If you’re like most homeowners, insulating a garage may not be high on your list of home improvement projects – but it should be. Adding insulation to a garage it’s a great return on investment in terms of energy savings throughout the year, and the benefits don’t stop there.
A well-insulated garage can help extend the life of your vehicles, reduce noises, increase the value of your home, and even provide critical protection against fires.
What are the benefits of insulating a garage?
Your garage is one of the largest and most frequently-used rooms in your home, and chances are it is also one of the most neglected spaces. The good news is that showing your garage a little care can lead to big benefits. The cost to insulate garage walls and ceilings is also likely much lower than you might expect. And our team will help you out to have these benefits.
- Regulates Garage Temperature
- The air temperature in your garage will be much warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. Spray Foam Insulation eliminates that uncomfortable rush of frigid or humid air that enters your home every time you open the door to the garage.
- You’ll be able to store temperature-sensitive cleaners, paints, and tools without worrying they’ll either freeze or melt.
- If you have water lines running through the walls of your garage, adding spray foam insulation will help prevent frozen pipes.
- Improves Your Garage Hobby Space
- If your garage serves as a workshop, adding insulation will dramatically decrease sound transmission, helping to keep your family (and neighbors) happy while testing out your latest power tools. With our tools and advanced equipment, we will give the garage the space you need. Car lovers will have their cars in perfect condition protected from the cold and the hot weather with effective garage insulation.
- Uses Year Around
- If you insulate your garage appropriately, then you can do a lot more than just protect your vehicle. You can use the space to put your cardio elliptical inside, use it as a fun area for the kids or get to work on a variety of projects. In the summer or winter months, the insulation will keep the temperature similar to what you have inside your home.
- Noise Reduction
- Do you want to keep your home quiet? Then, move the noisy stuff to the garage. Doing a woodworking project? If you insulate your garage well-enough, it doesn’t matter what time of day you can begin a project. Your neighbors won’t care because they won’t even hear you. Also, your family inside won’t notice anything about the noises that you are causing. Plus, sounds outside the home won’t be as noticeable from cars and snow-blowers because the insulation soaks in the sound better than ever before.
- Adds Safety Precautions
- Insulating the walls of your garage and adding drywall places a layer of protection around electrical wires and cables in your walls from damage caused by mice and other rodents.
- Garage insulation can help prevent deadly carbon monoxide gases from seeping through your walls into your living spaces.
- Insulating a garage with spray foam can also add a significant level of fire protection for your family since the best insulation for garages is fire-rated. This means the insulation won’t release toxic gases, smoke, or burn quickly if exposed to flames. This protection can make all the difference if an accidental fire starts in your garage.
- An Effective Moisture Barrier
- Spray Foam Insulation, it’s the best solution for the above-garage room temperature adjustment and it creates a very effective moisture barrier that helps in preventing mold and mildew. Considering that Toronto is well known for humid summers, excessive moisture can result in damp walls, floors, and ceilings that are ideal breeding grounds for mold and mildew. A quality spray foam insulation will give you peace of mind.
What’s the best insulation for garage walls?
The best insulation for garage walls depends on where you live, whether or not the walls are already covered with drywall, and if you have a living space located above your garage.
- Fiberglass – The most common type of insulation used in garages. It’s inexpensive, efficient, and widely available. It also comes in a variety of pre-cut sizes which helps reduce installation costs.
- Fire-resistant rigid foam – Also an option for insulation because it delivers a relatively high insulation value (R-value) relative to its thickness, and it can be used in shallow spaces.
- Spray foam insulation – A premium product that will definitely increase the cost to insulate garage walls in your home, but may be worth the investment if you use your garage as a workshop, or to store high-value vehicles.
Best Insulation Types
No matter what your budget is for insulation, there are options for everyone. These are some options:
- Polystyrene
- These sheets of insulation do a great job of bridging the gaps between each 2 x 4 stud in your garage. Essentially, this type of insulation fits snug and tight to keep air out. You should aim for a range of 3.5 to 7.14 for your r-value.
- Polyurethane that Expands
- Also, polyurethane is a commonly used solution as insulation. This solution is sprayed into gaps around your garage to keep the elements out while insulating the temperature inside. This foam has a great R-value, which starts at 11 and only goes up from there.
