We live in a 13 year old ranch house with a mother-in-law site in an area under the roof on the 2nd floor. We use the suite for an office and studio. The house was constructed with the washer & dryer in the 1st floor kitchen, with the dryer exhaust being vented into the garage. Tired of vacuuming lint from our cars, I installed a vent line through the only window in the garage, a skinny little 12″w X 24″ tall one which now can not provide any ventillation. ON the window side, the wall is brick and below grade by @ 3′. The opposite wall is indoors, The back wall is opposite the kitchen. The garage faces South West and gets a blast of afternoon Piedmont North Carolina sun on its metal door. The garage used to be warm in the Summer, but with the window being closed, it is now an oven. Over the garage is a storage area. It has some insulation in the floor, R-11 in the wall between the storage & suite, and no insulation in the 2″x8″s holding up the roof.
I’m wondering if I can keep the garage & attic cooler with insulation actions. I’m wondering if I can install insulating foam board in the garage door to get some help. Also, I wonder if insulation of the roof to R-19 would help much. Which would help me most if I can only do one thing? Can I have your thoughts, experience or ideas?
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I insulated the garage door for my shop and it worked fairly well. I cut foam panels to fit into the garage door panels. I covered them with some sort of thin white plastic paneling that I bought at HD and cut to fit. A little bit of spray contact cement holds everything in place just fine. I did have to replace the garage door springs due to the increased weight.
Insulating the roof will help the storage space which will help the garage.
In general, at least.
I installed a vent line through the only window in the garage, a skinny little 12"w X 24" tall one which now can not provide any ventillation.
That's one hell of a dryer vent, 12x24. Or if your dryer is really still only 4" d., why can't you use the rest of the 12x24 to give some ventilation? A tiny muffin fan could easily give you 1 ACH. Here's one for 12 bucks: http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?UID=2005070717221123&item=16-1267&catname=air
Other than that, insulation's just about always a good idea.
PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!