Garage A/C, insulation and electric

[James Hart]

Living in the desert, my WW season tends to end just about the time the rest of the country is thawing out.

I have a contractor working on bids to add a subpanel, A/C and insulation so I can work through the summer.

The garage is all drywalled, we're pretty sure none of it conceals insulation. We cur a hole in the ceiling and climbed up. There isn't a stich of insulation there. Explains why my daughter bedroom above the garage is 20 degrees different from the rest of the house.

Questions- I've seen insulation panels installed into the existing garage doors. Any experience with this?

Can they put a hole or something between each stud and blow some kind of insulation behind the existing drywall?

Sorry for what I'm sure are very basic questions.

Thanks,

Jim

[Brian Effinger]

I don't see why adding insulation board wouldn't be possible - just glue it in place. A new insulated overhead door would be better though (because of gasketing). As for insulation in the walls, the blown-in stuff works great and is really easy to install. A d-i-y'er could even do it himself.

[Thom Sturgill]

I believe the BORGs even rent the machine to blow in the insulation. Just make sure that if there is a fire stop that you insulate above and below it. TOH has used it on several shows.

[Travis Gauger]

I did insulation as a summer job when I was finishing up school, and we used to go to older houses and blow in insulation from the outside and fill the walls. We had several ways to do it, but the easiest was to pop the siding open at the joint along the top and bottom of the wall, and then drill holes in the top and bottom of a cavity and bolw from the bottom till it shoots out the top. There are a lot of different ways to go about it, but ultimately, your best results will be from a blown in or batt being put in vs the foam board. Spray in foam would be another good alternative that also adds to the ridgidity of the wall. I personally like the fiberglass batt as they are your best bang for the buck and easy to do as a DIY'er. All you need is a utility knife and a ladder really. If you are going to climate control the garage, you will want a vapor barrier directly behind your wall covering.

[Joe Chritz]

You want to look for retro fit blown insulation contrators. Basically they hole saw two holes in each stud bay and fill it with insulation. Foam or cellulose is normally used.

Attic can be pumped in loose and any borg will usually give you the machine if you buy a specified number of bags.

Joe

[Eric Gustafson]

There is a company in the Phoenix area called Thermal Advantage. They have a non-expanding foam that they use between existing sheetrocked walls that will insulate and deaden sound.

[Jim Becker]

Yes, insulation can be blown into the walls to alleviate removing the existing drywall, but walls, IMHO, are not a DIY job. It's too easy to blow out a wall...and that's not pretty. For that job, I do suggest you get a specialist in. Insulating the ceiling, if you have access from above, is a bit easier and can be a quick and easy DIY job.

[Eric Haycraft]

For the walls, you can either do blown in as others have suggested or an 'old work' foam. If you have air infiltration issues, foam would be better but costs more. Typically foam is best used up north where it gets much colder than your parts. If you have humidity issues foam may be better in your case also.
The ceiling can be foamed or done with blown in cellulose or fiberglass blown in or batts. Whatever you want really.
The garage door can be done in many ways. Some stores sell retrofit kits. Spray foam can also be used but won't be the prettiest thing. Foam panel can be self cut and either spray glued or sealed in with a great stuff type foam crack sealant. There is also a bubble wrap type of insulation that gets about an r-4 in garage door applications which may work well in your situation. I did that to my garage door and used spray glue from 3M to attach it.

Good luck