Your garage is often your haven, a place to escape the daily grind or the family craziness and just putter. Without insulation, the garage is likely to be the most uncomfortable part of your home. This is easily remedied. The addition of insulation to your garage and the process of air sealing the walls will make your garage a comfortable place to work or escape. It will also make your home safer by preventing dangerous gasses from seeping into the living areas of your house.
Air Sealing. If your garage shares a wall with your home, you should air seal the shared wall prior to insulation. This will prevent harmful gasses from seeping into your living area through the shared wall. Harmful gasses can be in the form of carbon monoxide from your vehicle, stored gasoline, pesticides, cleaning products, paint, oil or other chemicals. Use a product such as Great Stuff along with some silicone caulk.
- Seal with Great Stuff the obvious holes or gaps including those left by electricians or plumbers.
- Caulk perimeters of outlets or electrical boxes.
- Caulk the bottom of the wall between the flooring and the wall frame.
- Seal with Great Stuff the wall cavities where the 2×4’s contact your house walls.
Insulation. Install fiberglass insulation in the walls. Note that one side of the insulation has a vapor retardant. This side is the paper sided part known as the kraft facing.
- Install insulation in the shared wall backwards. The vapor retardant paper should be on the side closest to the interior house wall and the fuzzy side should be facing you.
- Install non-shared wall insulation with the paper side facing you.
- Be aware that different climates may have different installation requirements regarding vapor retardant.
Insulating your garage will make your garage comfortable as provide a better storage area for your possessions and projects. For questions regarding your garage door contact a garage door specialist.
