Ventilation of drylined garage

[mntmouse]

Hi,

I have looked at the various posts on ventilation and damp and none seem to answer my specific question.

I have just moved into a house which has a detached garage. The previous owners converted the garage into a recording studio by dry lining the walls.

The room is now semi habitable and is a useful store (i.e. i don't want to return it to a garage). The only issue is that it has a distinct damp feel and mould is growing on one of the walls so i am cautious about storing tools etc. due to the damp.

I know i need to install ventilation, there do not seem to be any air bricks that i can see (which leads to question 2)

1) should i install a pair of kitchen/ bathroom forced vents or do i need a combination of air bricks and forced vents? I do not go in the room very often hence it stays sealed for days on end so the air transfer is minimal if any.

2) if there are air vents should i try and break through the dry lining to stop moisture building up on the back of the dry lining or is it better to vent the back anyway?

The garage is only a single skin of bricks (not sure if that will affect the answer).

Thanks for your help.

 

[Deluks]

Well I'm converting my garage into a studio and face the same problem. To be completely soundproof a room also has to be airtight, so yeh you will get problems. I reckon knocking out a few bricks on the outside and replacing with airbricks will help, then cutting some holes in the plasterboard inner and fitting louvre vents. The plasterboard could be quite thick, I know of a guy who used 7 layers in his studio You'll probably have just a couple though. Use a holesaw, and watch for cables.

I don't know how many of each you'll need, but give us an idea of the size of the room and one of the other guys here should know.

Clean off any mold you find with soapy water/detergent.

 

[mntmouse]

Forgot measure the room last night but it is a single garage so i guess it is about
7m long and 3m wide, 2.5m high

So i just need air bricks and some ducts to take it through the dry lining. How many is the question.

 

[Deluks]

Dunno, guess it. If theres not enough then you can add more later. I'd probably go with about 6-8 for starters. Do you know if there's any insulation in the walls?

 

[mntmouse]

I don't think there is any isulation.

Would you put half of the airbricks at the top of the room and the other half towards the bottom so there is a flow of air through the room?

If I am going to do this I could also put a kitchen/ bathroom fan in as well to make sure the air gets circulated.

 

[masona]

Another way is to fit a automatic condensation fan, a good air flow from air vents is the best way to go though.

 

[Deluks]

You could stagger the airbricks, dunno if it will improve circulation but why not?

Fan is a good idea, a standard 4" inline extractor will do, maybe 2. The only hassle with fans is the noise, you could set it to run on a timer and switch it on when you leave the room, so it runs for 20 minutes or so after you lock up. Still go with the airbricks though, it's important to vent that wall cavity.

You could also build soundproof boxes for the fans and fit them on a wall in the corner.