Need help with garage-shop set up.

[John M. Cioffi]

Happy holiday to all;ESPECIALLY to all our wonderful Veterans!

Finally,after 8yrs.of saving;my wife & I are purchasing our 1st home. There is a 20x20 detached garage that I was given,by LOML, for my new shop.It has sheetrock walls & a poured cement floor,with two slide up doors.Typical old style garage.
My intentions were to remove the sheetrock walls;install kraft paper insulation;install a vapor barrier & cover with cdx or some type of plywood.(Costs need to stay minimal).
Is this a proper way to go? If so,will this method keep the cold in? Will that ruin/warp the wood? What kind of options do I have for heating? Also what can be done about the garage doors? Could they be insulated somehow?

Opt.#2/ Should I do nothing to it.

I would like to use it all yr. round,if possible,but cost is a factor.

I also was thinking of cutting in a side door.The garage is vinal sided.Any problems with doing that?

Sorry for all the questions. I thought I'd relate all thoughts 1st.
Thanks for your help. It is greatly needed & appreciated.

John

[Jim Becker]

If you have no plans on using the space like a garages, than also consider replacing the slide-up garage doors with double outward opening hinged units. You can see an example of those I have on my shop in the picture below. The advantages of these doors is that they do not block space or lighting in the shop when open, yet you still have wonderful access for larger items...like those new tools you'll be buying at some point...

In this configuration, you need to specify security hinges as the pins are on the outside. These hinges do not come apart. I use a dead bolt in the center to secure the doors and have the top and bottoms pinned with sliding latches for additional security top and bottom. The Low-E glass provides great light, too. Lastly, these doors are insulated much better than any "garage" type door typically installed in a garage. That's nice in the colder (and hotter) months.

My cost from a local lumber yard was under $500 for each unit. That's more than a garage type door, but worth the investment in the long term, IMHO.

I also agree with your idea of a normal entry door for easy access to the shop without opening the larger doors. That helps maintain security as well as heating/cooling concerns.

[Dan McLaughlin]

John - I'm in somewhat the same situation as you are. I have a large 1.5 car detached garage that is partially sheet rocked and insulated. Living in South Jersey, it is usually too cold to work in the winter without some heat (I haven't resolved that issue yet). The moisture issue is also a problem but Top Coat seems to take care of that for the big tools and the circular saw etc, winter in the house. I need to replace the garage doors soon (they are probably original to the garage) and Jim's suggestion has some possibilities.

[Von Bickley]

John,

Congratulations on your new house and shop. You definitely want to fix your shop for year-round use. Lots of different types of heat to choose from, gas, electric, wood, to name a few. Here in SC, I can take care of my heating with one 4000 watt elec. heater and a small 1500 watt portable. That works for me.
I like Jim's idea about the doors. I have one roll-up garage door and when I put it up, it blocks one of my lights, and I put it up everytime I work in the shop except during very cold weather.
Also check out your electrical supply to the shop. Is it large enough? If you are taking down the sheetrock, now is the time to up-date the electrical system if needed.

Again, congratulations on your new shop. Maybe you can post some pictures, before and after.

[Jim Becker]

Dan, I ordered my doors through Doylestown Lumber. Your local full-service lumber yard in your area of New Jersey should be able to get you the same or similar doors. The home centers are a waste of time on this and actually cost more for the same type of units since they are special order. My doors are 6' units (two 36" doors in each) and "normal" height. They frame into a regular garage door opening really easily.

[Tom Sweeney]

I would definately consider at least framing in a 36" entry door on the side. For a dedicated Shop Jim's idea is probably even better. I use 1/2 a detached 2 car garage & just having roll up doors is definately a drawback. From the lack of insulation & light to having water drip on my tablesaw if I open the door in the rain - it's a real problem.

Do you have to take down the sheetrock? It might not be an ideal material for a shop but if it's there & insulated why spend the time & money to remove it & put something else up? You could blow in insulation if there is none this can be done easily & reasonably.

[John M. Cioffi]

The door idea is fantastic;except for the cash flow.Certain things have to be done 1st,like the elec.in the house & run out to the garage(220 service).
I need to know whether to leave the walls alone or insulate & apply plywood.Someone told me that the insulation/plywood holds in the cold.Will that prevent proper use of the shop in cold weather? or not insulating & change the sheetrock(old stuff) to ply.?Which way will be better for heating purposes in cold weather,so I can work on projects all yr.?

I would like to install ply.so I can hang things on the walls.
Thanks for all your answers & solutions.My wife likes to door idea.
She does think it will hurt the re-sale-ability of the house,though???

