How do you insulate a fully built garage, with no insulation currently? (Full Version)

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YourhandMyAss -> How do you insulate a fully built garage, with no insulation currently? (11/22/2008 9:34:49 AM)

We moved into the garage, and it has no insulation, since it was never ment to live in. My dad says one way to insulate it, wuld be to cut holes inthe ways and spray insulation into it. Or for the celing cut a crawl space and lay down the stuff that goes into ceilings in your house.

OR you could put insulation pannels on the wall but it'd take up a bit of room space technicaly.

Are there any other ways to put insulation inside of walls that are lacking it in a fully built garage?

We do have a normal door and not a garage door, since my dad took out the mettle door and built a wall and a house door. So we have two doors. Our room is aproximatly 207 square feet.

I also want to equip the room with a heating and cooling unit, but not your typical giant units that go on your roof. I don't want a window unit either. I want one that goes inside your room,  kind of like the MrSlim ductless ac's, but one that does both ac and heat.




UncleNasty -> RE: How do you insulate a fully built garage, with no insulation currently? (11/22/2008 9:51:07 AM)

Should we assume it is typical stick built construction that has already been finished with drywall?

Uncle Nasty




Musicmystery -> RE: How do you insulate a fully built garage, with no insulation currently? (11/22/2008 9:59:38 AM)

Uncle Nasty, honestly, I love reading your construction tips!

I'll stay glued....




pahunkboy -> RE: How do you insulate a fully built garage, with no insulation currently? (11/22/2008 9:59:58 AM)

if you have little- staple sheets or plastic up.

calk.   a calk gun is as cheap as $2, with calk less then $5.

grab boxes from liquor store and stack them.  this will be an air pocket barrier.

get creative. why use a blacket only for a bed. I have one at each door to block the draft.  blankets are actually alot of bang for the money.

you could get foam panels and put it right on the walls.  I did this per ebay but on attic floor.  i can see snow on my roof stll there- but all around me the snow is melted due to heat loss.

dont be too concened with everything looking pretty.  it is going to be a long winter.

also dress fro winter- layers.

use a staple gun, they cost mAYBE $10- and staple what ever up.  you can take it down in the spring,




camille65 -> RE: How do you insulate a fully built garage, with no insulation currently? (11/22/2008 10:03:15 AM)

Insulation panels (that I used) aren't very thick and don't take up much space. Only about 1/2" thick and all you do is glue them on the walls like its wallpaper. Its not expensive and its very easy.

You can also go into the attic above your garage and lay down insulation, again super super easy to do.

If you have windows then get a 3M window kit, plastic that you place over the window and use a hair dryer to 'shrink to fit'.

You can also tack up blankets on all of your walls, not the prettiest solution but very easy and fast to do especially if you use a staple gun.

I have to admit that I'm surprised that its a legal living space from all that I've read about it.

If you pay any sort of rent to your parents then they should be held responsible for your complete lack of insulation.

Oh almost forgot, since its a garage the floor is probably concrete? I suggest buying carpet remnants and layering them on the floor, a cold concrete floor can sap the warmth quickly.




monywildcat -> RE: How do you insulate a fully built garage, with no insulation currently? (11/22/2008 10:04:58 AM)

I have this issue as well, my bedroom is the previously converted one-car garage.  High ceiling, no insulation in the walls.  It gets cold as hell in the winter, and almost unbearably hot in the summer.  Needless to say, this damn room is a DIY guy's dream.  I have a blanket tacked up to the door leading to the backyard, but what to do about the walls??? And yes, there's drywall up on the walls.  Nothing behind it.  Brrr!




YourhandMyAss -> RE: How do you insulate a fully built garage, with no insulation currently? (11/22/2008 10:21:34 AM)

Yes it has dry wall and everything lol. All though I don't know much about what's in building buildings, so I don't assume much, but yeah we got drywall.

quote:

ORIGINAL: UncleNasty

Should we assume it is typical stick built construction that has already been finished with drywall?

