# Garage Ceiling Insulation



## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

Foam should be covered with drywall for fire protection most of the time.


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## APA (Jul 13, 2018)

DJ Attic said:


> Hi All,
> The room above my garage is 7 degrees cooler than the other rooms. The ceiling of my garage is insulated and has drywall, but I would like to put rigid foam insulation on the ceiling of my garage to increase the R-Value. I would then like to either not cover up the foam or cover it with heavy duty wall liner or wallpaper so I don't see the insulation. Is this do-able? Thanks in advance for your input.
> -DJA



If it is a bonus room with knee walls, it might be a little more complex of a problem...


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## DJ Attic (Nov 26, 2018)

Thanks. Not sure if this is a knee wall or short roof but agree that it contributes to the issue. Please see pic of garage and room above. Thanks, again.


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## Richard Pryor (Jun 25, 2016)

Why is that room cooler? Are your garage walls insulated?


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## SPS-1 (Oct 21, 2008)

Note that there is the lightweight EPS and the heavier XPS foam (frequently colored) available. XPS is more money, but is a better insulator.


But 7 degrees is quite a bit. You should investigate, preferably with an IR thermometer, but probably a regular thermometer would help too, exactly where the heat loss is coming from. Assuming you have forced air heat, do you have both a hot air duct and a return in that room? Is heating duct running through that garage ceiling?


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

DJ Attic said:


> Thanks. Not sure if this is a knee wall or short roof but agree that it contributes to the issue. Please see pic of garage and room above. Thanks, again.


Get one of those cameras that you can see heat and cool and check the room.
I suspect the wall below the window up stairs will be the problem 
You would expect a beam holding that wall up but much cheaper is a 2 or 3 ply girder truss. When you have that, the wall has little room for insulation between all the wood, If insulation was added to the outside of that it has likely fallen down on the ceiling. 


We have the same problem with this house.


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## DJ Attic (Nov 26, 2018)

Thanks for the feedback!! We did an energy assessment last year and the assessors concluded my garage is fully insulated. But the Clopay garage door is not. :sad: They said that room temps will moderate 5-7 degrees directly above a garage. Thermo cams led to conclusions that the attic should be targeted to effectively moderate the room temps and perhaps gain a few degrees by preventing heavy, radiant cold air that permeates from above. I felt it was also permeating from below... Please see pics!


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## SPS-1 (Oct 21, 2008)

Are those last photos your attic? Is there any insulation at all in your attic? 


The garage is unconditioned space (i.e it is considered to be at same temperature as outdoors). Garage door or garage walls would not normally be insulated. Its not that your garage ceiling is insulated, its that your bedroom floor is insulated. 


If your ceiling is inadequately insulated, I would not be surprised if your floor is not either. EPS or XPS creates dangerous fumes in a fire, so code requires a fire resistant (fox XX minutes) barrier over it. From the bedroom perspective, you would have that from floor, and existing drywall in garage. But since garage is not a living space, I am not sure if code requires it to be covered with fire resistant (i.e drywall) material. Maybe somebody else here knows for sure.


But if the energy assessment did not mention need for additional insulation below floor, I would be attacking the other items before thinking about the floor.


.


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

SPS-1 said:


> Are those last photos your attic? Is there any insulation at all in your attic?
> 
> 
> The garage is unconditioned space (i.e it is considered to be at same temperature as outdoors). Garage door or garage walls would not normally be insulated. Its not that your garage ceiling is insulated, its that your bedroom floor is insulated.
> ...


 That floor will be insulated and drywalled, that's been code of a while.


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## Richard Pryor (Jun 25, 2016)

why are garages usually not insulated? @SPS-1?


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## SPS-1 (Oct 21, 2008)

Because they are not normally conditioned space.


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## DJ Attic (Nov 26, 2018)

Thanks for that! Attic is insulated. That pic was taken by an assessor after he moved the insulation aside to show a space in the joist cavity that supposedly should be filled with foamy caulking. Assessor said that it's normal for these gaps to develop in time as the house settles (house is 17 years old), the wood expands, etc. I plan to fill that gap one day. While that effort may have a marginal impact, I believe the wicked and drafty cold is not coming from there. I believe it may be traveling from the garage, to the wall between the first and second floor, to the bedroom above the garage. My garage faces north and the north wind is unrelenting.


