janaka Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 Well we finally signed off and are having the new house built. My wife got most of the control on upgrading the 'house' and I get to do some things to the garage. We did do the insulated garage doors by the builder as it wasn't that much of an upgrade for both doors to be upgraded. Our builder however does not insulate the exterior walls of the garage. They only insulate the shared wall with the house. That leaves me with 3 un-insulated walls to deal with and cold, COLD, Canadian winters. brrrr. This is something that I will be doing myself during the build so I don't get charged by the builder to do it. Its 2x6 exterior studding so I'm thinking that I'm going to go with an R22 batt insulation for the walls. This is what we did in my friends new house but he is only just in his house now so we don't know how warm his garage stays. I'm thinking R22 should be good enough for the garage though, thoughts? Also I don't have any experience with the sound/fire insulation. I was thinking about using it but dont know how well it works and if its worth the extra expense. We have a 3 car garage so we are looking at about 700sq/ft of walls that need to be insulated I think based on my last guess assuming they do 10' ceilings throughout. I know the first bay will be min. 10' as there is a walk-in closet over it but the far two bays could be higher if I ask (I kind of want to in the event I want to put a hoist in down the road, droool). I have a man door to the back yard as well as a 3'x3' window for some natural light as well (no neighbors to the rear as we back onto greenspace). The biggest thing that I'm lost towards is proper lighting. I am getting two 100w light bulbs. Generous I know. This is something I know nothing about other than I need light, lots preferably for the size of the garage. (see attached pdf if interested to see it all). I am looking for something energy efficient as to keep long term costs down as I see myself being in the garage a bit Any other ideas or thoughts would be awesome. Thanks guys britannia cres plans.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckolander Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 I looked at the plans, it appears that the garage is only about 9' high. As far as insulating it, can't really help you there. However, you don't really need sound insulation, and most standard insulation is fire resistant. For lighting, I would recommend florescent. You should get 4 8' mounts, figure out which bay you will be working in the most and give it 2 sets, the other 2 bays only need 1 each. Hope this helps a little Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeZ Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 When it comes to lights, you can't have too much. I have a garage slightly larger than a 3 car. I have 6 8' flourescents. The problem is the cold. They don't do well when it is really cold. In Houston, Tx we don't have much but it takes a while for the bulbs to finally light completely when temp is freezing. But ckolander in Minot has more experience with low temps. As for insulation, I would check "This Old House" or another contractor. I followed several episodes of construction of a house in the north. I understood that it is the moisture that is the problem. If you insulate you're suppose to heat and cool the space. Insulation without heating/cooling leads to lots of moisture and rot (that is what I heard on home repair radio) Good Luck in your new house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoNkEyT88 Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 Storage and organization is what I'm working on in the garage, when it gets above 40 degrees.. stupid wisconsin. Anyway, I'd recommend nice cabinets and work bench and while you're at it wire in a 220v outlet out there. I'm going to be doing blown in cellulose in my 3rd garage walls and ceiling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan Purple240zt Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 Cambridge where? What temps are you going to be dealing with. Comfort is paramount for me in the garage... so do the best insulation you can. I imagine you will be living there for awhile so don't cut corners over a grand or two and regret it a few years down the road. Check out http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/ these guys have the garage thing down! Incredible photos and ideas. Mathematical equations for lighting and everything. Congratulations on the new house! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janaka Posted April 26, 2009 Author Share Posted April 26, 2009 When it comes to lights, you can't have too much. I have a garage slightly larger than a 3 car. I have 6 8' flourescents. The problem is the cold. They don't do well when it is really cold. In Houston, Tx we don't have much but it takes a while for the bulbs to finally light completely when temp is freezing. But ckolander in Minot has more experience with low temps. As for insulation, I would check "This Old House" or another contractor. I followed several episodes of construction of a house in the north. I understood that it is the moisture that is the problem. If you insulate you're suppose to heat and cool the space. Insulation without heating/cooling leads to lots of moisture and rot (that is what I heard on home repair radio) Good Luck in your newhouse. I work in residential HVAC so I will have the heating/cooling taken care of I'm going to do a natural gas radiant space heater so toasty warm. Not sure what I'm going to do for cooling, but we do the ductless split systems and I'm sure I can get one for it that will have enough BTU's for this area. I'm definately putting a bench and going to get cabnits for the rear wall, I have a friend in the wood working business and can get cabinets pretty cheap which is a bonus. I am going to have it pre-wired for 220v for when I upgrade to some nice tools. Also have cable wired in too, lol. I think I know where I'll be living primarily, hehehe. Evan; I'm in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadianz Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 Hey Janka, I would say to get the best insulation you can, there's