How to Prevent Water Damage to Your Custom Garage
Like your home, your garage is susceptible to water damage. And because it features a massive entry point — the overhead door — and accommodates wet, snowy vehicles throughout winter, it may be more vulnerable to water damage than any other area of your house.
Luckily, there are several simple things you can do to help prevent water damage to your garage. In this blog, our expert garage builders share four highly effective and easy-to-implement tips for keeping water from deteriorating the floor, walls, and ceiling of your custom garage.
Clean and Maintain Gutters and Downspouts
Periodically cleaning and inspecting the gutter system on your garage is one of the most effective things you can do to prevent water damage to the roof, walls, and foundation of the building.
When you keep the gutters and downspouts clean, water can flow off the garage roof freely, which helps prevent damage to the fascia, soffit, and eaves off the roof. Clean gutters also help protect against ice dam formation, which can cause significant roof deterioration and ultimately, leaks. Ideally, you should clean and examine your gutters system in spring and late autumn, keeping an eye out for leaks, cracks, and other signs of deterioration that necessitate repairs.
What if you don’t have gutters and downspouts currently? Get them installed! It’s a relatively small investment that’s well worth the cost, especially in our precipitation-prone Twin Cities climate.
Keep the Garage Floor Clean
Maintaining a clean, dry garage floor is crucial for preventing water-related deterioration, especially if you park snowy vehicles in your garage throughout winter. When the snow melts, water will puddle on the garage floor, where it can slowly deteriorate concrete flooring since concrete is naturally porous.
To help prevent puddling water in the garage, you can:
● Kick the snow off your tires before you drive your vehicle into the garage.
● Use a soft brush to sweep the majority of the snow, ice, and moisture off the body of your vehicle before you park inside the garage.
● Use a push broom to sweep snow, ice, and small puddles off the garage floor daily.
● Use fans to encourage rapid water evaporation.
Seal the Garage Floor
If you want the best protection against water damage to the floor of your garage, consider having your garage builders install some form of floor sealant. A sealant will create a smooth, nonporous surface that protects against wear caused by water and road salt. It can also help reduce the likelihood of the floor developing cracks and pitting, which often encourage deeper water-related deterioration.
Maintain the Garage Door
It’s not uncommon to find water seeping beneath overhead garage doors when heavy rains roll through town or large amounts of snow begin melting. But preventing that water intrusion is simple. All you need to do is ensure the weather stripping on the bottom of the garage door is fully intact and properly attached.
That weather stripping sees a considerable amount of wear and tear since it’s exposed to the elements all day every day, so you’ll want to inspect it twice per year. Look for:
● Cracks, holes, tearing, warping, brittle areas, or detached sections
● Light shining out from beneath the bottom of the garage door when it’s dark outside.
● Drafty areas, where you can feel air entering the garage from beneath the door.
If you notice any of the issues above, have a garage door specialist replace the seal. may need to have this done every couple of years.
Sussel Garages: The Twin Cities’ Most Trusted Garage Builders
At Sussel Garages, we’ve proudly served the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro for more than 100 years, and to date, we’ve helped over 50,000 customers build the custom garage of their dreams. Check out what our clients have to say about our work! Whether you’re looking to plan a new custom garage build or you’re ready to overhaul an outdated or damaged existing garage, we’d love to help you bring your vision to life!
How can we help you? Give us a call today at 651-645-0331 (St. Paul) or 612-379-0949 (Minneapolis) or request a free estimate, and we’ll get in touch promptly.