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.
