Battling rust - Helpful hints.

[middle.road]

What say we start a helpful hints thread.

I've got a 24'x24' detached garage that is my shop. I have never battled rust and corrosion like I've had to since we moved here a year and a half ago.
This is my third location in TN in 15 years and I've never had this amount of rust and problems.
From machinery to tooling, seems like every time I turn around another piece has rust on it.
I'm wondering what tips and tricks other use to keep this nemesis at bay.

Thanks,
_Dan

 

[Brain Coral]

Hello Dan,

What differences from the other shops can you list that might help find a solution ?

Is the area more humid, were the other shops in a basement or insulated buildings and is this one insulated ?

It may be that when the garage slab was poured, no poly was placed on the ground before pouring. If the ground is damp beneath, then the moisture will migrate up and into the shop. I once stored some of my gear at my brother's garage with similar problems. I'm not a big fan of painted floors, but you might find quite a difference if you painted the floor with a good epoxy paint. You could add some grit if you wanted to make it less slippery. I believe that you have to "etch" the concrete with muriatic acid before painting.

In addition, I would insulate the walls and ceiling including poly on the warm side and cover with your material of choice.... assuming that this hasn't been done already.

Cheers...

Brian

 

[pineyfolks]

The best thing I did was put a ceiling fan in. Circulating the air seems to help with the condensation in the spring. I use CLP spray lube on all the small stuff.

 

[Shadowdog500]

I'm assuming this is an un heated building like mine.

+1 on the floor. If there is no Polly under the concrete, the floor could wick moisture into the building. If it is a metal building without insulation on the walls and ceiling, the walls and ceiling will sweat from the heating and cooling and will make it extremely humid. If the building can't breathe with soffitand or ridge vents it can stay humid in the building. If it is lower than the surrounding area, water will be funneled toward the building. I have a friend who made all 4 of these mistakes and everything rusts up quickly in his building. On some mornings everything is literally coated with a dew in his building. On another forum a few years ago a guy built his garage in an area that became a stream during a good rain, and didn't realize it until after he was more than 1/2 way done, so stuff like this does happen. Heck, last week I was tent camping and saw a couple people set up camp in a drainage ditch, wonder if they were surprised their camp was flooded when the rain came?

To test the floor I read that you can tape a plastic tarp, or trash bag on the floor to see how much moisture collects under it. Look it up. If it wicks a lot of moisture you could probably seal the surface. If it don't have insulation, add some to keep the walls from sweating.
.

Whenever you get a dry day, open everything up and let the building dry out. My building don't have rust problems, but I do this on dry days, especially after a nor'easter when It rains heavy for days

hope this helps.

chris

 

[chip_slinger]

Seal the concrete floor to mitigate water coming up through the floor.

Insulate the walls and ceiling.

Dehumidify! Use two household dehumidifiers for a shop that size, or use an air conditioner in the summer and dehumidifiers in the winter.

 

[bpratl]

Seal the concrete floor to mitigate water coming up through the floor.

Insulate the walls and ceiling.

Dehumidify! Use two household dehumidifiers for a shop that size, or use an air conditioner in the summer and dehumidifiers in the winter.

+++ all the above are required, I extract ~1 gal of water/day during the spring and summer months in Gloucester, MA. My shop is in the back of my garage, above ground on 3 walls and 2 feet below ground on one wall. No more RUST after doing the above.

 

[JimDawson]

I looked up your area on Google maps, and I think I see why you are having a rust problem. I noticed a large Alcoa aluminum smelter close by. Even if the smelter is shut down, the combination of high humidity and the fluoride compounds associated with the smelter that are in the surrounding environment could be causing the bulk of your problem. If there is a coal fired power plant in your area that would also contribute to the problem. If you are pretty much downwind of the these types of facilities, I can see where it could be a problem.

The best thing you can do is dry the shop as best you can, a dehumidifier and/or air conditioning is the best bet. Insulate the walls, and seal the floor as others have suggested. Keep the exposed surfaces protected with some type of spray lube, maybe WD-40.

Good luck

 

[ScrapMetal]

My shop is in a detached garage next to my office building. I have an HVAC unit installed in the space (why is a long story but it was real convenient for me). I started to have terrible rust issues even though it is kept at a fairly constant temperature throughout the year. My solution was to go to Lowes and buy the largest de-humidifier they had at the time. It runs almost constantly but I haven't had any issues with rust since. BTW - Make sure you get one that has a hose to continually purge the condensation as trying to keep the "little bucket" empty would be maddening. I just run the "hose" under the garage door out in to the parking lot.



Old pic of when I just got the mill moved in.

-Ron

 

[onetrack]

What say we start a helpful hints thread.

I've got a 24'x24' detached garage that is my shop. I have never battled rust and corrosion like I've had to since we moved here a year and a half ago.
This is my third location in TN in 15 years and I've never had this amount of rust and problems.
From machinery to tooling, seems like every time I turn around another piece has rust on it.
I'm wondering what tips and tricks other use to keep this nemesis at bay.

Thanks,
_Dan

Middle.road - An old trick to prevent rust on tools in confined spaces such as storage cupboards, big toolboxes, and other compartment areas, is to leave an old-style filament globe on, in the compartment, full time.
The heat from the filament keeps the temperature up above dew point and totally eliminates rust on tools (provided you keep them lightly oiled, of course).
The only cure for your shop is some kind of modest heating on at all times when the air temperature drops below the dew point.

Another factor to be aware of is open containers of corrosive liquids - such as hydochloric acid (muriatic acid) left inside the shop.
Even some unlikely-looking liquids and products can give off corrosive fumes that wreak damage inside a shop.

A buddy in KS complained about all his tools going rusty in his new shop and I told him to go look for corrosive fume sources.
He found a small container of hydrochloric acid he'd used for brick-cleaning, partly open, in a cupboard.
The acid fumes had corroded everything in the shop that had an exposed metal surface. He got rid of the container and had no more problems.

 

[Cobra]

There is certainly a need for reduction in humidity but even with that I was seeing rust on tables and parts. I started using polycrystalline wax from Lee Valley. Stopped all of the rust spots.