Howdy,
I have an interesting dilemma but first a little background.
For seven years I had my woodshop in our one-car attached garage. It wasn't
heated or cooled and not very tight. I live in the midwest with very cold
winters and extreemly hot/humid summers. When it rained it would take on
some water from under the doors and I would have standing water until I
sopped it up. About twice a year I would put a coat of floor wax on my
tablesaw, drill press, band saw, etc. and never, never had a problem with
rust.
Now, since a recent move, I have a metal detached two-car sized building.
It has a concrete floor, 2x4 framing, and what looks to be galvanized,
corregated steel siding and roof. No drywall, no insulation, just the steel
between my tools and the outdoors. I used about 12 cans of spray foam
insulation to cut down on the breez and did a lot of caulking, it's actually
pretty tight now.
However, my tools are rusting. For a couple of months I would go out every
week or so and there would be a fine,even coat of rust on all my power tools
(all my other tools are still packed for obvious reasons). Finally I waxed
them all and covered them with cotton duck and that has kept them pretty
clean but what do you folks think is happening here? Is there a chemical
reaction with the galvanized steel? Is it condensation, like a glass of ice
water sweating? Funny thing is, the building is good and dry. And it's
been freakin' cold here for the past few months, very dry air. I'm stumped.
We can't afford to tear it down and put up something nice for a few years
yet so I'm going to put a few hundred bucks in it by covering the ceiling
with plywood and framing up some interior walls with drywall. I'll make it
all removable with screws so the materials can be re-used later.
So what do you think?
-Mac