Cost control

[tipusnr]

I was just looking at the shop pictures again and really envy all of you with the insulated shops. I am not short of space, knock on wood, as I have half of a two car garage for rough woodworking and a room in the basement for turning.

The thing is that they both need to be insulated better so they can be fully utilized year around. The garage has studs 24" on center so greatly increases the cost, and availability, of rolled insulation and the shop has poured walls which I am leary of nailing into. Any ideas?

 

[lwalden]

One thing to consider for the garage- both Lowes and Home Depot carry the foil covered foam insulation panels in 4 X 8 sheets, that are fairly inexpensive and easy to put up. Once up, blow loose insulation in the cavity- You can rent the blower really inexpensively when you buy the blow in insulation. Use a hole saw to cut an appropriate size hole up at the top of the sheet (save it to tape back in as a plug afterwards), along with a smaller hole at the top for air to vent from as you are blowing in the insulation. Fill up the cavities, tape back in the plugs, and enjoy a little extra R value....

 

[DCBluesman]

A little add-on to Lyle's suggestion: Just putting up the panels first will help as the air will be a break in the temperature from outside to inside. Fill with blow-in insulation as the budget allows for it. You'll get a bang each time you spend a buck!

 

[Nolan]

Well if you want to go real cheap go out and get some polyethylene film say like 8 or 10 mil. You could staple that on the studs and give yourself 3.5 or 5.5 inches of air gap insulation. Your two pane windows have about 1/4". Obviously the visqueen (sp) wont have the properties of glass. Then the insulation panels you could Liquid Nails onto the concrete blocks in the basement. Just an idea for way cheap. Home depot has the 24' roll insulation thats not too bad on price. Good luck.
Nolan

 

[Probie]

Don't forget to save the receipts... Any additional insulation is, in most cases, tax deductible.

 

[TellicoTurning]

We don't get quite as cold in East TN as you do, but I elected to just put peg board over the studs in my stand alone shop. It's a metal wall building with masonite peg board all around... no covering on the ceiling.... so far, with a small heater, I can work there okay.

 

[LEAP]

There is no problem fastening to poured walls. Powder actuated nailers, Cement screws (TAPCONS), or drill and use shields. Done a number of basement finish jobs using a variety of methods. One inexpensive mothed is to glue foam insulation boards to the cement walls then screw battens on the wall for nailers. Screw through the foam and into the cement. Then add whatever surface treatment you want. A quick way is to buy sheathihg that has foam insulation sandwiched between two layers of plywood. Its more expensive but goes up quick and can be applied using construction adhesive. I'm a big fan of TAPCONS they are a cement screw system using a hammer drill and masonry bit you drill a hole in the cement then slide a adaptor over the drill bit that has a screw driver bit and drive the screw in the hole. For the garage check with a professional insulation installer. They buy their insulation very much cheaper than a homeowner can and often the price of having them install unbacked bats with a poly barrier is about the same of buying just the insulation at the big box stores. Sometimes having a professional do it can actually save you money.