I bought a house in March that needs a lot of updates and upgrades, many of which I've decided to try myself. I'm by no means experienced with home renovation, but I want to learn and do some jobs myself. One of the first is finishing the large (30' x 60') detached garage. A propane heater will be installed in late October by professionals. The purpose of this thread is to solicit advice regarding insulation and putting up sheetrock. Note that this garage is not being converted into living space, but rather a place that one can stand to work on a car or workout in through the winter.

I'm in NH and have read a ton on which insulation is best and the pros and cons of vapor barriers. Some of that advice varies widely. What do you recommend for this application?

Do I need to have the garage doors completely removed, put up the drywall and then reinstall the garage doors? If so, I plan on leaving those springs to the professionals.

Thank you in advance. Plenty of questions to come, I'm sure.

Daniel

Hire an electrician to put in a breaker box that is over the needs that you anticipate now and put in boxes with 4 plugin's around the shop.
Hire someone like a good handyman or small contractor for some of it to help guide you and help where two hands are needed and save you from buying some of the specialized tools and equipment that you will never need again. That will probably cost less in the long run than doing it yourself and the finished product will be nicer.
I would consider foam insulation but I don't live in your climate.

The entire house is impressively overbuilt. The generator, for instance, could power four houses and is in a fire safe and vented room attached to the garage. The previous owner, who died at 97 last year, was an electrical engineer and a genius. I'm not sure what plans he had for the garage, but he was never done with anything, it seems.

The workshop itself is in the basement and is something to behold.

I'll take your advice regarding a handyman, however. Thank you.

In the process of upgrading my tool shed to a shop, I discovered that rock wool (Roxul is one brand name) is MUCH easier/faster than traditional fiberglass batts for the walls. It also has a better R factor for a given thickness.

The advantage is that it's a "friction" fit: Stuff it between the studs and it stays there.

Of course, it's also more expensive but in my case it was the only option for 2x4 on 24" center walls.

Did you use a vapor barrier, Paul?

Sounds like a cool house and interesting project. Pics are always welcome.

Have you given any thought to walling off an area that you would heat in the winter? 30x60 is a lot of space to keep warm if you don't need it all.

Hi Dan !
Sounds like all is well with you. I know you've seen it - so my shop has T-111 exterior over Tyvek. Insulation is 6" fiberglass and the walls are 5/8" OSB painted white. It was framed with 2"x6" - 16" On-center. I have been very happy with it.
The Roxul looks like a very good product too - I probably would have used it if it was an option at the time. You shouldn't have to remove the garage doors to do this work.
Are you back in NH ?

I'm doing the exact same thing right now, finishing a detached garage that the previous owner built. I'm using kraft-faced fiberglass insulation. I would think you'd want a vapor barrier if you will be heating the space with propane. Propane puts out a lot of moisture.

My shop also has a garage door. I was able to hang the ceiling around the opener without removing it. If your ceiling is the bottom of your roof trusses, are they on 24" centers? If so, you probably want to hang 5/8 X board to avoid sagging. I noticed that USG advertises a ceiling rated board in 1/2" that supposedly resists sagging on 24" centers. I used 1/2", but I insulated with R13 batts between the joists, and I will later be adding R30 batts across the rafter joists. If I were going to blow in insulation, I'd probably have just gone with 5/8. If you are going to do the ceiling yourself, buy or rent a wallboard jack.

As soon as I type this I'm heading out to hang some more wallboard. Oh, one last thing. This type of project is waaaaaaay easier if you haven't already started using the space and filling it up with your tools.

quote:

Originally posted by Dan:
...The purpose of this thread is to solicit advice regarding insulation and putting up sheetrock. Note that this garage is not being converted into living space, but rather a place that one can stand to work on a car or workout in through the winter.

What about OSB for the walls rather than sheet rock? That's what I used in mine for the reasons it can take a beating and it's easy to securely fasten things anywhere on the walls. If you go with drywall I'd recommend 5/8". Under either I would probably first attach foam board to the studs as a thermal barrier and moisture barrier.

Sigcrazy mentioned the propane and moisture, is your propane heater a sealed combustion vented unit, like a furnace? If it's just a regular propane heater he's right it'll contribute a lot of moisture which is the last thing I'd want in my garage.

quote:

Originally posted by ridewv:

quote:

Originally posted by Dan:
...The purpose of this thread is to solicit advice regarding insulation and putting up sheetrock. Note that this garage is not being converted into living space, but rather a place that one can stand to work on a car or workout in through the winter.

What about OSB for the walls rather than sheet rock? That's what I used in mine for the reasons it can take a beating and it's easy to securely fasten things anywhere on the walls. If you go with drywall I'd recommend 5/8". Under either I would probably first attach foam board to the studs as a thermal barrier and moisture barrier.

