Author: Brian February 2, 2015

Most garages are too hot in Summer and too cold in Winter.

If you want to use the garage as a workshop . . or even a man cave, it will be much more comfortable if its insulated.

Maintaining a comfortable temperature in the garage also means  it makes a better Buffer Zone for the rest of the house

For most garages that are built as part of the house  it is relatively easy to put some insulation batts in the roof, but that still leaves the garage door!

Here is  how I insulated the garage door on the last house I built, in an afternoon.

DIY Garage Door Insulation

1. Measure the door width and the height of the steel ‘C’ sections that make up the door. You will need enough Foil Board to fill all the sections. Foil Board can normally be ordered at your Big Box DIY store.
2. When you pick up your Foil Board buy 3-4 cans of expanding construction foam.
3. Cut the Foil Board into strips that are wider than the opening in the ‘C Section’ but can still be inserted into the section and drill holes in the foil board approx 1m apart. (Putting some masking tape around the holes will make cleaning up easier)
4. Place the sections in the ‘C Sections’, foil facing outwards and hold them in place against the edges (I used duct tape.)
5. Following the instruction on the cans of foam insert the nozzle through the holes and start to fill behind the foil board until foam comes back out of the holes.
6. WARNING. Make sure you keep the foam away from any moving parts.
7. Leave the garage door shut for a few hours to allow the foam to cure and then clean up and remove the duct tape.
8. Even though the Foil board and Foam is light the door will now weigh several kgs more. This shouldn’t be an issue if you have an electric opener but with manual opening you will probably need to get the lifting spring reset. As this spring is under a lot of tension this is not a DIY job!

After doing this job I found the garage was much more comfortable . . . and the beer fridge didn’t have to work as hard!

 

For more posts see Insulation