Help with heat loss in garage

[Chris Padilla]

My buddy up in the Seattle area sent me some pics of his garage. He said he is losing too much heat through the vents and can't keep the garage warm enough but at the same time, as you can see from the pics, he likes the storage in the rafters. :)

Any thoughts from anyone?

[Chris Padilla]

A couple more pics...I asked him to send me some pics of the outside of the garage and vents.

The vent that is blocked in the first set of pics is the one in the gable just above the vehicle...the second vent is off to the right in the pic unseen.

[Steve Clardy]

Cover the vents up for the winter. Won't hurt a thing.
He also really needs a ceiling put in, insulation on top of that. Then put in a attic access ladder.

[Tyler Howell]

An Insulated ceiling with a pull down ladder will help hold the heat and access storage. He'll loose some accessible storage space and the convenience of just sticking stuff in the trusses. Less expensive sheet goods can be used over rock or plywood for the ceiling

[Jamie Buxton]

Trusses like that generally aren't designed to support lots of weight in that "attic" space. A little bit, he'll probably get by. But lots -- and lumber seems to add up real fast -- may be a problem.

[Kevin Arceneaux]

Chris - have him check with his utility. Most will send someone out at no charge to look at it and give suggestions.

He could use the styrofoam board on the ceiling. That will help with radiant heat loss and with tape on the joints it will reduce air migrating up and out. It will also reduce the dust filtering down from the open ceiling. Possibly a double layer of it. It looks like there is a lot of room for it. But that will not help as much as reducing the room volume and the losses from trying to heat that much room.

[Chris Padilla]

Could he just insulate right under the cedar shakes on his roof and then seal that with foam board or something? Cedar shakes should breathe quite well as the strips of wood layed on top of the trusses will keep a small air-space.

[Kevin Arceneaux]

I don't see why not. At least it would be a start. Is it the same under the roof in the main house?

[Kurt Aebi]

Chris, I don't know about the winters on the left-coast, but here in VT, we do not insulate right against the bottom side of the roof as it can really create Ice dams, etc. and damage the roofing when either it lets loose or gets chopped off. You Need the air space just below the roof to reduce the chances of ice build-up. Like I said, the winter may not be as harsh as it is here.

The people here usually have a ridge vent & soffit vent and use the styrofoam u-shaped things that staple up between the roof rafters and leave an air gap for the air to flow from the soffit up through the trough and out the ridge vent and then staple the insulation up against that. Not sure how to accomplish that with the gable end vents shown in the photo. I usuall see this when a ceiling is put up and insulated directly above the ceiling and the attic space remains unheated.

I don't think I was able to help you, but hopefully I have given you enough info. to help you not make a mistake.

Look into his needs and requirements a little more - maybe take the utilities up on a free evaluation & suggestion walk through or something like that.

[John Weber]

Chris the vents are not going to make a big difference, with no heat source the garage will stay cold regardless, it might stop the wind from blowing in. He doesn't have a ton of stuff up there, so some racks should take care of the storage below. He could beef up the ceiling beams and add a folding stairs if he still wanted storage. He can insulate the rafter bays, but needs to add an air space (they make a product for this) and also insulate the cables and vents. A much cheaper/easier way would be a ceiling, plus it would really lighten up the garage space. Easy choice for me would be to add an insulated ceiling.

John

[Donnie Raines]

At my old house, my detahced shop was pretty much like that. I simply installed a vapor sheild then the insualtion. I did not close off any vents and it remained nice and toasty. That application was acceptable in my area...but may not be so in his part of the world.

[Lee Schierer]

First of all, he shouldn't be using his trusses for storage. They aren't designed to hold weight like that. He could potentially damage his roof by adding much concentrated weight on the truss bottom member. Unlike conventional rafters and joists, trusses have to be used correctly to work right. Adding weight in the wrong area can be disasterous. A few storage racks would be far better.

As far as heat goes, the only way to warm that place up is insulation and and a ceiling on the underside of the trusses. I'd put at least 6-8 inches of insulation above the new ceiling. Leave the air vents open to allow the roof to stay cold and he won't develop ice dam problems. A set of pull down stairs will allow him access to that area.

[Larry Browning]

Chris,
I must agree with the others posters about not storing stuff in the attic of a truss built home. I had planned on using my truss roofed attic as a storage area. I asked the builder to install a pull down ladder in the ceiling of the garage and was told that it was against building codes to install one of those in a trussed house. The ceiling joists are only 2X4 and just won't hold weight much more than the blown in insulation. So his best bet is to get that stuff out of that attic ASAP before he brings down the roof.

Larry

[Jerry Olexa]

Chris Good advice in all the posts but remember, the issue is heat RISES and Insulation is needed. A semi solution would be to put up a ceiling and then insulate above it. Of course, he likes the storage but that is risky w that much weight on a truss. He could "sister in" 2X8s or 2X10s and make a real floor/ceiling and then do above and insulate. Then, he'd have both warmth and storage.Then he could safely add a pull down stairs.I can't remember if his side walls are insulated but that would also help. What is his source of heat? Is it adequate?

[Wes Bischel]

FWIW
The storage/strength issue can depend on the local codes. The trusses in my garage (11 years old) were required to have 50# live load if over a 4/12 pitch. Reason - they know it will be used for storage so it needs to be built accordingly.
I see that the wall adjacent to the house has drywall - a good solution would be to drywall the ceiling - 5/8" type X and insulate above. This would keep the garage warm and add another fire break to protect the house.

Wes

OBTW - is that a Mustang I spy?

[Chris Padilla]

Wes,

Good eye! Yes, he is refurbing his old Mustang...wants to track it next summer.

[Charles McKinley]

I would use foil backed styrofoam insulation for the ceiling. It is reflective to improve lighting, east install, the insulation would make it much easier to heat and no messy blown in insulation.

[Jim Becker]

Chris, I don't know about the winters on the left-coast, but here in VT, we do not insulate right against the bottom side of the roof as it can really create Ice dams, etc. and damage the roofing when either it lets loose or gets chopped off. You Need the air space just below the roof to reduce the chances of ice build-up.
This is true with the exception of spray-in foam insulation...which is very, very expensive to have done (Not a DIY project) although about the best thing since sliced veneer when it comes to cathederal ceilings!