jvitez
Well-known member
I finally bit the bullet and started insulating my garage. Why? See pics 2 and 3.
I decided to use mineral wool, called Roxul in Canada. It's R22 for 5.5 inches instead of R20 for fibreglass, but the two biggest reasons were it's much better water rejection, and the ability to custom cut it to fit. There was a picture I saw somewhere showing water being flooded onto a piece of Roxul, and just flowing off, no absorption. Having repaired a leaky basement window and redoing destroyed wet fibreglass insulation, mineral wool was just the ticket.
The coolest thing is that the manufacturer recommends cutting it to fit with a bread knife! I got one from the dollar store. Works great. I was able to get a really good fit around receptacles. For horizontal electrical wires, all I did was cut it longitudenally and fold it under and around. It has a compressible side and a firm side, so I just push to the left, fold it into the stud bay, and let it spring back taking up any irregularities of the stud.
It is more expensive than fibreglass, and only has 8 pieces per bag, not 10, but I know I'll always regret cheaping out for a few hundred dollars if I didn't use it. I plan on staying here a long time.
I pondered what to do at the LVL header of each garage for a while. My final decision was to install 1 in. of extruded polystyrene rigid insulation (XPS) as a thermal break. The studs are 2x6 and overhang the LVL. It was difficult driving in the plastic cap nails. I bent a few before discovering I had to hit the nail gently many times to slowly work it in. XPS is vapour impermeable, so I'll use Tuck tape to tape down the 6 mil poly onto the top portion of the XPS, but no need to cover it totally. Drywall will cover the studs and XPS in one piece.
I'm at a standstill now as all this cutting and fitting has given me a tendonitis in my hand. 24 bags done, another 4-6 to go. I'm hiring out the drywall. I'll do the paint myself. Lots of work to go, but it feels great to finally be on the way to finishing my personal man cave.
I've learned an enormous amount from this site, so I hope some of you can learn a bit from my experiences too.
I decided to use mineral wool, called Roxul in Canada. It's R22 for 5.5 inches instead of R20 for fibreglass, but the two biggest reasons were it's much better water rejection, and the ability to custom cut it to fit. There was a picture I saw somewhere showing water being flooded onto a piece of Roxul, and just flowing off, no absorption. Having repaired a leaky basement window and redoing destroyed wet fibreglass insulation, mineral wool was just the ticket.
The coolest thing is that the manufacturer recommends cutting it to fit with a bread knife! I got one from the dollar store. Works great. I was able to get a really good fit around receptacles. For horizontal electrical wires, all I did was cut it longitudenally and fold it under and around. It has a compressible side and a firm side, so I just push to the left, fold it into the stud bay, and let it spring back taking up any irregularities of the stud.
It is more expensive than fibreglass, and only has 8 pieces per bag, not 10, but I know I'll always regret cheaping out for a few hundred dollars if I didn't use it. I plan on staying here a long time.
I pondered what to do at the LVL header of each garage for a while. My final decision was to install 1 in. of extruded polystyrene rigid insulation (XPS) as a thermal break. The studs are 2x6 and overhang the LVL. It was difficult driving in the plastic cap nails. I bent a few before discovering I had to hit the nail gently many times to slowly work it in. XPS is vapour impermeable, so I'll use Tuck tape to tape down the 6 mil poly onto the top portion of the XPS, but no need to cover it totally. Drywall will cover the studs and XPS in one piece.
I'm at a standstill now as all this cutting and fitting has given me a tendonitis in my hand. 24 bags done, another 4-6 to go. I'm hiring out the drywall. I'll do the paint myself. Lots of work to go, but it feels great to finally be on the way to finishing my personal man cave.
I've learned an enormous amount from this site, so I hope some of you can learn a bit from my experiences too.
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That which does not kill me makes me stronger.
NICE!
