A Bare, Unfinished Garage After a Storm: What to Do First

After a storm gets into a bare or half-finished garage, make it safe, stop more water coming in, photograph everything, and start drying. Do not put drywall up until the framing is dry and the leak is fixed. The garage drywall cost, which starts from $1200 per garage, comes later, and what it ends up at depends on what the storm did to the studs, insulation and any board that was already up. Here is the order we would work in.

What do I do in the first hour?

Safety first, because a garage has more hazards than most rooms.

1. Electrics. If water has reached outlets, the panel, the opener or the lights, leave them off. Do not stand in water near them. If you are unsure, shut off the circuit and get an electrician to look before you use anything.
2. Standing water and the floor. Concrete floors are slippery when wet, and water can hide the edge of a step or a stray nail.
3. Structure. Look up. If a ceiling sags or a wall bows, keep people out of that area.
4. Fuel and chemicals. Storm water can float paint, fuel and lawn chemicals around. Move them.

What about stopping more water getting in?

Before anything else, get the source covered. A tarp over a roof leak, a sandbag or towels at the door, a bucket under a drip. This is not repair, it is damage limitation, and most insurance policies expect you to do it. Keep any receipts. For how that fits with a claim, see Will Insurance Cover Drywall Repair?.

What should I photograph before touching anything?

Everything. Take wide shots of each wall and the ceiling, then close-ups of wet spots, stains and anything broken. Add a few of the source of the water, and of what was stored there. Do it before you clear out, because the pictures are what you will use with an adjuster, and for us to give you an honest price by text.

What is different about a bare or unfinished garage?

This is the part that surprises people. A garage handed over with bare studs, or with the ceiling boarded and the walls left open, has no drywall to soak up the water. That helps in one way: you can see the framing, and it dries faster than a boarded cavity. But there is a catch. Anything fixed to the studs, such as insulation, wiring and stored boxes, takes the water, and open framing lets wind-blown rain reach the back of whatever board is already up.

What to look at:

• Insulation. Wet batts hold water against the wood for weeks. They usually have to come out.
• Wood framing. Studs and plates dry out if given air. Check for staining and any softness at the bottom plate.
• Existing board. If the ceiling was boarded and the walls left open, check the ceiling board for sag, stains and soft patches.
• The house wall. The wall between garage and house is a fire separation, generally 5/8-inch type X with finished joints. If water has got into it, tell whoever repairs it, because the replacement should match.

How long should I let it dry?

We cannot give you a number of days, because it depends on how soaked the wood is and how humid it stays. A moisture meter gives a real answer. Guessing does not. Mould can begin within a couple of days of wetting, so do not leave soaked material in place.

When can the drywall go up?

When the framing is dry, the source of the water is fixed and any mould has been dealt with. Board hung over damp wood traps moisture, and the paper face then feeds mould in the cavity. We would rather tell you to wait a week than board it now. That is true whether the job is to finish garage walls for the first time or to replace what the storm took.

Once it is dry, a single garage usually finishes in two to three days including drying time. If the wall touches the house, it needs finished joints, not just screws. For repairs to board that is already up, Cracked and damaged drywall After a Storm: What to Do First covers it.

What should I not do?

• Do not paint or board over stains.
• Do not run electrics that got wet.
• Do not close up a wall just because the surface feels dry. Wood holds water deeper than it shows.
• Do not sign with the first contractor who knocks on the door after a storm. Ask for a written scope and take your time.
• Do not tear out the fire-rated wall without a plan to put it back.

What about a lanai?

If the lanai was enclosed and the storm got into the walls, the same rule applies: dry, then board. A lanai conversion sits in a high-humidity wall assembly, so we use moisture-resistant board where it belongs on lanai enclosure drywall, and we will say if we think a moisture problem is being built in. A wet lanai wall also needs the leak found first.

Who do I call, and in what order?

Call your insurer if the damage may be a claim. Call an electrician if water touched the electrics. Then text us photos at (352) 561-3616 and we will tell you what we see, whether it should dry first, and what a finish would cost. The quote is free, and we will say so if the right answer is to wait.