LESLIE: Sarah in Iowa is dealing with a storage issue. Tell us what’s going on at your money pit.
SARAH: I have a basement storage room that is underneath my garage.
TOM: OK.
SARAH: And the ceiling in that storage room is metal.
TOM: OK.
SARAH: I have been told it’s the metal that actually was put down to pour the garage floor.
TOM: That would make sense.
SARAH: The metal is rusting, badly.
TOM: OK, right.
SARAH: So, chunks of rusted metal and rust drop down on the things that we have stored.
TOM: Yep, yep.
SARAH: Clearly, that’s a problem.
TOM: That could be a problem.
SARAH: So I’m just thinking I need to, you know, scrape the rust off and put some Rust-Oleum paint or something on it. But I had a contractor guy look at it and he said he thought moisture is coming down through the garage floor.
TOM: Well, look, the garage floor is going to be damp and it’s going to be hydroscopic and so when you get rain in there – and yeah, it’s going to come down and it’s going to be against the metal and you’re going to get rust. But I think you are on the right track.
I would scrape off as much of the rust as I possibly can. I would use an oil-based primer. I think Rust-Oleum is a good choice. A couple of coats of that, then maybe one top coat and I think you’re good to go and that’s just going to be normal maintenance for this, from here on out.
LESLIE: Type of ceiling, yeah.
SARAH: Now, he was suggesting to me that I get my garage floor sealed, so that moisture can no longer go down through and I was wondering …
TOM: Well, you’re always going to have some level of moisture in there, Sarah. But if you want to paint your garage floor with a good-quality epoxy paint, then that will help, as well.
LESLIE: Mm-hmm. Like one of those kits.
SARAH: Do you think that would reduce the chance of the rust coming back?
TOM: Maybe a little bit. But I think it’s not been ever painted before and it’s probably a number of years old now, so this is pretty much normal wear and tear. I wouldn’t panic over this; this is a pretty straightforward project.
SARAH: OK. Well, I hope that works, because it’s a mess.
TOM: Be confident, Sarah. It will work. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
I have the same problem under our garage. Its a food storage room. 5 years ago or so we cut out the rust spots and painted with a sealant paint. Well it’s back and the metal parts we didn’t cut out are all rusty but also the areas where the metal isn’t, there is rust dripping out! And the paint we put on has peeled off in a lot of places. It even looks like the concrete is disintegrating in those places.
We put a dehumidifier in there and that has helped cut down on the moisture and this last summer we did an epoxy floor to our garage above. So we are hoping to have this solved but I need to know what to do with the mess that’s in there now so it lasts.
Help?