Uncle Nasty




YourhandMyAss -> RE: How do you insulate a fully built garage, with no insulation currently? (11/22/2008 10:28:50 AM)

Yup. It's concrete, I was thinking after we get all our debt gone, to get cork board flooring and lay it down. Since I wanted to do something for the floor anyway, outside of carpet remnants, which we have just havn't put down since I want the floor swept first. I don't know that it's legal or not, but I sure like being out here, dispite  a few of the discomforts.

Our window is double paned, energy efficent window's. All the window's in the house are too. does double paned energy efficent window's need the cling? Our garage doesn't have an attic, I don't think. It's a freestanding building seperate from and behind  the house.

Blankets work for a while but I am looking for something perm, since we'll be living here for quite a long time. I'm hoping we won't have to move at all honestly, but if we do it won't be for another 3 years probably, since everythings so fucked for us, currently.

I also want it to be comfortable  in the summer too which it's not currently lol. I'll also be fitting the two outer doors with screen doors, one with a Doggie door for Ginger if she'd use it.


quote:

ORIGINAL: camille65

Insulation panels (that I used) aren't very thick and don't take up much space. Only about 1/2" thick and all you do is glue them on the walls like its wallpaper. Its not expensive and its very easy.

You can also go into the attic above your garage and lay down insulation, again super super easy to do.

If you have windows then get a 3M window kit, plastic that you place over the window and use a hair dryer to 'shrink to fit'.

You can also tack up blankets on all of your walls, not the prettiest solution but very easy and fast to do especially if you use a staple gun.

I have to admit that I'm surprised that its a legal living space from all that I've read about it.

If you pay any sort of rent to your parents then they should be held responsible for your complete lack of insulation.

Oh almost forgot, since its a garage the floor is probably concrete? I suggest buying carpet remnants and layering them on the floor, a cold concrete floor can sap the warmth quickly.





YourhandMyAss -> RE: How do you insulate a fully built garage, with no insulation currently? (11/22/2008 10:31:15 AM)

hahah hell yes.  I can be butt naked with two fans blowing on me in the summer and still be miserable. Our bed gets soaked with sweat a lot in summer, and on really bad days, I would go inside the house where the ac was on. I wouldn't come out for at least 6 hourss.
quote:

ORIGINAL: monywildcat

I have this issue as well, my bedroom is the previously converted one-car garage.  High ceiling, no insulation in the walls.  It gets cold as hell in the winter, and almost unbearably hot in the summer.  Needless to say, this damn room is a DIY guy's dream.  I have a blanket tacked up to the door leading to the backyard, but what to do about the walls??? And yes, there's drywall up on the walls.  Nothing behind it.  Brrr!




UncleNasty -> RE: How do you insulate a fully built garage, with no insulation currently? (11/22/2008 10:49:50 AM)

Since it is stud construction blown in insulation is probably your best bet for the walls. You can do this for your attic/overhead space to. An alternative there is to use typical fibreglass rolls. Learn about proper venting or your efforts and expense will be wasted.

Your windows themselves are probably sufficient. You may have gaps around the outer edges of them so caulking to eliminate leaks and drafts could help.

What is your source of heat/AC?

Uncle Nasty




pahunkboy -> RE: How do you insulate a fully built garage, with no insulation currently? (11/22/2008 10:50:07 AM)

...actually any house in the town has no wall insulation.   the town was built prior to 1900.




Aneirin -> RE: How do you insulate a fully built garage, with no insulation currently? (11/22/2008 10:53:14 AM)

Move it indoors.




YourhandMyAss -> RE: How do you insulate a fully built garage, with no insulation currently? (11/23/2008 12:30:00 PM)

Our "source" of Ac is a fan pointed directly at the face and body, and it does a piss poor job of really cooling you off, but on a scale of 1 to 10 it's about a 3 for coolness which is better than nothing and our heat source is being fully dressed with socks slippers and a jacket or our electric heating blanket.

I want a ductless unit , I know mr slim has ductless AC units but I dunno if they do heating too, plus they're about 2-3 thoughsand dollars a pop.
quote:

ORIGINAL: UncleNasty

Since it is stud construction blown in insulation is probably your best bet for the walls. You can do this for your attic/overhead space to. An alternative there is to use typical fibreglass rolls. Learn about proper venting or your efforts and expense will be wasted.