- Batt
- Batt is a fiberglass solution that is also made from cotton. It’s very easy to install this material for your garage. Batts ease in nicely between each stud. After the studs have insulation between them, you’ll need to get a vapor covering that looks like a plastic sheet. This barrier keeps excess moisture away from the insulation. This is something that only professionals like Eco Spray Insulation can manage to install.
- Foam
- Foam insulation is another common option. A board of foam can be installed instead of drywall to help in the insulation process. By using the batt insulation that was mentioned previously, you can be assured that your garage will be properly insulated. However, you’ll need to see if the foam board is allowed in your city’s building codes or not.
- Blown-In
- Insulation that’s blown-in is quickly becoming one of the most used materials to insulate a garage. You can’t blow-in insulation on your own, and this is where we take over, and everything for you. The process works by opening up a hole in your garage and pumping it with cellulose. Our experts will install it and will only take a couple of hours to complete. To be sure that your insulation is blown-in properly, just give us a call and your home will be safe after this process.
What about insulating a garage door?
If your existing garage door isn’t insulated, you can either add insulation to it or replace it with a ready-made insulated garage door.
There’s a number of garage door insulation kits on the market, or you can opt to insulate metal door panels by fitting rigid foam.
Keep in mind that a new, insulated garage door will come complete with a new rubber gasket along the bottom. This gasket will prevent both harsh weathers as well as unwelcome critters from getting into your garage. The best thing to do is to contact a professional like Eco Spray to do the job.
Instead of Insulating the Garage Attic
Other options that may help lower your energy bills are:
- Insulating adjoining walls. It isn’t important to insulate the ceiling between the attic and the garage because those areas are not affected by a home’s heating and cooling system. It is important to insulate any walls that separate the garage from air-conditioned rooms in the house. If these walls are not insulated, the temperature of the garage can affect the rooms and make the house’s heating and cooling system work harder to compensate.
- Weatherize and seal. Protecting your garage and the valuable things inside it makes sense and can save money in the long run. Install a storm door between the garage and the house to protect your home against the elements, and seal any gaps that may allow wind or rain into the garage.
Insulating the attic above a garage that is not connected to an HVAC system has no appreciable effect on home energy bills. It can make the garage more comfortable, but there are better ways to spend money in the garage that will help lower your energy bills.
Garage Insulation: Which is Best for the Ceiling?
If you already have a separate living or floored storage space above, then your best choice is to spray foam beneath that floor. However, if the garage ceiling is finished and you don’t want to start any extensive remodeling (e.g. tear your ceiling down!), then we can use blown-in insulation as well.
If the ceiling is adjacent to an attic space with open rafters, then blown-in insulation can be a great option. You can choose either fiberglass or cellulose, with trade-offs in R-value, longevity, ease of installation, and sometimes cost. It will make a difference if you also plan to install a floor in the space above. Let us know your plans, and we can provide you with some options, with the best equipment and the best experts.
If the ceiling rafters support an outside roof only, some different insulation types can work, although spray foam is likely to be the best answer.
Q: Why Is The Room Above My Garage Cold?
A: These rooms are typically cold because builders/contractors have commonly used traditional fiberglass insulation in the garage ceiling and walls.
Q: Why Is Spray Foam The Best Insulation For Your Garage Ceiling?
A: Spray foam adheres to the surface that you spray. It expands and sticks to whatever it touches. It does not allow air passages, leakage and air can’t travel through spray foam insulation and it’s air-barrier and vapor barrier custom installed filling every nook and cranny creating an air-tight, moisture barrier with unmatched insulating performance.
Q: How to Cool a Garage With No Windows?
A: Install Attic Vents. Heat rises, but you can help the worst of it escape through your garage attic by installing vents on the gable ends of the house. This is likely the highest point, and you’ll help heat escape as it rises. The airflow you create will help ventilate the space and cool your garage with passive convection as cool air moves from the floor upward and forces the hot air out.
A professional team like Eco Spray is worth it because we know exactly what needs to be done and know how to do it. Because we have dealt with several issues in the past, we won’t need to waste time considering the best alternatives. We also know how to choose or recommend brands of insulation that are just right for your situation and can monitor and assess the installation so that it meets all safety and code requirements. Another reason why to call us is that we can guarantee that the job is done safely and doesn’t pose a risk to your family or property. So call us at (416) 860 6664 or just send us an email at [email protected].
