Cheapest workshop insulation and interior walls?

I'm tired of freezing in the winter! 20'x14' concrete floor.

Thinking "pink" insulation with decent R value and 7/16 OBS.

Any other cheap ideas? Gotta do the roof rafters to or put a ceiling up but don't want to lose the storage up there...

find a piece of 20x14 carpet...

When I moved into my Pocono house... the bedroom carpet was horrible green color... my wife hated it, so I pulled it up and laid it in my garage... floors were MUCH warmer... and easier to work on

A rubber mat, an insulated vest (or better yet, an insulated jumpsuit), and a small wood burning stove.

Seriously, worked for me for decades.

For the floor, yeah, mats, old carpet, whatever you can find. I got some interlocking tiles of foam type stuff at Costco, I lay a couple of those down anywhere I have to be on the floor.

For the walls/ceiling, I don't think there's anything cheaper than pink fiberglass.

I've heard recently, and it was news to me, that fiberglass batt insulation is crap. I would look into mineral wool batt for walls. Its not going to help to do walls if you don't put in a ceiling though. I guess you could put batt insualtion beween the rafters if you didn't want to put in a ceiling. Of course spray foam is the shizzle, but costly.

spitfirebill wrote: I've heard recently, and it was news to me, that fiberglass batt insulation is crap.

how so? it works. its better than nothing.

There are better (and more expensive) kinds of insulation, but fiberglass will be fine. Sheetrock is probably less expensive than OSB, but I haven't priced either one for a long time. You do want to insulate the ceiling, as that's where you get the most heat loss.

You want carpet tile, not one big piece.

Cheapest? Refrigerator boxes. Just kick that bum thats living in it to the curb.

spitfirebill wrote: I've heard recently, and it was news to me, that fiberglass batt insulation is crap. I would look into mineral wool batt for walls. Its not going to help to do walls if you don't put in a ceiling though. I guess you could put batt insualtion beween the rafters if you didn't want to put in a ceiling. Of course spray foam is the shizzle, but costly.

Given that it's been the main insulation in pretty much every house built for the last 50+ years, I don't know that I'd call it "crap". It has it's pluses and minuses, like anything else. I know it's not very effective if you compress it too much or get it wet, and it can be hard to work with, but it is cheap and effective.

Sorry, the floors are covered with stable mats.

I need the walls insulated to keep in the space heater heat.

Trying to get the place to be 50 degrees when its 30 degrees outside.

We told Sheetrock will mold up pretty bad.

This thread is relavent to my interests. I'm also not a fan of Sheetrock in garages and have been wondering about alternatives.

Tom_Spangler wrote:

spitfirebill wrote: I've heard recently, and it was news to me, that fiberglass batt insulation is crap. I would look into mineral wool batt for walls. Its not going to help to do walls if you don't put in a ceiling though. I guess you could put batt insualtion beween the rafters if you didn't want to put in a ceiling. Of course spray foam is the shizzle, but costly.

Given that it's been the main insulation in pretty much every house built for the last 50+ years, I don't know that I'd call it "crap". It has it's pluses and minuses, like anything else. I know it's not very effective if you compress it too much or get it wet, and it can be hard to work with, but it is cheap and effective.

Of course its better than nothing. I think they are referring to air intrusion where the bat doesn't fill the space very well. The place it was really poo pooed was below a floor. I think its more of an installation problem.

If you can afford long term thinking, spray foam insulation is the only answer. I keep the shop at about 10C all winter and kick the infrared tube heater on when I go in. Half an hour later you are down to shirt sleeves and the heat is turned back to 10. Stays good for the rest of the session.

I doubt that I use up $200 to warm the shop for the winter.

The reason it is so efficient is that it seal all the air leaks.

As a bonus, it seals in noise so you can work at night and not bother the neighbors.

Ceiling is more important than walls for heat retention (it goes up after all). Anything that prevents easy air movement will help keep heat in. If you're concerned about storage space, build a door in the ceiling out of wood. Drywalling ceilings isn't fun, but it's way cheaper than plywood alternatives, and since it's a light color it helps make the space seem lighter.

I'm just finishing up turning my garage from open frame to fully finished with wiring (power and sound) fiberglass insulation and drywall. It has been a process.

My 24x25 stickbuilt shop has fiber insulation in the walls and the ceiling. Both are decked with 7/16 OSB (Currently just under $8 for 4x8 locally). I stays warm enough with a couple small electric heaters in the winter, and 2 window AC units can cool it to comfortable temps when it's 100 degrees outside, but it does take some time. For reference it's 8' ceiling height, 2 standard doors with 1" gaps underneath and bad seals, 1-8' garage door and 1-16' garage door, both paneled with cheap foam insul board.

I haven't done insulation in about 12 years 

are there any new technology ? 
 

I will do drywall starting Monday for the roof of my sunroom. 
 

spray insulation ? The pink fluffy ones? Any recommendations ? 
 

thanks !! 
 

In reply to ebonyandivory :

Cheap as to lifetime cost or cheap as to install cost? 

Tom_Spangler said:

spitfirebill wrote: I've heard recently, and it was news to me, that fiberglass batt insulation is crap. I would look into mineral wool batt for walls. Its not going to help to do walls if you don't put in a ceiling though. I guess you could put batt insualtion beween the rafters if you didn't want to put in a ceiling. Of course spray foam is the shizzle, but costly.

