What You Need to Do When Insulating Your Garage

If you have an attached garage, you really need to insulate it like you have the rest of your home, even if you don't use the garage for much more than car storage. The garage can be a strange place in terms of insulation because, if the main garage door is open, the insulation means nothing. But, when the door is closed, any insulation you have in the walls, doors and roof will help protect whatever is in the garage along with the rest of your home. When you set out to insulate the garage, remember the following.

Don't Ignore Doors

You're insulating the garage—not just the garage walls or the portion of the roof over the garage. The door leading into the rest of your home, the door leading to the backyard and the main garage door all need to have good insulation and weatherstripping. If they don't, then they're weak points. It will be easier for heat to transfer in or out at those points. And, if you have at least one external garage door uninsulated along with the door leading into the rest of the house, you've actually created a weak point for all of your insulation. For example, in winter, heat would transfer from your home into the garage and then to the outside, all through the uninsulated doors. Don't forget that; insulate all the doors along with the walls and roof.

Treat the Connecting Wall as an External Wall

If you're trying to save money on the work, you might think that there's no reason to insulate the wall connecting the garage and the rest of the house. You'll just insulate the garage doors and keep the main door closed as much as possible. That's not going to work out the way you think it will. You will almost certainly start leaving the main garage door open at times or have the back door open, and that will affect the insulation for the rest of your house, because now that uninsulated wall functions as the external wall for that part of the house. Speak to the insulation contractors about payment plans and other ways to save money, but do insulate that wall.

Believe It or Not, Clean It Up

While the garage and home are being insulated, the garage will most likely be empty. Once the work is done, and you load items back in, organize them as best you can. Don't leave piles everywhere. When you do that (leave things a mess), two things happen. One is that the garage can seem unpleasant, and that can appear to increase or decrease feelings of being too hot or too cold. The other is that piles of things like old newspapers or unused gardening equipment can hide pests that can damage walls and insulation, creating a breach that makes the garage seem like it wasn't that well insulated. If things are neat and clean, pests are less likely to hide in your garage, and you'll have a better view of the walls and potential damage. 

For more information about residential insulation, contact a local company. 

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