elements. As soon as conditions warrant open the door and let it vent out. I had 2 identical vehicles a few years back one garaged, one left outside. Guess which one looked better?

I recently put up a carport and now have one vehicle in the garage the other under the carport. Morning dew on very damp mornings collects on the car under the port, the one in the garage is always dry. Usually after a rain storm when things dry up I open the door and let the air circulate. My garaged van just celebrated its 20th birthday, no rust to be found anywhere on it. I live on Long Island, so there is plenty of salt in the air too. That van was moved to under the carport, wish I had more garage space!

 

[ikeepmychevytoo]

If you dislike the wet cement lay cardboards, they're breathable, and once wet they give out the moisture at a slower pace so better chance for the continuing effective ventilation. Not a mositure buster but a regulator.

Also lots of newspapers are good for moisture balance. I lay them in the footweells in wet winters and they keep the fog down. Often they dries up "en-route" slowly without going up everywhere but regular cabin exhaust (I hate recirc. even on winters). Some interior metals out of sight are just unprotected. If too wet I just throw them to the litterbin coming home.

 

[Junior]

Originally Posted By: ryan2022
Hi guys, I left this over at autobody101, but the site is a bit slow right now.

I hope this is the right section for the post, here goes.

Ive got a single car garage, thats NOT insulated. Its usually not cold enough to melt the snow in the - temps, but can be quite damp. I bought a tarp to lay on the floor to isolate the tires from the cement, but the snow that does melt pools on the tarp!

Would it be better to just leave the car outside, or am I okay parking it in the garage. Its always undercoated, but I want to keep her clean.

Scraping two cars in the morning is a big PITA, but if do it in a heartbeat if it was the best move.

Thanks for the help.

Ryan


If this is a daily driver parking it in the garage is the least of your worries. My recommendation, get rid of the tarp, park in the garage, close the door, let the heat from the engine melt what snow it melts, push and snow/ice/slush out with a broom and be on your way. Even an uninsulated garage will stay warmer than outside, especially if it is attached to a house. A 150 watt light bulb left on will keep it 10F warmer than outside.

I'll park in an unheated garage vs. outside any day given the choice. Just my opinion.