Given that it's been the main insulation in pretty much every house built for the last 50+ years, I don't know that I'd call it "crap". It has it's pluses and minuses, like anything else. I know it's not very effective if you compress it too much or get it wet, and it can be hard to work with, but it is cheap and effective.

They make furnace filters from Fiberglas because air flows through it so well.  If air flows through it that means heat flows through it.  
Foam on the other hand doesn't allow air movement at all.  Thus heat travels through foam very slow.  

Want to prove it to yourself?  Get one of those digital thermometers you point to something with the red laser dot and it measures the temp.  

In a house with Fiberglas insulation  the ceiling will be a lot hotter than the floor.  ( even though most heat vents are in or near the floor)).  That's because the air is constantly moving up bringing the heat with it. 
Foam because it seals everything has nearly the same temperature at the ceiling as the floor. 
my ceiling 28 feet above the floor is the same temp as the floor.  
 

foam is best,  cellulose  is better as long as it's dry, but there is a lot of ways it gets wet, damp,  or moist. 
then you're in trouble.

Frenchy, this thread is 4 years old!

I will always agree with you that foam is great, but your science is really far off, and it definitely ain't cheap.

In reply to mr2s2000elise :

I'm having trouble recognizing the scale in your picture... Are those 2x4 rafters, or 2x6?

Spray foam will seal tighest.  It will cost you quite a bit for a job that small, and I really doubt you will get anyone to do it before Monday.  It requires special equipment.

The cheapest and easiest is fiberglass batts.  Vapor barrier down.

There is a really cost effective way to make the performance rival that of spray foam.  Install the batts first, then install a layer of 1/2" DOW board floam on the bottom of it.  Tape the joints tightly with DOW tape, then sheetrock over it- use long screws to go through it and hit the wood.

The fiberglass will give you your R rating, and the DOW board will seal against air infiltration.  On a job that size, it would perform ALMOST identically to spray foam.

NOTE: this only works if your can light trims can be adjusted for the full 1" thickness of the DOW board combined with the drywall.

ALSO IMPORTANT NOTE: If your can lights are not IC rated, you can't insulate tightly against them.  (Insulation Contact).  They will say on the fixture.  If you ignore this, they will cut off frequently, or blow.  On a ceiling that close, you really should be using IC rated cans.  If they are not, I recommend delaying your drywall install a day and swapping them.  If you don't, you will regret it.

Your biggest gain to retain heat would be to add a ceiling and then insulate. You loose most of the heat through the roof. After adding a ceiling and insulation you could create a floor with 1" x 4" or other, leaving an inch between slats that keeps everything dry from humidity and condensation. A heavy duty pull down ladder will give you access to attic for storage. Blown  foam is very efficient in the walls but doesn't lend it self to DIY. Fiberglass batts are cheap and effective. 

If you have the height get a ceiling fan to move the air around.  We put them in the high ceiling shops on the farm and they make a huge difference in even warmth. 

SVreX (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to mr2s2000elise :

I'm having trouble recognizing the scale in your picture... Are those 2x4 rafters, or 2x6?

Spray foam will seal tighest.  It will cost you quite a bit for a job that small, and I really doubt you will get anyone to do it before Monday.  It requires special equipment.

The cheapest and easiest is fiberglass batts.  Vapor barrier down.

There is a really cost effective way to make the performance rival that of spray foam.  Install the batts first, then install a layer of 1/2" DOW board floam on the bottom of it.  Tape the joints tightly with DOW tape, then sheetrock over it- use long screws to go through it and hit the wood.

The fiberglass will give you your R rating, and the DOW board will seal against air infiltration.  On a job that size, it would perform ALMOST identically to spray foam.

NOTE: this only works if your can light trims can be adjusted for the full 1" thickness of the DOW board combined with the drywall.

ALSO IMPORTANT NOTE: If your can lights are not IC rated, you can't insulate tightly against them.  (Insulation Contact).  They will say on the fixture.  If you ignore this, they will cut off frequently, or blow.  On a ceiling that close, you really should be using IC rated cans.  If they are not, I recommend delaying your drywall install a day and swapping them.  If you don't, you will regret it.

The rafters are 2x6. 12 feet in lenght. 10 feet is "indoor" in my sunroom, 2 feet is outside. Appreciate your help as always. 

Per your recommendation, I will go with the vapor barrier down as you mentioned. 

I am looking to do it myself. Not someone to do it for me :) All lights are IC rated. 

Appreciate the info. I need to go look up the fiberglass batts and the dow board and purcahse them monday. 

Hey, I have no skin in the game, but:  I live in Maine and there is a huge controversy on the spray in foam.  I can't remember what college the engineer was from, but there was  some guy on a mission against it.  He said absolutely every single thing people said about it being better than fiberglass was true.  The rub was that it would shrink and pull away over time.  He had some very convincing evidence on it.

Not trying to stir the pot, I'm just interested as I do not have my garage insulated either.  I have one wall that weeps rain if the wind blows just right.  I have to pull off the clapboard and ice and water shield the outside  before I can put insulation in.  I also would love some low cost insulation.  I'm planning to try the ceiling first, but that is a whole other story.