Questions, questinos, questions

[pds0006]

Finally completed enough new house projects that I could start on some important stuff: my garage! I began putting up cleats to hang my cabinets and realized that there are a lot of issues to deal with, posibbilities to consider and questions to answer. I could never keep up with multiple threads so I'm going to just keep a single thread and see what I can learn from all the gurus around here.

Shop Specifics (SS):
1 Located in Texas (Dallas Area)
2 20x20x9
3 South facing garage door (pressed steel). The tracks are bowed out and the door is not insulated.
4 Liftmaster 1/2 hp door
5 GFCI outlet in North Wall
6 Outlet in ceiling
7 Outlet in west wall (for Verizon box)
8 Single incandescent bulb in center of garage
9 Outlets are on one circuit
10 Lights/garage door are on one circuit
11 Slab w/ Lowes brand "epoxy" (from previous owner). Chipping off
12 Raised 2' section at north wall
13 Only north wall is attached to the house. Only north wall is insulated
14 Attic above garage is not insulated (to my knowledge)
15 Soffit vents on east and west walls
16 Single roof vent (unpowered to my knowledge)
17 North wall not plumb (joint at ceiling began to separate when screwing in cleats)
18 Garage will be used for woodworking (furniture, small boxes, etc.)
19 No-name compressor (30 years old, 2'x3' footprint)
20 Tablesaw (Ridgid TS150)
21 14" Bandsaw (Grizzly GS550X)

Wants (W):
1 More comfortable work environment (cooler).
2 More outlets. The west wall outlet is mounted 3" down from the ceiling and the east wall has no outlet.
3 Dedicated circuit(s) for garage outlets and lights.
4 Floor coating of some sort.
5 More lighting. Flourescent in the field with some halogen cabinet undermounts.

Questions (Q):
1 The garage is not air conditioned. If I insulate it won't I just be trapping the heat inside?
2 If I do insulate what would my most bang for buck get me? The attic is not easily accessible but the drywall would have to come down to insulate the walls so attic might be the way to go.
3 Is it wise to try and run my own new outlets? I'm not an electician so I would have to read up on it. What is the cost to have it done? I'm looking to add circuits to my panel for dedicated garage service and I'm betting that's beyond my abilities even if I read up.
4 Are permits needed to add outlets and lights to my garage? I think the answer is yes, but figured I'd ask. New outlets and fuses seem like new construction but I expect lights to stay on the existing circuit so maybe I don't need one.
5 ...

I know there's more but I'm bushed and drawing a blank. Thanks for any advice, comments, answers, etc. Love the site.

 

[ddawg16]

Welcome.....yea.....all good questions....ones that ALL of us have asked at one time or another.

Insulation....No, your not traping heat...your keeping it out....if you want to AC the garage....instulate the garage door....because that is south facing...doing that will do the most good....next will be the attic....sides would help...but most likely is not worth the effort.

My brother-in-law who has about as much mechanical ability as a nun....insulated his garage door....he said it made a substantial difference....he used a product from this company....I personally would just get 1.5" foam from HD and do it myself...but that is me.
http://www.doorinsulationkit.com/

I think it is a bit late to do the attic....the heat up there would kill you....wait until Oct....then use batts....

Electrical seems to be your biggest problem. The outlet for the lights should be able to run at least 2-3 4' fl fixtures....you need to find out what else is on that ckt....in fact, you should have a total house map of all your electrical....

How close if the breaker box to the garage?

I do wood working as well....the reality is that your only going to be using one tool at a time....but if you have a compressor and then want to do something else at the same time....issues. You might want to invest in a dust collector as well....there is another 15A.

Assuming you can find at least one more 20A ckt to tie into, it's not hard work. Not sure if you need a permit.....

I would run the wire in conduit up on the top of the wall....then drop down to each outlet. If you do this without a permit and it becomes an issue later....it's real easy to inspect or just remove.

So....first project...insulate the garage door.

Next...figure out where you can get more power......

Next....post pics....we like pics....a good looking blonde in a bikini adds to the 'atomosphere'.

 

[monte433]

For insulation you could use the blown in type I once used an angle drill and a hole saw to go in the sill plate on top so I didn't need to remove the existing drywall, then when I was finished I sistered 2x4's between the trusses to reniforce the sill where the holes were drilled(time consuming but worth it I hate drywall mess)

 

[larry_g]

Insulation prevents the transfer of thermal energy. If it is hot inside then the insulation will keep it hot but if it is cooled then insulation will keep it cool, Think of a thermos bottle. It keeps the hot hot and the cold cold.

A large part of the electrical work is manual labor of drilling holes in studs, pulling wire and mounting the hardware. If you can find someone qualified to direct you on what you need to do and let you do the manual labor, then pay for the knowledge that you need to get things hooked up you will be saving the money paying a tradesman to do labor.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[pds0006]

ddawg16:
- I wasn't planning to A/C the garage; just keep the temp from spiking when the sun rises. I insulated the garage door in my last house and didn't really notice a difference but I do realize that the steel door is just going radiate that heat back in. I had bought a kit before but I'm guessing the HD foam is cheaper and since I'd like to eventually replace the whole door system I don't need to go all out.
- Completely agree about the heat being too much right now. Waiting until the fall will give me time to build the funds and research other attic items like venting.
- I've got one 8' fixture that I'm going to start with and I'm not sure what circuit it's on; I'll be figuring that out in the next few days. I do need a whole map and I have most of the items in the house mapped but as usual the garage got the lowest priority.
- The box is in the garage so new runs wouldn't be too long.
- Yep, I agree with the single tool use. I do have a Ridgid shopvac with a Dust Deputy on it and that works great for me. If I get two separate circuits for the garage outlet (two walls on one, third on the other) then I should be set for just about any situation I'll encounter in my world.
- What's the difference between 15A and 20A? Obviously the 5 amps but is that the difference in a slow starting tablesaw vs a strong startup?
- Need to lookup the permit requirements but I'm guessing it's needed. I'm also guessing they cost money. Something else to spend money on, yay
- I'm putting up cleats all around the top of the walls so the conduit won't work for me.
- I'm thinking I can at least add an outlet in the east wall right now. There's a patio outlet on the external wall and I should be able to chain off of that.
- Gotta work on those pics, especially the last one...

monte433
- I like the idea with the blown in and no drywall holes. The last owners jammed a meat freezer up against the north wall and punched holes in the drywall. I may end up pulling it down and getting new drywall. If that's the case a lot of this is simplified because I can map all the outlets, get new ones installed and completely insulate all at once.

larry_g
- That's a great idea; it never occurred to me that the option even existed. I like to learn new things and this house certainly is providing plenty of opportunites. I may have to look into that.