It makes sense to insulate your garage, especially if you’re planning to heat the space.
Sometypes of insulationare better than others for a garage, depending on whether the space is finished or not.
If you’re not adding heat, there’s little point in insulating.
The Spruce / Mira Norian
It’s a popular misconception that insulation adds warmth.
The walls that are shared with the house, however, should always be insulated to their maximum value.
Air Sealing
It’s also important to realizethe value of air sealingin conjunction with insulation.
The Spruce / Jason Donnelly
Garages typically aren’t built to be airtight and have lots of air gaps to the outdoors.
Waiting to do this after the insulation is installed tends to be a messy job.
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The Spruce / Jason Donnelly
It’s sold in precut batts and long blankets that fit between wall studs and ceiling joists.
Because it’s loose-fill, cellulose is suitable only for finished garage walls and ceilings.
The most common materials include expanded polystyrene (similar to Styrofoam), extruded polystyrene, and polyisocyanurate.
The Spruce / Jason Donnelly
Rigid foam offers a high R-value per inch of thickness and can be cut tofit almost any space.
It’s a good choice for thin walls and insulating garage doors.
As ahigh-end materialtypically used for energy-efficient construction, spray foam may be overkill for most garage projects.
The Spruce / Jason Donnelly
But it might make sense if you’re converting the garage to a living space.
Air sealing is particularly important with garage doors.
Seal along the bottom of the door with a new rubber gasket, or “bottom seal.”
The Spruce / Jason Donnelly
It’s available in different sizes to cover small or large gaps between the door and the garage floor.
The walls and ceilings will require a different pop in of insulation than the garage door.
How Insulation Works.United States Department of Energy.
Air Sealing and Insulating Garage Walls - Code Compliance Brief.Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
