Road Salt Still Doing Damage After 20 Years

[Tom Wesenberg]

Years ago my dad would drive his car into the attached unheated garage, and with it came a lot of road salt. I cleaned the floor as well as I could then layed down some free carpet. Any metal, including my tools, that touched the carpet quickly rusted. I removed that carpet and layed down a large sheet of 6 mil plastic, then layed some fresh free carpet over it. It's better, but you can see the salt has still found a way to migrate into the new carpet and is still at work rusting things.

This is a two foot length of perforated square tubing that comes in handy for several things. Here's a picture of it being used to straighten a bent wheel mounting on my mower deck. This tool was setting next to my Model A on the carpet, and you can see how the salt has attacked it, even though it's galvanized. I had sandblasted and painted a lug wrench for a Model AA truck and had it laying on the carpet, and it also rusted and had to be done again.

Next summer I hope I get time to clean out the garage, insulate it, then acid etch the floor and paint it with epoxy paint. I hope that will stop the salt damage.

[Big hammer]

Is the carpet holding moisture and causing the rusting? If you lay down pastic on the carpet moisture would form under it and above the carpet?

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Originally Posted by tbirdtbird

Tom consider moving to a salt free state such as Texas.....we'll make room for ya....one million people move here every decade.
When was the last time you heard of anyone retiring to Minnesota...or the northeast....

DON'T come to CALIFORNIA--We're FILLED UP, it's HARD to even find a PARKING SPACE.
Bill W.

[Greg Jones]

I know you have undoubtedly thought of this, but check out:

http://www.saltawayproducts.com/ApplicationsPage.htm

Maybe our chemistry-oriented friends can come up with a home brew concoction to neutralize sodium chloride. Can't be too hard.

[DougVieyra]

Thank you Tom, for reminding me of how great it is to live in California. In today's Socialist mentality in everything that is legislated or regulated or codified, it is a real struggle to enjoy living in California. It really does get to be frustrating and discouraging. And then a little ray of hope comes along to help me get through the massive intrusion to personal and private living in California.

Your 'Salt Story' did such a boost for me. Thank you again Tom. Stories like that help me endure the gradual collapse of a once great state.

P.S. - I have heard of Salt on the roads, etc. I have heard of snow. I have heard of cold - cold so cold that it snaps the whiskers from your beard.
. . . . . I just never experienced it.

[Tom Wesenberg]

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Originally Posted by BILL WILLIAMSON

DON'T come to CALIFORNIA--We're FILLED UP, it's HARD to even find a PARKING SPACE.
Bill W.

You need to put up some parking signs.

[burner31]

Oh yes, California, I remember it back in the late '50's, '60's and early '70's, it was a good place to live.
Like iI tell all my freinds and Family still there..."You wet your bed, now sleep in it".

[40 Deluxe]

Road salt is not limited to Minnesota (and other "Rust Belt" states by any means! I just retired form the Arizona DOT and here in Northern Arizona we put on 300# of salt per lane per mile per application on I-40 and I-17 and the salt/plow trucks run around the clock during a snow storm. I-40 across Arizona is mostly above 5,000 ft. elevation and Flagstaff at 7,00 ft. sees an average of 100 inches or more of snow a year. Black ice is common, too. I spent many a night down at the shop under an ice-covered truck repairing corroded wiring and light assemblies. Also, a hydraulic hose would get nicked and salt get into the wire braiding. Then the hose would blow and spray oil on top of the ice. Sometimes the cab would rust out around the windshield or the weatherstripping would leak and salt water drip into the ECM. Doesn't help the truck run better! All state highways are salted whenever it snows in AZ high country and we have a lot of high country, so be careful if you a winter trip to or through Arizona!

[mrtexas]

Originally Posted by BILL WILLIAMSON

DON'T come to CALIFORNIA--We're FILLED UP, it's HARD to even find a PARKING SPACE.
Bill W.

Dick Crabtree(he may have restored your pop out switch) retired from Houston to South Dakota. Still hard for me to believe.

[mrtexas]

Originally Posted by DougVieyra

Thank you Tom, for reminding me of how great it is to live in California. In today's Socialist mentality in everything that is legislated or regulated or codified, it is a real struggle to enjoy living in California. It really does get to be frustrating and discouraging. And then a little ray of hope comes along to help me get through the massive intrusion to personal and private living in California.

Your 'Salt Story' did such a boost for me. Thank you again Tom. Stories like that help me endure the gradual collapse of a once great state.

P.S. - I have heard of Salt on the roads, etc. I have heard of snow. I have heard of cold - cold so cold that it snaps the whiskers from your beard.
. . . . . I just never experienced it.

"If it Moves, Tax it. If it Keeps Moving, Regulate it. And if it Stops Moving, Subsidize it"

[Clem Clement]

Can you flush the garage out with water plus something to neutralize the salt. Maybe laydown a few Chebby parts to grab the salt and use it for the rust process.

how about steam cleaning?

[Clem Clement]

Have you tried having you sig other scrub the floor for a few hours. I had a problem in the basement with dog pee from former owners so I took her off ironing my shoe laces so she could scrub the floors clean. As a reward I took her to SONIC for some catsup and crackers....

[Keith True]

Where I am anything that sits on concrete will rust.My drive in cellar is dry as a bone,with a woodstove going in it from October to may,but any metal that touches the floor makes ruse.Shelving unit legs,washing machine feet,dryer feet,furnace legs,even the woodstove legs rust.I have an A sitting on car skates in the cellar,I just noticed the bottom inch of the steel wheels are rusted.Concrete is really a hard sponge.

[Jeff/Illinois]

Tom, thinking about what Keith posted,,,, what if you laid a wooden floor down over your concrete floor?? 2X4 framing insulated with styrofoam sheet, thick plastic sheet down on the concrete, then plywood decking. Using green treated lumber? That may fix the problem throw good used carpet down on top of the plywood?? Treat first for termites? At least spray around the outside edges.

[Ross/Kzoo]

Are you sure that it's road salt doing that damage or is the efflorescence in original concrete?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efflorescence

[runnin hot]

you have a carpeted garage???.......lol

I knocked over 4 litres of used motor oil in the garage today....would hate to have seen what it would have been like if it was carpeted....I used floor epoxy from a company called armour rock...seems to work well.

[HoarseWhisperer]

I installed a DRICORE 2 Ft. x 2 Ft. DRIcore Engineered Subfloor Panel System in the garage. Works great to keep moisture and condensation at bay.

[mike657894]

mop out some water shop vac repeat.

[Jeff/Illinois]

Originally Posted by HoarseWhisperer

I installed a DRICORE 2 Ft. x 2 Ft. DRIcore Engineered Subfloor Panel System in the garage. Works great to keep moisture and condensation at bay.

Never heard of that looks like a good idea---------

[HoarseWhisperer]

Originally Posted by Jeff/Illinois

Never heard of that looks like a good idea---------

Purchased at Home Depot, Jeff. I store one of my vehicles on a cement floor storage facility and I always see a bit of surface rust in the engine bay, spark plugs, etc.

I keep my roadster in my garage with the sub-flooring and never have an issue with dampness or condensation. Good investment.