The reason I went with gypsum wallboard is because I wanted the fire resistance. I had a house burn once (rental). The rooms with paneled wood walls and no gypsum burned into the structure. The adjacent room that had 1/2" drywall took the fire really well. It looked like you could have pulled off the sheetrock and just put up new. Gypsum board is an impressive fire barrier. I think if I want wood walls, I'll hang wood sheeting over my wallboard walls.

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:

quote:

Originally posted by ridewv:

quote:

Originally posted by Dan:
...The purpose of this thread is to solicit advice regarding insulation and putting up sheetrock. Note that this garage is not being converted into living space, but rather a place that one can stand to work on a car or workout in through the winter.

What about OSB for the walls rather than sheet rock? That's what I used in mine for the reasons it can take a beating and it's easy to securely fasten things anywhere on the walls. If you go with drywall I'd recommend 5/8". Under either I would probably first attach foam board to the studs as a thermal barrier and moisture barrier.

The reason I went with gypsum wallboard is because I wanted the fire resistance. I had a house burn once (rental). The rooms with paneled wood walls and no gypsum burned into the structure. The adjacent room that had 1/2" drywall took the fire really well. It looked like you could have pulled off the sheetrock and just put up new. Gypsum board is an impressive fire barrier. I think if I want wood walls, I'll hang wood sheeting over my wallboard walls.

I’d think the reverse, wood under sheetrock. Seen that done, put a shelf anywhere with good support.

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
...The reason I went with gypsum wallboard is because I wanted the fire resistance... I think if I want wood walls, I'll hang wood sheeting over my wallboard walls.

I think I'd do as SigJacket suggests if doing both, 1/2" drywall over 5/8" OSB.

quote:

Originally posted by Dan:
Did you use a vapor barrier, Paul?

No. Not sure if I should have or not, but too late to worry about it now.

I think I'll be okay as I don't intend to heat it much over 50° anyway. Just enough to be comfy to work in.

Also, I'll be heating with oil-fired forced hot air, so added moisture won't be a problem.

quote:

Hi Dan !
Sounds like all is well with you.
Are you back in NH ?

Hi Scott. What has it been? 6 years? Longer? I've been back in NH since the beginning of the year and am happy. Work is going well, starting a couple ventures, just not shooting much (but who is?).

Gene, one of my friends asked me the same, and there's plenty of logic in it. but I'm going to accept the inefficiency of heating a large area for an hour here or there versus breaking up this glorious space.

Sigcrazy and friends, the propane heater will be directly vented out the building. The gas company recommended a Modine MD125AS01-21 - 125,000 BTU. I think 5/8" fire rated sheetrock is required for the ceiling as there is a space above it that could conceivably be converted into a living quarters.

I'll keep this thread alive and put of pics as it progresses. I'll start new threads for other projects.

Thanks for the help. Happy to receive other recommendations.

-Daniel

What about sprayfoam insulation ?

If you're looking for the strength of OSB along with the fire protection of sheet rock, they do make a fire rated OSB product.

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Originally posted by a1abdj:
If you're looking for the strength of OSB along with the fire protection of sheet rock, they do make a fire rated OSB product.

That's good to know and probably a good idea. Mine's not nor did I add a layer of drywall, but the wood wall finish is really not a concern for me given the whole structure is made of wood anyway (other than Hardi on the outside) and it's away from the house. I was on somewhat of a budget when it was built but I did have it insulated with fiberglass, 3 1/2" in the walls and 10" above the ceiling. I now wish I'd have insulated the slab.

Anywhere where there are building codes you probably couldn't use wood as a finish wall without drywall under or over it but here there are no permits nor codes which must be followed. I don't do welding or have open flame inside and the heater is electric up near the ceiling. There's really more to be concerned with than wood walls, trim, etc because inside are up to (6) 5 gallon containers of gasoline and two of diesel, along with a tractor, log splitter, and 2 SxS's with gasoline in them. Plus at any one time 1-6 5 gallon cans full of used oil. LOL if a fire would somehow start, the OSB on walls would be the least of my worry.

Take down the doors & rails.
Do it right, do it once & never have to concern yourself with it again.
Love having it fully insulated as I can work comfortably in winter in shirt sleeves.
The cabinets are filled with food stuffs and jars my wife canned.
Never lost anything to freeze. Have a remote temperature sensor out there to keep an eye on the temps.

Oh…& stomp the ceiling before you put up the crown molding.
I know I know a garage is just a garage.
But it doesn’t have to be “just” a garage! LoL

quote:

Do it right, do it once & never have to concern yourself with it again.

Always sound advice no matter the task