nothing more annoying than having to wait for the shop to heat up, or have it cool down really fast. Do you live in a suburb ? The ventilation is also something smart to do now, it sucks trying to weld or use solvents in a garage with no air circulation. If you get the digital balasts for your florescent lights they work just fine in the cold. Thats what we are using in our shop, in Brantford, they are also way cheaper on electricty than the old style balasts. Lets see some pics when its done ! PS theres a guy on Ontario Z car selling 300zx half shafts I saw the other day. Cheers Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 (edited) 2 x 100 watt bulbs will be near useless to you, make sure they wire in more than that. For reference, I have a 20'x14' "shed", with 7 x 100 watt bulbs in it, and it's too few even with bright white walls. If I were to do it again I'd have 10. I went with regular bulbs as opposed to fluorescent due to the start up time in the cold, and cost... I don't have any insulation, and given that this workspace is temporary for me, I wasn't going to pony up for digital ballasts and T8 bulbs. R22 sounds just fine in the walls to me. For reference, My 60's house has R8 in the walls, and had R20 in the attic until I upgraded the attic to R50... I would expect with R22 in the walls and R40+ in the attic it won't take much energy to keep the garage warm. Your 2 x 100w bulbs might do it. Edited April 26, 2009 by Drax240z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janaka Posted April 26, 2009 Author Share Posted April 26, 2009 2 x 100 watt bulbs will be near useless to you, make sure they wire in more than that. For reference, I have a 20'x14' "shed", with 7 x 100 watt bulbs in it, and it's too few even with bright white walls. If I were to do it again I'd have 10. I went with regular bulbs as opposed to fluorescent due to the start up time in the cold, and cost... I don't have any insulation, and given that this workspace is temporary for me, I wasn't going to pony up for digital ballasts and T8 bulbs. R22 sounds just fine in the walls to me. For reference, My 60's house has R8 in the walls, and had R20 in the attic until I upgraded the attic to R50... I would expect with R22 in the walls and R40+ in the attic it won't take much energy to keep the garage warm. Your 2 x 100w bulbs might do it. Ya I know the whopping 2 100w bulbs are useless. My mom has one bulb in her single garage and its like a candle... I just don't know what I'm going to do, multiple 4' 2bulb lights or go for the 4bulb 4' lights etc. I know I'll want one just for over the bench as well as 'space' light. I guess time will tell what I do. Just got to figure it out so I can budget for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsicard Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 janaka: The best advice would be to put synthetic tubing in the cement garage floor and pump warm/hot water through that floor. Before the house is done and part of the build is to put 220V single phase to the garage in a central overhead outlet. Then a pig tail or welder can be directly plugged into the overhead outlet. Then when the builder is finished, stub in 110v outlets along the walls in the garage. Then insulate and put in moisture barrier the garage an put up sheet rock. Then put up cabinets at waist level upward such that vehicles can be put into the garage without interference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZR8ED Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 Don't skimp on the insulation thats for sure. And for lighting, I have 2 4ft banks of lights (one over each car) and its not enough. I too painted everything white. Walls and ceiling. It REALLY helps. With my fully insulated but non heated garage, I had beer,wine and cola in the garage all winter and it didn't freeze, so it did its job. I will be adding another 2 sets of lights, now that I have been working in there during the winter, and more lighting would have been great. Btw. For keeping the wife happy, anything you can do to keep noise from getting into the house is highly recommended. Plan storage along the wall to the house to slow down sound, and mount your aircompressor on rubber..even if it comes with rubber feet. I also built an enclosure for the compressor (not fully enclosed to allow for heat dissapation) I also used sound deadner on the inclosure to further help. keep the wife happy. It worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckolander Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 I should have thought about the colds affecting lights, around here, they sell specifically indoor/warm ballasts and outdoor/cold ballasts. The cold ballasts work in 40 below 0 F no problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woldson Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 Ever thought about radiant barriers as well? Also in my master bedroom I built, I used alot of sound board in the ceiling as well as the walls.....teeeheee. Rockwool will work as well, not for the garage but for bath rooms, study, bedroom. DO NOT SCIMP ON LOW VOLT WIREING!! You don't have to finish it out, but it's easy to do, and in most states it is not inspectable. Pm me if you want to know more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad-ManQ45 Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 When I was having my house built, I ran Cat5 cable, extra TV outlets and put rockwool in all interior walls between bedrooms and other rooms in the house. You may recognize Rockwool as the brand name of the stuff that is used in Gas Log fireplaces to look like glowing embers. This stuff is a LOT heavier than fiberglass, and VERY fire-resistant. To this day the only sounds coming into the bedrooms are from around/through the doors themselves. I would put a few flourescent fixtures in the garage. My house is on a basement with about 1.5 feet of room between the garage floor and where the main level is, so I was able to run 220 and 120 lines easily to my garage AFTER the house was built. If I were you I would do it BEFORE, but then I don't know what your configuration is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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