Preventing Damage To Stored Items
Many of the items that you store in your garage are sensitive to extreme temperature. Many items will say store in a cool, dry place. So obviously an uninsulated garage is not the place to keep them.
Paint, especially water based paint, can not be stored in a garage, where temperatures can go below freezing. The polymer in cleaning supplies also breaks down in extreme cold.
Household and sports equipment that may have moisture or water, will also deteriorate when the water freezes. Examples are power washers, ceramic flower pots, surfboards, jet skis, canoes, etc.
Musical instruments made out of wood as well as wooden furniture may develop cracks due to contraction in extreme cold. Leather items have similar problems.
Heat Transfer & Insulation
Heat is transferred in three ways: convection, conduction, and radiation. Convection describes heat moving through liquid or gas . Conduction describes the process of heat moving through solid objects . Radiation describes how heat travels via electromagnetic waves in an empty space .
Thermal insulation, like pink fiberglass batting, spray foam, or rigid foam, primarily address conductive heat transfer. Rigid foam also addresses convective heat transfer, primarily via moisture, since it serves as a vapor barrier. Finally, to address radiative insulation, we researched foil options. Often used in attics, foil barriers are DIY-able, but kind of a pain to install. Melissa found a spray on foil replacement manufactured by Henry, called LiquidFoil Attic Barrier. Its a goopy metallic liquid you spray onto the underside of wood roof decking and rafters to help reflect solar radiation. Considering it blocks up to 84% of radiation heat, was less expensive that traditional foil sheets, and was FAR easier to install, we purchased a 5-gallon bucket .
What Is The Best Way To Insulate A Bonus Room Above A Garage
That room above your garage has now become one of the most important rooms in the house.
Whether its becoming a room for your first child or the master bedroom, procrastinating about fixing this uncomfortable room over the garage has come back to haunt you.
With more than 17 years of experience under our belts, RetroFoam of Michigan has come out to homes where that bonus room over a garage was in desperate need of an air seal which foam insulation can provide.
Stop dealing with extreme temperatures that are 10 degrees hotter or colder depending on the time of year, smells, noises, and high monthly electric bills. To fix these issues, lets take a look at the best way to insulate a bonus room above a garage.
Don’t Miss: Garage Door Repair San Mateo
How To Insulate Your Detached Garage Ceilings
Fiberglass batts are often the simplest way to go here, although blown-in cellulose can also be a good option for detached garage ceiling insulation. Since youre not limited by stud sizes and since most energy loss occurs through the roof/ceiling of your structure, youll usually insulate the ceiling to a higher R-value than the walls. With fiberglass batts, simply push faced batts into the spaces between the rafters/trusses and staple them in place. If you plan to install blown insulation, youll need to put drywall or plywood on the ceiling first.
What Is The Function Of A Baseboard
The main function of baseboards is to protect drywall against water damage. The baseboard in your garage is no different. Its most important function is that of protection and if installed properly, it protects the interior of your garage from all types of foreign invasion.
To understand why this is important, consider how your garage is built. You have a vertical wall sitting on top of a concrete floor. The joint between the wall and the floor is typically 1/16 to 1/8. If left unsealed, this joint can become a liability.
For example, no matter how small, insects will consider an unsealed floor joint to be an open invitation to come on in. Also, depending on the exterior structure of your home, an unsealed floor joint could become a source of water getting inside.
Read Also: Epoxy Coating For Garage Floors
Should I Be Insulating An Unheated Detached Garage
Are you planning to build a new detached garage? Just a decent place to park your cars. You want to keep it very basic and simple. So you have decided not to have any heating. Then what is the point of insulating an unheated detached garage?
Insulating an unheated detached garage takes very little effort. You can do it yourself. It is not too expensive either. Just 5-6% of the total cost of building the garage. Insulation will make your garage more comfortable and increase the life of your cars and other stuff that you may store there.
In this post I will explain all about the ways & costs of finishing a detached garage including the insulation options. You will understand how insulation works and makes your garage a better place not only for you but also for your cars and other precious belongings.
Insulating The Room Over The Garage
Insulating the room above your garage can be a hassle since you likely need to remove the drywall and flooring. Doing so, however, can save you money in the long run.
An uninsulated bonus room is a huge waste of money. Its uncomfortable to use, so you wont be maximizing your investment in its construction. Additionally, it guzzles energy by absorbing warm or cold air from the outside, forcing your HVAC system to work twice as hard to maintain the temperature you want.
To keep the room over the garage from overheating, hire a contractor with ample experience in insulating bonus rooms. A+ Insulation is an insulation expert based in Kansas City. We offer a wide range of insulation solutions for the different parts of your home, including your garage, attic, and bonus room.
Fill out our online form to schedule a free, no-obligation inspection and insulation cost estimate for your bonus room.
Also Check: Garage Door Sensor One Red One Green
Baseboards In The Garage Did You Know
In this informative article we will cover garage baseboards:
- The function of garage baseboards.
- Materials baseboards come in.
- Baseboard installation facts you will want to consider.
- Our garage renovation services.
- FAQ on baseboard costs and needs.
Are you considering a garage makeover? How about an idea that both serves an important function and provides an aesthetic touch?