[Ken Garlock]

Hi John.

The person who told you that plywood holds in the cold didn't stop to think that it will equally hold in the heat. The flow of heat is determined by the difference in temperatures. The rate at which the heat flows in an attempt to equalized inside outside temps is determined by the insulating quality of the wall. I hope this makes sense.... The long and short of it is, go ahead and insulate the walls and put up your plywood. When you put up the plywood, caulk the edges where they meet each-other, sill plate, and top plate. You want to stop drafts as much as you can while you are working the wall. While you are at it, get some insulated windows.

If you can't replace/remove the garage doors at this time, get some garage door insulating panels for the inside of the doors. Once you have your entryway door installed, go around the edges of the garage doors with the aluminum duct tape to seal the cracks.

Your main goal in insulating the garage is to determine every spot where the air can leak in, and seal it up. Once that is done, then you can consider where you will need ventilation.

One last thing, all your work on the wall is just an exercise if you don't have a well insulated ceiling.

[Phil Phelps]

...the home centers rent a blower for the insulation. Sometimes they let use it free when you buy the insulation. You cut about a 2" hole in the drywall and blow the product in. Easier, and cheaper, than tearing it out. And, it's easy to plug. It's done all the time. Check it out.

[Tom Sweeney]

& store them away.

>>>My wife likes to door idea.
She does think it will hurt the re-sale-ability of the house,though???<<<

If you do sell the house take the doors off & reinstall the garage doors.

Builders do this all the time on their sample homes around here. they use the garage of the sample for the site sales center. They put in french doors that fit in the garage door frame & then when they sell the sample they take out the french doors & install the garage doors.

Electric definately comes first - I had to wait 6 months to start WW'ing till I saved up to run the electric service.

I think I would blow in insulation behind the existing walls - run the electric outside the drywall & run horizontal nailing 1X4''s to hang stuff on - save the money for important stuff - like tools

[John M. Cioffi]

Thank you all for your kind responses.
My intentions are to strip the walls;install the insulation & plywood;cut in the side door;insulate the ceiling & install the elec.
Hopefully,I will figure out some sort of heating for the cold weather.In the future,I'd like to also install some awning windows.
I will try to show some pics;but move-in is set for the end of July.I am hoping to be in sooner.

John

[Tom Gattiker]

John
As others have mentioned this but you can save a lot of time and money by not ripping off the sheet rock if you can blow in insulation. Keeping the sheet rock is not a bad thing. Periodically there is a big "what's the best wall material" debate, and there are a fair amount of folks who argue that sheetrock is the best (for fire resistance and sound transmission reasons). You can use wood battens or pegboards over the sheetrock for hanging stuff. You can use wood, or plastic maybe, conduit to run your outlets on top of the existing sheetrock as well.
Tom

[Jim Izat]

Hey John,

You never did say if you were going to have to do some wiring in your new shop. If so, you'll probably need to remove the sheetrock to do that anyway. Wire it, insulate it, cover it up. Sheetrock's fine for walls in a shop. I've had in my last two with no serious issues. It's cheaper and easily repairable if need be. I second the blown in in the attic. Cellulose doesn't cost much, and with the free blower total expense is very low. Cut in a window, add a used A/C heater and bob's your uncle!

Jim

[Scott Coffelt]

I use an electric heater in my shop and it keeps it fairly warm. You could add a ceiling fan for the summer. Open the doors that will help, unless you install a window AC unit.

Think of dust collection, if you capture the dust at the source then there will be no concerns with the heater and dust. If on a very cold day, you can get you a karosine heater to fire up first thing (crack the door to allow fumes to leave). Once it is to a likeable temperature, you can use the electric space heater to keep it warm.

Flooring, cement keeps things cold. You might want to think about rubber mats or something or something to insulate the floor.

Another option is to put in a false floor with plywood and some insulation under the ply.

[Rob Russell]

Originally posted by Scott Coffelt
If on a very cold day, you can get you a karosine heater to fire up first thing (crack the door to allow fumes to leave). Once it is to a likeable temperature, you can use the electric space heater to keep it warm.

One thing to be really careful of is condensation on cold machines. Kerosene and propane heaters put out moisture as a by product of combustion. If you add a moisture source to a shop full of cold machinery, you risk condensation forming on all that cold iron.

If your intent is to have "on demand" heating, I'd say you need to either go with electric or some sort of sealed system w/ a blower. Otherwise, you need to keep the garage warm enough so you won't get condensation.

Rob