Insulating the garage

[BetterDays]

I am looking to insulate my garage (20x20). Right now, I put fiberboard up over the studs, but that will be coming down.

What is the cheapest way to insulate? I am not looking for anything fancy, just something that is better than nothing.

Also read about insulating the garage door with foam. Has anyone else done this?

Kevin

 

[danski0224]

Cheapest way is to just put up some insulation, but that could get you into trouble at sale time unless you drywall because the facing is flammable.

Yes, I know the studs are flammable, but the inspectors have issues with the paper facing.

 

[BetterDays]

I do plan to put either luan (sp?) or a thinner plywood over the studs and then paint. The Fiberboard was too flimsy and has more waves than the World Series...

Would it be an issue with the insulation if I recover the walls with wood?

 

[Throttlejockey]

No, not at all. Most people use drywall because it's much cheaper.

 

[BetterDays]

Never thought about it being cheaper.

Stupid question, please bear with me, but can drywall simply be painted (as a coating), or do you need to skim, tape, coat, then paint?

 

[Throttlejockey]

You don't have to do all that but it looks better if you do. You can just paint it, prime first though.
At the least you could fill the screw holes and it would still look good, you would just have seams.

 

[ZRWON]

You don't have to do all that but it looks better if you do. You can just paint it, prime first though.
At the least you could fill the screw holes and it would still look good, you would just have seams.

I agree. Here's a picture of my shop when the guys finished hanging drywall and only did the 1st tape of the seams and screw holes.
Second pic is of the same wall after I painted it...one coat sealer and one of satin finish off white.
Once all else is back in the shop the imperfections that would not be acceptable inside the house are very acceptabll for my shop IMHO

 

[ZRWON]

Here's a couple more before and after of opposite wall of shop

 

[NHCharger]

You can glue foam to the garage door to increase the R value. Use the correct glue. If you use construction adhesive it will eat the foam. Also check to make sure your weather stripping around the garage door is snug against the door. That's a major source of heat loss.
Sheetrock is cheaper than plywood. It's the labor cost for taping and mudding the rock that gets you. I just finished my shop, just posted some pics in the other forum. I used 7/16" OSB on the first 4' since you usually bump the lower part of the walls and I didn't want to be patching holes in the rock. I sheetrocked the rest and just 2 coated it. Then painted it with an eggshell finish to hide some of my handy work on the sheetrock seams. I have been doing construction for 20 years so tackling the sheetrock didn't bother me, just hate the taping,mudding,sanding part.

 

[M-Funf]

Sheetrock

I insulated my walls with R19 kraft backed insulation. After that, I installed drywall with screws for the fire proofing stuff. I did not paste or tape anything, just left it like that. It doesn't look bad, but every once in a while I think I'll go back and P&T and paint.

On the garage doors, gluing foam on the back worked, but my old tilt-up doors were ****, so I replaced them with new roll up doors to improve the look and function of the doors. They were insulated with glass at the top which really helped brighten up the garage...

Good Luck!

 

[Matt Harwood]

I insulated the walls with regular fiberglass then used OSB over it. The nice thing about OSB is that it's cheap, durable and you can drive hooks into it anywhere, unlike drywall. I simply caulked the seams and painted it with the cheapest light gray paint I could find in a 5-gallon bucket. It turned out pretty nicely.

Before:

After:

Click on my Buick Century website (in sig), go to LOG ARCHIVES on the left-hand side of the page, and click on the 12/7/02 entries to see the entire garage remodel.

 

[BetterDays]

Obviously insulation helps hold the heat in the winter...

Does it help hold the heat out in the summer?

 

[DynoDave]

Obviously insulation helps hold the heat in the winter...

Does it help hold the heat out in the summer?

My attached garage, with insulation, always stays a little cooler in the summer. Hate the cold concrete floor in the winter, but it does a nice job of keeping things cool in the summer!

 

[BetterDays]

Depends on what you do in the garage, purchase cheap carpet padding and lay it on the ground..

Makes it a lot nicer in the winter!!!

 

[Rex Ruby]

I drywalled mine, did the flat seams w/ 2 coats of mud, used plastic "J" channel in the corners and just caulked them. Then 2 coats of semi gloss to make it a little more durable.