Garage baseboards are the ideal solution to protect your walls and floor and they help pull together the look of your interior garage design.
Want To Know More About Our Garage Flooring Products?
Cold Floors/rooms Above Garage
What you should knowIn most homes, the garage is unconditioned, unheated space. And most floors above garages are insulated with fiberglass batts. Many times, DIYers or even professional installers leave gaps when they place the batts, leading to significant air leakage and heat loss. Worse, theres a risk of car exhaust, paint, solvents, and other contaminants in the garage migrating into the conditioned space.
The best approachThe floor above the unconditioned garage should be properly sealed and insulated with blown-in cellulose or dense-pack cellulose insulation to prevent cold in the garage from reaching the floors above. This strategy has the added benefit of minimizing the risk of contaminants migrating into the living space. Its also a good idea to address drafts around the garage door by adding or replacing the bottom door seal and the weather-stripping along the sides and top of the door.
If youre worried about how your unheated basement or crawl space is impacting your homes comfort and energy efficiency, check out our 7 Tips to Winterize Your Basement or Crawl Space or contact Basement Systems for a free evaluation and estimate from your local basement or crawl space repair contractor.
Read Also: Saferacks Overhead Garage Storage Installation
What Does An R
How do you stop the water from flowing downhill? You build a dam.
How do you stop the garage heat from escaping to the cold outdoors? You use insulation.
Some materials, like fiberglass wool are much better insulators than say steel or a concrete slab. In other words some materials have a higher resistance to heat flow than others.
R-Value is a measure of the resistance to heat flow. The higher the R-Value, greater is the resistance to heat flow.
Want to know even more? Read my blog post What You Need To Know About R-Value For Garage Insulation.
Note that R-Value applies to resistance to heat flow by conduction. In case of heat loss or rather heat gain in climatic zones 2 and 3, a Radiant Barrier is more helpful.
Whats The Average Cost To Insulate A Detached Garage
To be honest, thats a hard question to answer simply! The cost of detached garage insulation varies widely based on the size and shape of the garage, as well as the type of insulation material chosen. The average cost to professionally insulate a two-car detached garage is $1500-$3500, depending on R-value and which parts of the garage are included. However, the cost of insulating a detached garage can range from $500 to $5500+. At the lower end of the range is a simple DIY job with fiberglass or loose-fill insulation at the upper end is a professional insulation job with closed-cell spray foam.
For prefab detached garages, you can often buy them either insulated or uninsulated. A prefab garage with insulated walls, windows, and floors will generally cost 15%-20% more than an uninsulated garage shell insulating only the floor will add about 10% to the cost.
You May Like: Chain Vs Belt Garage Door Opener
How To Do The Insulating Project
To begin insulating your garage, first gather all of the materials needed including insulation tapes, screws, nails, insulation foam, and a tool to cut the insulation into strips. Next, screw each strip of insulation to the side of your garage door using wood screws.
Once screwed in place, use an electric drill to create a hole in the center of each strip and screw it down using washers and nuts.
Finally, place tarps over each hole and screw them down using nails or screws.
Insulating The Detached Garage Walls
The three walls have an area of 3X20X8 . Let us see what the insulation material cost would be for the different options worth considering.
Insulation Batts or Rolls
Insulation Batts can be made from any insulating material. Typically they use fiberglass but other types of material such as cellulose, mineral wool or natural fibers can also be used.
Standard fiberglass batts have R-Values ranging from R-2.9 to R-3.8 for every inch of thickness. This works out to a R-Value of 9-13 for an insulation batt or roll that is 3 to 3 ½ in thickness,
Owens Corning is pretty much a leader in this kind of insulation. They have both batts and rolls. The rolls come in 16X96X3.5 which makes it super convenient to install in the stud bays.
The material cost of insulation for 3 garage walls works out to around $290.
Fiberglass is a skin and lung irritant, so always wear protective eyewear, gloves, masks and clothing when working with fiberglass insulation.
Fire Resistant Rigid Foam Boards
Fire Resistant Rigid Foam Boards are rigid panels usually made out of Expanded Polystyrene , or mineral wool. The R-Values range from 3.6 to 4.2 per inch of thickness. This works out to a R-Value of 11-15 for an insulation foam board of 3 to 3 ½ in thickness,
The safety requirements during installation are much lower than fiberglass batts or rolls. R-15 ROCKWOOL ComfortBatt Fire Resistant Stone Wool Insulation from Home Depot costs less than $0.80 per square foot.
Spray Foam Insulation
You May Like: Used Metal Garages For Sale
Complying With Building Regulations
If you are adding extra insulation to your floors, the work will need to comply with the relevant building regulations for where you live. Although your installer will normally arrange this for you, it is your responsibility to comply.
If you live in England or Wales, the floor should achieve a U-value of 0.25 W/m2K or less, if possible. The U-value is a measure of how quickly heat will travel through the floor. To achieve this standard, you will normally need at least 70mm of high-performance foam insulation, or 150mm of mineral wool, but this will vary depending on floor type, shape and size.
If you are replacing at least half of a floor then you have to insulate to these standards whether you planned to or not.