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

Richard Pryor said:


> why are garages usually not insulated? @*SPS-1*?


 Because they are not heated.


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

Air leaks into the attic also introduce moisture in the attic and that can cause trouble too. 


Adding insulation to the floor would make a min, of difference. The floor gets little benefit from the heat that is rising in the room. Insulation needs a constant supply of heat to counter the cold. The longer the cold spell lasts, the colder that floor will be no matter how much insulation you have.


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## HenryMac (Sep 12, 2018)

DJ Attic said:


> .... I would then like to either not cover up the foam or cover it with heavy duty wall liner or wallpaper so I don't see the insulation. Is this do-able? Thanks in advance for your input.
> -DJA


Depends on what type of foam you use. 

Some are very fire resistant, some are simply horrible in regard to fire resistance.

Polyiso is a good choice and may not need to be covered, depending on the applicable jurisdictional code in your area.

Go to 2:48 on this video for a visual.


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## DJ Attic (Nov 26, 2018)

Thanks so much for your replies! Today, upon pulling back the carpet in my cold room above the garage, I discovered approximately a 1" gap between my baseboards and my subfloor (under the carpet). From this gap comes an ungodly wind chill and my next DIY project. Won't be easy re-arranging furniture to further pull back the carpet and caulk down there or spray foam the joint. May get a bit messy. But if I can prevent this wicked draft, it'll be well worth it! In conclusion, the idea of further insulating my garage ceiling has been laid to rest. The issue lies elsewhere... Regards! 
-DJA


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## APA (Jul 13, 2018)

DJ Attic said:


> Thanks so much for your replies! Today, upon pulling back the carpet in my cold room above the garage, I discovered approximately a 1" gap between my baseboards and my subfloor (under the carpet). From this gap comes an ungodly wind chill and my next DIY project. Won't be easy re-arranging furniture to further pull back the carpet and caulk down there or spray foam the joint. May get a bit messy. But if I can prevent this wicked draft, it'll be well worth it! In conclusion, the idea of further insulating my garage ceiling has been laid to rest. The issue lies elsewhere... Regards!
> -DJA



That is a typical problem in these bonus rooms. A little air sealing can change the world. Looking at that picture there has to be some un-insulated space behind that garage dormer. Get yourself a $20 foam gun off of Amazon.com. You can get the foam cans to fit the gun on there too. It makes for a MUCH easier job with no waste. Just be sure to get the can of cleaner, too.


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## DJ Attic (Nov 26, 2018)

APA said:


> That is a typical problem in these bonus rooms. A little air sealing can change the world. Looking at that picture there has to be some un-insulated space behind that garage dormer. Get yourself a $20 foam gun off of Amazon.com. You can get the foam cans to fit the gun on there too. It makes for a MUCH easier job with no waste. Just be sure to get the can of cleaner, too.


Thanks. Yes, for sure that dormer is the culprit! Is this the gun (from Amazon) you mean? Any foam you know of that doesn't expand quite as much? I'd maybe use regular caulking but I think the R-value is lower, but probably not as messy.

https://www.amazon.com/Picowe-Expan...4&sr=1-4-catcorr&keywords=insulation+foam+gun


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## APA (Jul 13, 2018)

DJ Attic said:


> Thanks. Yes, for sure that dormer is the culprit! Is this the gun (from Amazon) you mean? Any foam you know of that doesn't expand quite as much? I'd maybe use regular caulking but I think the R-value is lower, but probably not as messy.
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/Picowe-Expan...4&sr=1-4-catcorr&keywords=insulation+foam+gun





Yes. Try the window and door foam. It does not expand as much. I usually just level it off with a painters tool. You should really try and get access into that area through the garage ceiling. You could just cut a hole big enough to poke your head through and see what is against that wall.


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

APA said:


> Yes. Try the window and door foam. It does not expand as much. I usually just level it off with a painters tool. You should really try and get access into that area through the garage ceiling. You could just cut a hole big enough to poke your head through and see what is against that wall.


 be sure to unplug the garage door opener first.:vs_whistle:


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