Your windows themselves are probably sufficient. You may have gaps around the outer edges of them so caulking to eliminate leaks and drafts could help.

What is your source of heat/AC?

Uncle Nasty




YourhandMyAss -> RE: How do you insulate a fully built garage, with no insulation currently? (11/23/2008 12:35:00 PM)

There's no room in the house for both of us and any of our stuff in the one room that was ours Hell it didn't even fit me and all my things when it was just me, and yeah we pared it down to bare minimum and there still wasn't room for us. It's why we moved out to the garage.
quote:

ORIGINAL: Aneirin

Move it indoors.




UncleNasty -> RE: How do you insulate a fully built garage, with no insulation currently? (11/23/2008 12:46:53 PM)

I know combo units are available but I don't know anything about them.

I have a friend that gutted a house last year and tore out all the duct work. He poured thousands of dollars into the rehab and could never decide if he was going to keep it and live there, rent it, or sell it. He did not replace the ducting but did finish his walls with dry wall. Now he has a building that is largely unsaleable because there is no HVAC. I have no idea what he was thinking. If you want to sell a home and recoup or make money it needs to be pretty conventional.

In anycase, he purchased several of the combo units. Perhaps pricey but still less than an arm and a leg.

Uncle Nasty




YourhandMyAss -> RE: How do you insulate a fully built garage, with no insulation currently? (11/23/2008 8:09:37 PM)

See uncle nasty normally I wouldn't mind the high cost of an item that would make things so much more bearable, but I have about 2 k of debt, that I'm trying to get out from under and everything else will prolly cost 2 to 3 k.

So in light of that, it is basically an arm and a leg and it will be probably for a year or more. Which sucks cause I really wanna get going on things in here like buling the two book shelves the captains bed, and other much needed items but we have no real money to do that.




masterBruce -> RE: How do you insulate a fully built garage, with no insulation currently? (11/23/2008 8:14:28 PM)

try foam cut holes in the walls and pump it in




BbwCanaDomme -> RE: How do you insulate a fully built garage, with no insulation currently? (11/23/2008 8:19:12 PM)

Hire someone?




manxcat -> RE: How do you insulate a fully built garage, with no insulation currently? (11/23/2008 8:29:23 PM)

You can get free carpet remnants and padding, in most cities, in pieces, leftover from installations, in the dumpsters behind carpet shops.  If the economy were better you could get torn out from offices, that are barely worn.  Quite often there are some rather large pieces, which can be taped together underneath.  With creative placement of furniture, you make a seamless look.  Or use 2 colors for different use living spaces, e.g. bed and clothes, and computer/library areas.
I had a candle workshop, which needed to be heated to about 79 degrees to work the wax, and used my parents garage, similar to yours.  I lined it with plastic and used 2 oil heaters.  It worked very well.  I would do that for this winter, as well as using blankets, and then put a little aside every week, or use your tax rebate to do the job properly with blown in.  Common wisdom for getting out of debt is to pay yourself first, be it $25 a week, and then pay what is owed.  Then you have a stash for larger purchases, or emergencies. You could also add 1/4 inch sheetrock, on top of the existing sheetrock, which is either 3/8 in or 1/2 in, in addition to the insulation.  Will create an additional 8-12 or so degree temp change, depending on winds, trees, snowfall, etc.  And should be able to get it a bit cheaper in the spring.   Some places like  Menards, or Home Depot will discount sheets when they are nicked or have corners missing.  Best of luck.
manxcat
edited to add: and perhaps you will be lucky enough to be near one of the Home Depot stores whick will be closing soon.  should be many sales then.  and likely if you call them you can find out when, etc.




YourhandMyAss -> RE: How do you insulate a fully built garage, with no insulation currently? (11/23/2008 8:38:53 PM)

That's what we wanna try.
quote:

ORIGINAL: masterBruce

try foam cut holes in the walls and pump it in




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