Winter proofing an attached garage

[DCarr2]

So my 1.5 car garage has a 9x14 OH door... and in the winter time, I store materials in there that can not freeze. Most notably latex paints, and 5's of lime.

Its also a convenient place to work on random house projects as it has tools and other goodies in there to play with.

So far this year, I have been leaving the door open between the house and garage, which has worked til it got really cold recently.

I suspect the garage door is my primary loss of heat... is there a way, to help seal this up, with out making the door unusable?

I thought about hanging 6 mil plastic from ceiling to floor, wall to wall (I have cases of it) however this would impede the operation of the door...

Maybe adding something to the bottom of the door?

thoughts?

 

[matt_i]

I put latex-items in the basement as its above 32 without fail, probably 50-60F which I think is better for the products too.

Without its own heat source, to maintain temp, I think that behind basic insulation in the walls and ceiling, drafts steal most of the heat. Its tough to seal a garage door, but the bottom seal and good condition of the side and top lip-seals are good places to start improvements. More or less anything that allows light to pass is a way to assess problem areas. The plastic would work but be difficult to remove/install if the door was needed to operate.

 

[The_Auto_Tech]

Is the garage door insulated?

 

[DCarr2]

yes the door is insulated..


the issue with the latex paint and the 5's of lime is for one the 5's weigh around 60-70lbs each and theres 4 of them.

If you spill one, of drop it, the mess would be absolutely massive.. you drop a table spoon from the height of 3' and it will splatter up to 6-8' in all directions... not to mention its causitic.

the paint.... ugh thatd be a lot of trips lol

 

[EOC_Jason]

Is the weather stripping good around the garage door and does it close tight?

If it's that's small of a garage, and all you want is for it to be above freezing then why not just get a small space heater with a thermostat setting and plug it in at night?

 

[raferguson]

Build or buy a large box or cabinet and put a heater in it. Why heat the whole garage to protect a few cans of paint?

My new place has a crawl space rather than a basement, so the latex paint will go down there.

I have a 220V space heater that works pretty well in my one car garage, but I only turn it on if I plan to get out in the garage and work.

Heaters need thermostats, of course.

 

[Bretny]

Replacing the seals around the garage door can help alot. You could also put a heater out there.

I bring a few wheel barrel loads of stuff from my garage to my basement each fall. Then back in the spring. Unless you plan on paying or spending alot temp swings are going to happen.

 

[brycez28]

I used a oil filled space heater for my 14'x22' detached garage. It held the temps to around 40-42 degrees.