Wet Garage Wall

13 years ago

When my house was build about 20 years ago, I had a water problem in the garage that was finished to the floor with drywall. I replaced the wet drywall with greenboard, but now the white cover in the greenboard is sluffing off. The water damage seems to be coming up from the floor and is about 1 foot high now. The issue seems to be the water gets on the board during the winter snow, but I also have a lot of springs on the property and I suspect that some is under the floor, although not visable. Can I use Kills and then a waterproof paint on the greenboard since it looks like hell and I do not want to tear it all our again. PS - I am not a handy guy!

Featured Answer

mondo
Original Author

13 years ago

I would have to tear down the hole wall to the interior of the house and want to avoid that. I tore it all out before when the damage was extensive from a leak in the roof. It has been about 10 years and no evidence of mold, just the paper is coming off the greenboard. I am looking for a product to seal the greenboard.

Comments (6)

sierraeast
13 years ago
You need to address the problem of the incoming water intrusion. Trying to seal it from the inside, the damage is still being done internally and can get ugly on you real fast such as mold issues, etc.
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jennifw
13 years ago
Is is possible that the roof leak is back or you have a new one? The green board paper wouldn't just come off without being the symptom of some kind of problem. You have to fix the problem first. (sorry)
sierraeast
13 years ago
"The water damage seems to be coming up from the floor and is about 1 foot high now"

Sounds like you need to investigate the exterior, not tear the wall apart from the inside. What is the exterior wall made of and what foundation type? There are many variables here and could be simply grading away from your foundation sloping enough for water/snow build up to run out and away. Also if you dont have gutters, that might help as well but you need to provide more details in order for anyone here to get a clear picture.
macv
13 years ago
Greenboard absorbs water at it's edges like any other drywall therefore it shouldn't be placed on a concrete slab or in a wet area. Try cutting the bottom 30" off and installing cement backer board.
mondo
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks for the input. The roof leak has been fixed, what I have is a situation where the greenboard was installed to the floor and is getting wet at times from snow in the garage over time and has leached up and the outer white cover has flaked off. I also get some rain blowing in since my garage door seal is bad. Yes, I am going to replace that! The wall in question is an inside wall to the house and to the garage. I suspect I have some water that comes up from the floor since there is many natural springs in the area, but have never seen signs of that. This problem has occurred over several years, the wall never actually feels wet and I am reluctant to teal out the wall to seal the cement under it. My plan was to cut the greenboard up from the floor and try to re-paint the greenboard with some white waterproof paint or sealer. With having just paid for a wedding and having 2 other kids in college, I need to just try this approach since I do not have the $ or time now for more. If this does not work, then I will tear into it and get to the bottom of it.

Can anyone tell me a material I can use to seal the greenboard?

Thanks for the comments.