Question:
After taking possession of my first house, I noticed some water seeped in
on the floor of the detached wooden garage.
On the inside, the wood at the bottom rear of the garage is damp.
There is a 3" space between where it seems a newer concrete floor was laid
on top of the original and the rear of the garage.
It is wet in this 3" space.
Upon further inspection, on the outside of the garage directly on the other
side of the leak there is a slight 1/8" space between the concrete walk and
the base of the wood singles of the garage.
I can only assume that this is where the water is coming from.
What is the best way to stop the water from seeping into the 1/8" space?
Caulk? Maybe a rubber moulding or something similar?
Should I do something on the inside of the garage, like waterproof the wood,
or fill in the gap between the newer concrete floor and the wood?
Answer:
Hard to see your garage from here, but from your description it sounds like
the new layer of slab is actually higher than the sill plate of the wall,
and the concrete walk outside is causing the water to pond in the sill area,
or at least promoting wicking into the wood. IOW, whoever did the garage
remodel was an idiot. There should always be 6-8 inches of raised concrete
wall under the framed walls/siding. Having wood standing in water WILL cause
rot. Rule of thumb- there never should be concrete higher than any nearby
wood.
You are lucky the garage is detached, because it does give you more options.
But the fix will not be a DIY. Step one is to get a pro in to determine if
the garage is worth fixing, or if demo and replacement with one of the 'kit'
garages would be cheaper. If the structure is basically sound, in some cases
it is possible to jack up the entire garage about a foot, and properly
repair/rebuild the foundation and sills, and then set the garage back down.
If the inside of the garage is unfinished, a good contractor or engineer
could give you a diagnosis in a few minutes. An engineer is better, because
he won't be trying to sell you his rebuild services.
