DIY Garage Workshop Insulation

Helping a friend with a garage work­shop insu­la­tion question.

I’d like to share a little story with you that involves my neighbor Mike who lives through the woods, right behind my house. He’s not your average retired guy as he always has some kind of do-it-yourself project going on. This time he was looking for an effec­tive solu­tion to insu­late his garage workshop.

Just a little back­ground on my friend Mike. He spent 30+ years working as a machinist for the Navy. And Mike wasn’t just any ole machinist, he worked on the nuclear propul­sion systems on Submarines and Carriers. Mike’s also a rough and tumble Alaskan gold miner and can build or repair just about anything.

Well, not to long ago, Mike invites me over to talk with him about coming up with a solu­tion for insu­lating his work­shop doors. He says if we use the 1/4 of a brain we each have, we should be able to come up with a solu­tion. Funny guy.

His metal garage work­shop doors are a pair of 10 ft. wide x 14 ft. tall flat framed 2x4 doors with sheet metal cladding on the exterior.

workshop doors

The doors also bypass each other to open (clear­ance between them is only about 1/4 inch) making it diffi­cult to apply stan­dard insu­la­tion to the doors.

Well, after some discus­sion, I recom­mended using Prodex radiant barrier insu­la­tion on his shop doors. This is an excel­lent insu­la­tion mate­rial I’ve used on another garage door insu­la­tion project.

Roll of Prodex insulation

Since Prodex is only 1/4 in. thick, he simply cut each section of insu­la­tion a bit taller than the space between the 2x4’s. That way, the insu­la­tion could be stapled to the 2x4 framing as well as sili­coned directly to the metal.

Prodex recom­mends creating an air space to increase the effec­tive­ness of the product, but we didn’t have that option due to the extremely small clear­ance between the sliding doors. Having said that, an air space was natu­rally provided by the 50% corru­ga­tion of the metal cladding.

Insulation stapled to 2x4 framing

Notice that foil tape was applied on all insu­la­tion seams.

Foil tape applied to seams

In the end, the shop doors easily open and look great too. Now, not only is Mike using less energy to heat and cool his work­shop but the reflec­tive qual­i­ties have improved his garage work­shop lighting and created a more comfort­able place to work.

Insulated workshop walls

So even if you’re a bril­liant and resourceful guy like Mike, but still have a ques­tion about your project, just ask your personal DIY consul­tant, and I’ll find the answer to help you succeed with speed.

Here’s a link for more infor­ma­tion on Prodex including instal­la­tion instructions.

Work­shop Plans

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Thanks again.
Larry
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DIY Help Category Heating & Air
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