[Shop-talk] Advice on insulating a garage

[Mark Andy]

Howdy,

On Wed, 6 Jan 2010, Jim Stone wrote:
> The bigger problem is what to do about the main area.  I didn't think to 
> specify heavy duty joists and what we got are the typical pre-made ones 
> in use today that are not designed to hold much weight.  Still, I have 
> put a fair amount of stuff up there over the years.  Nothing too heavy 
> and much of it stuff like bumpers that spans multiple joists.  I do have 
> some boxes of parts stored near the walls on both sides, and have 
> strengthened the joists at these points with 2x4 supports to the wall 
> studs.  I am trying to figure out how to maintain access to this stuff 
> (I don't need it all the time, but can't live without it) while still 
> insulating the area. Flooring it and turning it into a walkable storage 
> area is probably (but not definitely) out of the question.  I suppose I 
> could insulate the roof here too, but wouldn't that dramatically 
> increase the heating load?  I am not planning on warming it to a living 
> temperature and was just thinking that a couple off space heaters would 
> make it comfortable enough in all but the coldest weather.  I also have 
> a very large room air conditioner left over from before we installed 
> central air in the house, and would love the prospect of being able to 
> cool it down a bit in the summer.
>
> Does anyone here have any ideas?  Would flooring it be out of the 
> question?  I know that would add a lot of weight, but I also assme it 
> would increase the structural rigidity, so maybe it would be a wash? 
> As always, thanks.

We faced a similar problem with the ceiling over our kitchen area.  It was 
floored for attic storage, and that meant we couldn't put in as much 
insulation as we wanted.

In the end, we decided we wanted the insulation more than the storage, and 
relocated the crap.  Probably half of it didn't pass the "honestly, are 
you going to ever use this again and if so will it be expensive enough / 
new enough that you wouldn't rather just buy a new one?" filter.

I'd look into alternate storage first.  Perhaps a shed?

If not, if your trusses are the typical ones where its a bunch of trianges 
& no particular normal walking floor area, how about building a raised 
walkway, with hooks / shelving built into the trusses, leaving the 'floor' 
clear for insulation?  You're still going to add weight, but it wouldn't 
be as much as a full floor (though of course you get less storage space 
too), so that part would be better.  I would expect the extra weight to 
not really help the structural integrity at all, but then I'm no truss 
designer.

Just some thoughts from another non-expert.

Mark