[daddy long legs]

So I'm lucky enough to have a Moonboard at home, but it's in a non-insulated out-house which basically has almost the same conditions as outside, apart from being wind and rain proof.

I've noticed an issue when the humidity is high, like on a lot of rainy days this winter, where the wood holds seem to have absorbed a lot of moisture and are pretty damp and hence, pretty slippy. A chalking, brushing and blowing a fan does help, but I'm getting sick of pinging off holds and was wondering if a dehumidifier could help in this situation.

Anyone any experience with using such a device to reduce humidity in their boulder shed or such like? The PU holds seem to be non affected, so it's not a condensation thing but due to the wood ones being out of ply.

[RobK]

Stick a heater underneath the board before your session. 10-20 minutes sorts mine out nicely.

[Bradders]

The space heater under the board certainly works to allow you to have a session on dry holds. However you need to sort it out permanently, as the holds will probably start to grow mold soon and will eventually fall apart. Ply holds are the absolute worst for soaking up moisture.

I've done / am doing a few things:

- Fit insulation. Bit of a ball ache to do after the board is up but certainly helps create a more stable atmosphere.
- Add a foam floor. Gym mat type flooring works well.
- Improve the air circulation in the shed. Can do this by fitting air vents in the walls, and / or a whirligig type extractor like you'd see on a van.

[SA Chris]

Gym flooring is easy to put in, no too expensive and makes a significant difference. I did our whole double garage in under a day with a bulk buy of the stuff from amazon. Floor needs to be dead flat though.

[Duma]

My board is outside under tarps, and I've been using it throughout this lockdown, I actually think being outside rather than in a shed is helpful for conditions, perhaps as there's always a breeze? Agree ply seems the worst of all wood holds for absorbing moisture, but the biggest improvement I found is to be very disciplined in remembering to brush all the holds well AFTER your session, leaving chalk on them always results in a bit of smeg next time if the weathers not great.

[daddy long legs]

The space heater under the board certainly works to allow you to have a session on dry holds. However you need to sort it out permanently, as the holds will probably start to grow mold soon and will eventually fall apart. Ply holds are the absolute worst for soaking up moisture.

I've done / am doing a few things:

- Fit insulation. Bit of a ball ache to do after the board is up but certainly helps create a more stable atmosphere.
- Add a foam floor. Gym mat type flooring works well.
- Improve the air circulation in the shed. Can do this by fitting air vents in the walls, and / or a whirligig type extractor like you'd see on a van.

Yep, this definitely helps. While warming up I blast the fan in the direction of the wall with the heater underneath.

[daddy long legs]

Thanks for all the tips! Began insulating but it's a big old room so expensive and time consuming

[SA Chris]

Personally I think insulating is of least value of all the options presented. Extractor of some sort, combined with increasing airflow with an air heater or blower would be more beneficial except on days when it is very hot and humid anyway.

[daddy long legs]

Well as the MB's directly under the roof tiles with zero insulation, I'm hoping the insulation will also help keep it cool when it's hot. Last summer was like an oven in there!

[SA Chris]

Yeah it got pretty hot on my garage board on both the days of summer we had in Scotland last year.

[daddy long legs]

Hahaha well I live in Germany so we get pretty decent summers.......if you're into high humidity and too-hot-to-climb kinda weather

[mrjonathanr]

Mine is in a similar housing and get very damp when we had all the continuous rain. I got an electric heater, ran it for an hour or two, opened all windows/ doors so completely changed the air, closed them up and rinse and repeat. A few goes like that and the humidity was dealt with.

[dunnyg]

Forrayed into the garage which has been full until recently of building materials. Some of my board holds had gone a bit mouldy  It was fine last winter, so think a load of damp building stuff probably caused the issue. As well as the above advice, has anyone ever had any success with DIY passive dehumidy-ing? Thinking along the lines of bucket of rocksalt/sprinkling cat litter around etc..
Have some spare cat litter anyway (cat now goes to Bingley to shit in Will Hunts garden).

I also realise neglecting the board for a month or 2 means I did bring this on myself 

[Bradders]

Yes I tried similar and it did fuck all!

Mine has definitely been worse the last couple of months with how horribly humid it's been. The space heater always sorts it out though, and where a bit of mold has grown a scrub down with bleach sorts it. Otherwise I'd reiterate what I said above, ventilation particularly.

[dunnyg]

Good to know, cheers. Just need to get back on it so the garage it gets heated. Easier now there isn't a stack of doors/tiles/floor in there!

[jeh]

Looking at investing in a plug in air conditioning unit for the home board which is out in the garage. It tends to stay pretty dry/non damp but gets really quite hot in there even when its not very warm outside (windows get the sun in the afternoon).  Its a pretty small space (Approx 3x4m). Has anyone had any luck with air conditioning making a worthwhile difference? Any if so do you have any recommendations on what to get? Cheers

[SA Chris]

Open all windows and doors and try a fan? Moving air makes a lot of difference.

[jeh]

I do have a big fan mounted behind the board which does help a lot, I'm just after those crisp training conditions! Don't want to shell out a couple of hundred quid for it to only make a one degree difference in temperature.

[Fultonius]

I do have a big fan mounted behind the board which does help a lot, I'm just after those crisp training conditions! Don't want to shell out a couple of hundred quid for it to only make a one degree difference in temperature.

Is it linked to sunny days / roof getting roasting? You could whack in some PIR insulation boards, or even cover your roof in solar panels? Double win, cut down the solar heating of the garage AND generate some clean electrons.

[jeh]

That is likely part of the cause. I'll get some insulation in between the rafters and see if that helps.