Should I insulate my parents' garage?

[Xist]

More specifically, should I insulate it now?

Recently, I was reading on Mr. Money Moustache, and he mentioned doing this:

For thirty dollars, he bought normal fiberglass insulation and duct-taped the paper backs to the inside of his garage door. Here is a kit that would do the same thing, but perhaps be easier: Owens Corning Garage Door Insulation Kit-GD01 at The Home Depot

However, that is $75.95, and we would need a couple. I know that we are fond of styrofoam and its variations, so I prefer this kit: Insulfoam Garage Door Insulation Kit-8 Ft Garage Door Kit at The Home Depot, which costs less, $57.73, but still much more than MMM said ($25 in one place and $30 in another).

Looking at the picture, it looks like the the insulation is narrower than the panels (going horizontally), so he would have taped in one, cut another in thirds (or so) and taped that in. It would take about three rolls of these: Owens Corning EcoTouch Kraft 3-1/2 in. x 15 in. x 32 ft. R-13 Continuous Roll Insulation-RF10 at The Home Depot

For that price I could purchase 1.5 of these: R-Tech 2 in. x 4 ft. x 8 ft. Foam Insulation-310891 at The Home Depot, which would be about 1/3 of enough.

[nemo]

Air conditioned garage? Insulating the garage door would be one of the lower priorities on my list, assuming it is not a climate controlled area. If higher return items like door seals and attic insulation (living area) are done then go for it. If the door gets direct sunlight it should keep it a lot cooler in the garage.

[Ryland]

Fiberglass is a lousy insulation and duct taping it on to a garage door you'll have it falling off within a year.
Garage doors are also known for being drafty, fiberglass insulation works better as an air filter then as an insulation, so you'll at least have clean cold air coming in to the garage.

Something to try would be a single sheet of 6mil plastic glued to the back side of the garage door, it wold stop drafts, create an air pocket to insulate and it would hold up better then duct tape on paper on a moving door.

Green Hinge System Residential Hinges

would be the other thing I would try, they keep the closed garage door tight to the doors frame when closed.

[Xist]

I could not get that link to load.

Thanks for the input so far, guys. Some people on here seem very duct-tape happy, but I really do not like the stuff, and I certainly was not going to use it on my dad's house.

The Owens Corning kit comes with this stuff, which is definitely more expensive than duct tape. I do not know if it works better, though: Venture Tape 3"x150' White Vinyl Tape 460-K008 - Amazon.com

However, in the kits, the fiberglass is attached using plastic retainers, although one guy said to use Owens Corning Foamular 1/4 in. x 4 ft. x 50 ft. Fanfold-10UM at The Home Depot and Loctite glue to keep the batts in place, but they do not sell that anywhere, nor does Lowe's sell the blue version.

Someone else suggested using pink foamboard to keep it in.

Would the foam insulation work better?

[jeff88]

When doing research for one of my environmental studies classes, I found this: Roxul. It is way more eco-friendly then fiberglass, because they literally use rocks or what they call stone wool. Some of their listed benefits include:

• Easily cut
• Non-combustible
• Excellent sound absorbency
• Does not rot, or sustain vermin
• Does not promote growth of fungi or mildew
• Low moisture sorption
• Chemically inert; non-corrosive
• Water resistant
• CFC - and - HCFC free, product and process
• Made from natural & recycled materials
• Earns LEED® points

Home Depot sells it in some locations: Home Depot Roxul

[Xist]

Originally Posted by jeff88

Home Depot sells it in some locations: Home Depot Roxul

Jeff88, that is very interesting!

I would need to special-order Roxul, ComfortBatt R-15 Unfaced 47 in. x 3 ft. 11 in. Batt Insulation, RXCB351525 at The Home Depot - Mobile, but this would be simpler: Shop Roxul 12-Pack 47-in L x 15-1/4-in W x 3-1/2-in D 15-R Stone Wool Insulation Batts at Lowes.com

Two of those should be enough, although one issue that we have not addressed is putting 3 1/2" insulation on the back of a garage door--all of the kits have 2" insulation!

Since this cuts with a bread knife, I could lay down 2x2s and saw it in half. It may stay in place with tension, but walls are not supposed to move, and you always cover them with drywall or something, so how would I mount this?

I keep thinking "Coroplast!"

Would the vinyl tape that I linked before work better than duct tape?
I am not too worried about getting the exact amount, being just a little short and wasting most of a package for a small area would be frustrating, but one thing that I have not mentioned is that they have a wall and a half without insulation! I imagine that some would argue that I should do that first, and certainly, an insulated wall would do more than an insulated door, but that would be a bigger and more expensive project, especially since I would be covering it with plywood, or perhaps pegboard.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by Xist

Thanks for the input so far, guys. Some people on here seem very duct-tape happy, but I really do not like the stuff, and I certainly was not going to use it on my dad's house.

Use automotive tape, or something like 3M VHB tape.
Won't fall off even in high temps.


Rockwool, unfaced ?
That'll itch ...
At least if it's the nasty kind of stuff I'm thinking it is.

[Xist]

Originally Posted by euromodder

Use automotive tape, or something like 3M VHB tape.
Won't fall off even in high temps.


Rockwool, unfaced ?
That'll itch ...
At least if it's the nasty kind of stuff I'm thinking it is.

Rockwool is supposed to be much better than fiberglass and I bought 3M tape from Home Depot. I cannot find it on-line, but it was their strongest stuff, a two-inch strip was supposed to hold twenty pounds, but my Ultragauge fell off after a couple of days.

Maybe super-strong and temperature-resistant are mutually exclusive.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by Xist

Rockwool is supposed to be much better than fiberglass

It's still nasty stuff to get on your skin - worse if it gets into your lungs.

and I bought 3M tape from Home Depot.
Maybe super-strong and temperature-resistant are mutually exclusive.

If it fell of, it more than likely wasn't VHB tape - though that needs a firm push to really stick.

It's used to glue on trailer sidings instead of riveting etc. and should hold up in extreme heat, even in AZ.

[JRMichler]

Do NOT use EPS foam, such as Foamular, where it is exposed. One spark can ignite it, and it burns like kerosene.

Polyisocyanurate (foil face) insulation is OK. I used polyiso to insulate the garage door for my workshop. Glued it on with construction adhesive.