multiple discipline garage advice wanted!

[phil823]

short story: bought first house, with a New garage built in 2008. 24x24 (height of the the Triangle supports is about 9 Ft. not home to measure atm). single door. its unfinished. Soffit Vents and Ridge Vent. junction panel with 1 20 amp and 1 15 amp circuits.

I Live in Central Illinois. Garage use is for tools, occasional auto/wood projects, ect. Sweatshirts is perfectly fine. Electricity is .075 per KWH. NG to garage would be unfeasible at this point. Garage use is sporadic, mostly weekends. Way more often in the summer time!

looking to upgrade it on a budget but not cut corners.

The Bad things: Minimal receptacles, horrible lighting, no insulation, no heater.

My Idea!
Re-Wire Garage, Outlets every 6 feet at 48.5 inches high from bottom of box. Ceiling outlets Every other joist. 3 per run. 1 receptacle at the very top of the ceiling for a fan. All wall outlets on 20 amp, all ceiling on 15 amp.

R13 paper backed Batt insulation on walls(got all i need already 50% off, hard to pass up....)
7/16 OSB Over insulation.

For ceiling i have 2 ideas
1. channel vents and batt insulation between roof studs. Ceiling fan in garage to help facilitate heat transfer. This leaves more storage room open and would be cheaper.

2. False Ceiling (worried that my garage appears to under supported..) with batt or blown on top. Loss of Storage space. Unsure of what to use for false ceiling, hate mudding and taping...OSB or something else would be fine.


For Heater:
Was thinking LP 30k infrared type heater on a 100Lb tank. should net about 70 hours of use per tank.

Other option is a "portable" LP forced air heater, but they will produce alot of moisture i read.

any other safe and cheap heating solutions?

attached are some pictures of my garage...dont mind the clutter.


Thanks for your ideas!

 

[timgr]

Electric is safe and cheap, at least initially. If your garage is well insulated, it won't take much to keep it warm.

You can make a "warm" roof, and fill the joists with insulation. You don't necessarily need ventilation between the insulation and the roof sheathing. This is the same as what you get with closed-cell spray foam. You need to seal the batts from the interior with plastic - keep the interior humidity out of the insulation layer. This is what I've done with my garage - the electric heat helps, since it produces no combustion moisture.

 

[Harley118]

Another option that I've used twice for ceilings is white or light gray metal siding. It looks awesome and you never have to mess with it.i put J channel around the walls and if your 24 x 24 you can get 12 footers and the should overlap an inch or two. Then lay insulation in your rafters.

 

[mygarageone]

You want roof ventilation , you still have cold weather there . If you don't ventilate you'll have ice build up and shingle damage from summer heat .

About the only way to get away W/O ventilation , 6" or more of foam and then you'll have heat loss through the roof.

 

[Ohmthis]

Phil, give us some more info.
What is a reasonable budget?
Will you be using heavier amperage equipment (welder, larger compressor, or other 240v equipment)?
What's your level of skill in trades like electrical, gas fitting, carpentry, and plumbing?
Honestly answer those questions and you'll get answers better suited to what you need. I personally am against electric resistance heat. It's cheap initially, but usually (depends on things) expensive to use. If you have NG, I'd hang a heater and call it done. I like AC too so a mini split would be ok too. I would put plastic up and hang metal or osb on the ceiling and blow cellulose in to 12" or so. I'd put the r13 on the walls and hang osb. I'm an electrician I'm thinking your electric plan is way over kill. An outlet every 10 feet or so will most likely be enough. Plan your garage layout, then plan it again. Once you out a lot of thought in on paper, you'll save yourself time, labor, and money. Hope this helps!

 

[James-W]

Before putting OSB on the walls, I would check with your local building inspector and make sure it is acceptable. Also, check with your insurance agent to see if they have an issue with it. Apparently OSB isn't allowed in some places due to it being pretty flammable, so it is best to check before putting it up.

 

[Jackfre]

Initially when planning the electrical lay-out of receptacles I was going to go high with them as well but decided to alternate high and low around the walls. I like that. For heat, Rinnai Energysaver direct vent. 2.5" hole for vent, modulating burner and fan, built in programmable t'stat. Simple installation. I think for you the EX22Clp would do the job nicely. Then you will spend a lot more time out there in the winter months.

 

[matt_i]

Youd have to work at the framing but I personally would definitely put in more "bottom chords" so you could install a ceiling of some sort. Before that I would go with soffit and ridge vents so you have a "cold roof". Then you can pile on loose fill insulation on top of your ceiling.

If you don't like drywall finishing, just go at it as best you can but finish it with a "knockdown texture" which hides the need for all of the fine finishing.

For a small shop I'd go with a propane-fed vented unit heater. Probably a 40-45k BTU unit would be about right.

You could chip away at this over several years to spread out the cost.

 

[phil823]

thanks for all the quick input!

ill look into code/insurance for OSB vs plywood

atm is has a "cold roof" with soffit vents and ridge vents.

I have a buddy who is an electrician doing the work for beer. my carpentry is middle skill level (can recruit others)

ill have to look into metal more, but it was very pricey last i saw.

ill take into consideration about less receptacles. i just like to be prepared. i dont currently weld or do anything heavy duty that needs a 240V atm.

 

[mcfly107]

7 months ago I was in the same place as you. New phone so I don't have any pictures. 24x24 just a cheap built in a day garage exactly like yours. I'm in north central IL. I insulated all the walls with r13. Ran channel vents and insulated the rafters with r19. It was nice for the summer. It brought it from 85 down to a comfy 65-70. But winter came and I wanted warmer. But I too only had rafter ties 48" OC.
I did it backwards but without the help it's what I had to do. I did the walls first. I bought a Mr. Heater 30k lp wall heater hooked up to a 40lbs tank outside. Friday it was 7 degrees outside. We were in my garage in tshirts with the gauge reading 62 degrees.
The next long weekend I had me and a friend added 11 more 2x6 ties or ceiling joists to put them 16" OC. I left a 4x4' gap to access the now attic that I use for light storage. We hung 5/8 drywall with a lift and it was a breeze. My heater kicked on a couple times that day but only because we had to open the overhead door to move stuff around.
I think adding more outlets is a good idea. I have 2 on each wall and 1 for the garage door opener on the ceiling.

Make sure if your not going to have a vented heat source to buy a good CO detector. I ran the heater everyday the last 5 days for 8 hours off and on and the detector never went above an unsafe level.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Stick78]

Another option that I've used twice for ceilings is white or light gray metal siding. It looks awesome and you never have to mess with it.i put J channel around the walls and if your 24 x 24 you can get 12 footers and the should overlap an inch or two. Then lay insulation in your rafters.

I'll second this suggestion. I have white metal for my ceiling and it is awesome. Like Harley said, you can get 12' pieces so you should have a little overlap. They can easily span the 4' so you won't need to add any additional framing up top to support it and you won't have to paint it. It also helps make the shop brighter because it reflects the light.

I have attached a picture of mine in my shop taken before I painted the walls.