Need ideas, cheap garage insulation

Hey all,

I'm looking for some creative ideas.

I am renting a house right now, and the garage is large and drafty. I make a good amount of money working in the garage, and I need to come up with a plan to insulate and heat it on a shoestring.

This would be a lot easier if I owned the house. I cannot make permanent changes to the garage. I only use one bay so I had a thought to build a simple 'box' around the bay I plan to use.

Any suggestions would be helpful

I'm not the type to go to home depot and buy everything new, there are are few building supply recyclers around here, and I might find something there.

Thanks all

Tear the foam out of old car seats and stuff it into the cracks around door jambs and windows. If it's just an open ceiling, put something up there to keep the heat in like a bunch of cardboard taped together. Stretch some old chicken wire fencing across the garage and paper mache it to split your garage in half. Grab some old bricks or cinder blocks and build a fireplace. You'll need a hood and chimney to catch the smoke and channel outside. You can make this out of sheet metal scraps. Make sure you have the number to the fire department.

sheet plastic

turbojunker wrote: sheet plastic

That's not creative; that actually makes sense.

Staple up large sheets of cardboard as insulation. Laying cardboard on the floor can also provide some protection from cold cement. Keep flames and sparks to a minimum.

RoosterSauce wrote:

turbojunker wrote: sheet plastic

That's not creative; that actually makes sense.

I'm lazy.

Duct-taping cracks and seams is huge. Anything you can do to prevent drafts will make an enormous difference.

Depending on the work you do, you could throw down some cheap carpeting. Now's a good time to find used carpeting on trash day, as people get new carpeting installed in time for the holidays.

Thanks for the ideas. Sheet plastic to section off the bay, and ducttape to seal up the drafty cracks I think will make a huge difference.

And RoosterSauce: All I gotta say is LOL!

Find the guy in your town that recycles the old water heaters for the local utility, and hit him up for some used insulation.

The sheet plastic, and cardboard are both great ideas.

Sheet plastic does come in some very thick sizes. I saw one guy on the web who built himself a homemade spraybooth with 2x4's and some thick sheet plastic.

I knew a guy who scrounged around CL for free magazines and newspapers (and other paper products). He put it in a big 55 gallon barrel with some water and made paper slurry. Then he dumped in a gallon of glue and slung it on the walls with a shovel. Worked OK and he had to go through a few types of glue to find one that worked well.

Best part was that he used an old air-cooled outboard 3 hp motor in the barrel to chew up the paper.

... then shortly after that someone posted 6 bales of fiberglass batting for free on CL

refridgerator boxes ,paint white for more light inside garage

Are the walls bare studs, or have they been covered with sheetrock or some other finish surface? Also, where do you live? Insulation requirements vary from Minnesota to Florida.

In general, seal up the cracks and remember that heat rises - you lose more heat out of the roof than the walls.

if you aren't doing anything with flames, then use old blankets nailed up.

Check to see if you have a Habitat Restore near by. If so you should be able to get isulation very cheap.

Also check any construction sites near you. Show up and talk to the forman, tell him what you want to do and chances are he will give you the OK to pick through the dumpsters. I was able to insulate my garage door and finish the outside walls in my garadge with cast offs from job sites, just be sure to ask first.

Related to the plastic, cheap, large tarps tied/stapled in place. Duct tape the seams, and weather stripping on the doors/windows. Harbor Freight has "ceramic" heaters on sale; they put out a fair amount of heat for their small size and power consumption. Plus they're portable, put it anywhere.

I believe he is from Portland ME. So think damn cold, and breezy.

Make sure you cover the windows with plastic to reduce the draft. Report back as to what the inside of the structure is like, is there any insulation or what?

It's pretty much an old barn-type structure. Drafty, and I am about 400 feet from the ocean. The cape (as the name suggests) sticks out into the ocean, which means less snow, but more wind.

Duct taping seams will be CRUCIAL I'm sure. The windows are also quite drafty.

There is no insulation at present. The garage doors are new, but not insulated.

It has a very high ceiling (~20 feet at the peak), so boxing that in will also be crucial.

I'm also trying to decide on a method for heating that is also budget oriented. I'm pretty paranoid about fumes, but if it's safe, it's safe.

Also, there is a local Habitat Restore, I will visit them before I buy any materials. :)

If this is a temporary gig. Plastic over the windows and either plastic or paper stapled over the exposed wood work. Makes it easy to remove. Plastic above you is critical. Put plywood or cardboard on the few feet near the floor over the plastic, to prevent it from an accidental tear. Get a direct vent heater(check on codes before install, some need to be higher off the ground. This alone will make a HUGE difference. Maybe a pair of electric socks would be a good gift to suggest to a loved one for the upcoming holidays.

Think you could cut a deal with the landlord on rent by insulating his garage? Something like "Hey, I'll insulate the garage for materials cost if you'll cut the materials cost from my rent? What do you think?"

He might go for it...

I was surprised at how inexpensive fiberglass bat insulation was when I priced it.

Xceler8x wrote: Think you could cut a deal with the landlord on rent by insulating his garage? Something like "Hey, I'll insulate the garage for materials cost if you'll cut the materials cost from my rent? What do you think?" He might go for it...

that is basically how I got the HVAC setup in my office.

Lowes and Home Depot sell 20'x100' rolls of 6 mil plastic sheeting for about $40 a roll. You can quite well seal off your bay with that.

For heat, one of those propane tank mounted infra red heaters do a dandy job. True, propane is not cheap, but if you're not trying to heat the bay constantly, it's pretty cost effective.

Not to be a downer, but a good idea would be to have a fire extinguisher (Fire Ice is amazing) and a monoxide detector--odorless, colorless-- in the booth.

Gasoline, heat, evenings, close quaters, etc...and that's in the summer, outside! And your landlord will appreciate seeing those items in the garage now, before you start the project. Made points with a landlord pointing out my extinguisher in my kitchen.

Extinguisher and monoxide detector are fantastic ideas (not a downer) and will be on my list of must-haves