For further information, and for regulations in Northern Ireland and Scotland, contact your local Building Control Office or Building Standards Department before starting work.
Wall And Ceiling Insulation Options
We were initially drawn to spray foam insulation, since wed read a lot about super insulated homes and their incredible energy efficiency. Spray foam, which can be professionally or DIY-installed using kits, is a good choice in attics if youre planning to do the entire attic and youre okay with stopping air flow from entering/leaving the envelope. Spray foam is an excellent insulator, but can be pricey, even for small DIY kits. However, we soon realized that we werent going to spray the entire attic and needed to maintain the air flow.
A ridge vent and soffits facilitate air flow. The house already has soffit vents that encourage air to flow up into the attic. Then, the ridge vent allows hot air to escape at the roof ridge. To keep the air flowing, and to prevent moisture from accumulating, we decided to leave space behind the walls and ceiling of the finished space .
Also Check: Chamberlin Garage Door Opener Battery
How Do I Keep My Floor Warm In The Winter
Insulation can be used to warm up cold floors, and the simplest way to do so is to place area rugs on top of the insulation that is currently there. The insulation under the floor can become old and thin over time due to damage from vermin or normal home settling. Replacing it with thicker insulation will help make the floor warmer.
What Are The Benefits Of Insulating An Unheated Detached Garage
If the garage was heated then insulation would help us reduce energy costs of heating. However, in this case we are saying there is no heating. That is, there is no energy cost. If there is no cost, you can not save!
But without insulation, the garage will get uncomfortable when the outside gets cold.
Don’t Miss: Access Master Garage Door Opener Troubleshooting
Garage Baseboards For Aesthetics
Your garage is just as important as any other space in your house, so why not make it beautiful. Since the typical garage for a new home does not have baseboards installed, a garage renovation project is a perfect time to look at how baseboards will enhance your garage.
Frequently Asked Questions About Baseboards And More
What Are Garage Baseboards
A baseboard runs along the base of an interior wall. It covers the joint between the lowest part of a wall and the floor. You may encounter different terms for this wall covering everything from skirting board, floor molding, or even a mopboard. In most cases, the baseboard is constructed of wood or a type of vinyl board.
A garage baseboard is no different. In your garage, you will find the baseboard at the bottom end of the walls at the floor level. Typically, a baseboard is from 4 to 6 in height and designed to hide the joint as well as protect walls from damage.
Don’t Miss: Chamberlain Garage Door Opener Adjustment
Problems With Fiberglass Batts
Insulation works by trapping pockets of air that slow the flow of heat out of the house in the winter . The R-value of the insulation is an indicator of how well the insulation resists this movement the higher the R-value, the more effective it is at lowering heating and cooling costs and maintaining comfort.
Fiberglass batts are inexpensive and quick to install, which is why they are the most common type of insulation. However, challenges with properly installing fiberglass batts make blown-in insulation or rigid foam a better choice for insulating the ceiling in unconditioned basements, crawl spaces, and garages.
So what are the problems associated with fiberglass batts?
Insulating The Floor Of A Bedroom Over A Garage
You might also call this entry Insulating the ceiling of a garage under a bedroom.
Any floor over a cold space will be cooler than a floor over a heated space, no matter how well you insulate it. So bay window jut-outs always have cold floors as do rooms over garages. For the bedroom over a garage, it is convenient that we generally keep our bedrooms cooler than the rest of the house, so just taking the chill off the floor is often enough, with a throw rug or two, to satisfy the needs of this room. So let us start this task with the acceptation that this floor will never be as warm as the living room or kitchen floor unless we put radiant heating in the floor, which quite frankly is a waste.
If you heat your garage just a little to keep it from freezing, any insulation you use will have a greater effect than if the garage is basically at outdoor temperatures.
Before starting let us look at two non-thermal considerations: gas proofing and sound proofing.
Also Check: How To Repair Garage Door Opener
How To Fix A Cold Floor Above Your Garage Ceiling
Yesterday my office manager Savannah Bird called todays client, to review the authorized work-scope. Its a several thousand dollar job, spanning two days. Were doing major attic insulation work for him, and a smaller DNF component.
Look at his answer, when she asked, What is the single most important benefit you want to achieve from your investment with us?
I want my sons bedroom to be warm. His room is the bonus room above the garage. We can never keep it warm enough for him. He freezes at night. We have gotten 4 quotes and went with you because you do Drill & Fill insulation. Last night, we had to turn the heat up to 84 in the house to get his room over garage to 72-73.
There are many things that affect the comfort in a room, but bonus rooms have particular issues specific to them. Because they are positioned above unheated space, they dont get the benefit of heat rising from the lower level.
Our approach is like arthroscopic surgerymuch less intrusive than tearing down the ceiling. we simply drill holes in the ceiling, strategically located for thorough coverage of your cellulose insulation
Its easy to think of your bonus room like you would think of your ear, on a cold windy day. That bonus rooms relationship to your house is very similar to the relationship your ear has with your body.
Last week I personally prepped and drilled a larger 2-car garage ceiling. It took 62 holes in the ceiling. Here is my process:
How to layout your hole pattern: