Frost inside garage

You need to heat your garage. Too much humidity, and when it reaches freezing point there is frost building up, just like on your car's windshield on cold and humid mornings

I'd look for water infiltration as well...

That drywall wont last long if moisture is hitting it.

Frost is caused by humidity/water. I hope the water proof membrane was done properly to stop water going through the walls.

Panda13 wrote: ↑ recently took possession of a new home and noticed frost on the drywall, and concrete footings/slab - i'll be mentioning this in my 30day. Any ideas what could be causing this?

Could be inadequate insulation around the foundation perimeter and inside the wall. Could also be water ingress. Probably no way to tell without taking out some of the interior drywall and inspecting the wall.

Frost on the footing and slab isn't too much to worry about but frost on the drywall will cause permanent damage if it's not addressed.

Are you parking in the garage?
Is the garage attached?
You need to get rid of the water, any ideas where it's coming from?
If your garage is attached, then it shouldn't be getting that cold. Mine stays above 6C all winter. Probably air leakage or poor insulation.

Everything is inconsequential until you rip down all that drywall and see what is going on behind the walls and the direction of that water source.

That is some significant frost.

What's the temperature and humidity? If you don't know, track it with a $20 monitor off Amazon.

How new is the build? I'm wondering if the concrete is still leaching moisture.

What is on the other side of that wall?

It looks to me like water infiltration where the framed wall meets the concrete perimeter of the garage.

If you have snow piled up there/poor drainage etc. water will make its way in.

Obviously (I hope) there is no plumbing in that wall, so there's only one place water can come from - the outside. Or from the interior of the garage if that concrete slab is still drying out. I don't know how long concrete takes to completely cure, but I expect it releases a lot of moisture into the air for weeks/months after pouring it, especially in cold weather.

It does look like the concrete foundation is still drying out and the moisture is freezing on the surface of the walls. The wood and drywall touching the concrete will wick up the moisture. Is there frost anywhere else in the garage? Do you have a cold room and is it showing frost there as well?

exrcoupe wrote: ↑ It does look like the concrete foundation is still drying out and the moisture is freezing on the surface of the walls. The wood and drywall touching the concrete will wick up the moisture. Is there frost anywhere else in the garage? Do you have a cold room and is it showing frost there as well?

The wood and drywall should definitely be separated by an impermeable membrane. If it isn't then that's against code.

That's more water coming from the concrete than I would expect from curing. Looks like water penetrating from exterior.

Considering the weather in the GTA, if the OP is located in the GTA, there isn't much snow or liquid moisture that the concrete would pass through if it was coming from outside, so either it's coming from a leak in the wall or it's coming from the concrete itself.

exrcoupe wrote: ↑ Considering the weather in the GTA, if the OP is located in the GTA, there isn't much snow or liquid moisture that the concrete would pass through if it was coming from outside, so either it's coming from a leak in the wall or it's coming from the concrete itself.

It could be water that was soaked in the wall from when it was warmer a week or so ago.

exrcoupe wrote: ↑ Considering the weather in the GTA, if the OP is located in the GTA, there isn't much snow or liquid moisture that the concrete would pass through if it was coming from outside, so either it's coming from a leak in the wall or it's coming from the concrete itself.

If there's a leak inside a garage wall, OP has bigger problems. If it was a leak there would be a lot more water than there appears to be.

Wouldn't surprise me at all if there is a pile of snow against the wall which is melting from warmth escaping from the garage (warm cars can warm up the space pretty well) and leaking in between the bottom plate of the wood wall and the garage foundation.

I'd bet there is a brick veneer on the exterior with weeping holes at the base of the wall that are buried in snow and allowing the water to leak in as well.

I also think RFD should implement a feature that locks a thread if the OP doesn't post again within a reasonable time frame paired with the number of responses the thread has. More responses, shorter time frame to lock it down.

torontotim wrote: ↑ I also think RFD should implement a feature that locks a thread if the OP doesn't post again within a reasonable time frame paired with the number of responses the thread has. More responses, shorter time frame to lock it down.

It hasn't even been 24 hours since they posted. They might just be busy at work. Not everyone can sit on RFD all day, like us.

RFD = Respond Fast Dealfinders!

Sorry for the late reply - as someone else has mentioned i've been at work

Here some details

- New build in Ottawa
- Snow is on the other side of the wall and pushed up against it.
- Foundation was poured last winter so roughly 1 yr since taking possession
- Garage is attached to the house the wall where the frost build up is happening is an exterior wall
- No cars parked in the garage at all
- Significant water stain on the drywall today after letting it air out
- I'll pickup a humidity meter tomorrow and see if I can track the humidity levels
- After 24 hours there's still quite a bit of frost in that corner in picture 1

I'm hiring an inspector to assist with the 30day inspection I'm just hoping its nothing major or something not covered by tarion =\

engineered wrote: ↑ Are you parking in the garage?
Is the garage attached?
You need to get rid of the water, any ideas where it's coming from?
If your garage is attached, then it shouldn't be getting that cold. Mine stays above 6C all winter. Probably air leakage or poor insulation.

Took possession today no one has even parked in the garage yet

torontotim wrote: ↑ If there's a leak inside a garage wall, OP has bigger problems. If it was a leak there would be a lot more water than there appears to be.

Wouldn't surprise me at all if there is a pile of snow against the wall which is melting from warmth escaping from the garage (warm cars can warm up the space pretty well) and leaking in between the bottom plate of the wood wall and the garage foundation.

I'd bet there is a brick veneer on the exterior with weeping holes at the base of the wall that are buried in snow and allowing the water to leak in as well.

There is definitely a ton of snow on the other side of the wall - silly question here but what can I do?