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jeff5may · 11-23-15, 08:10 PM

Well, 99 percent of the insulating is now done. I have to say, for an old detached garage, the place is actually comfortable now. The parts of the building that I sealed up with foam leaked a lot less air than I had imagined they would. The R13 on the inside is doing its job quite well. If the crew who fixed his sagging block wall would have put 2x4 studs facing long side in and out for purlins, I could have put R19 in without some really crazy framing, but the way it is now is worlds apart from just sheet metal.

Repaired wall section before this weekend

Corner section before this weekend

Corner section today

Corner and roof above entry door

The wall sections will be covered over soon. Dude can't make up his mind what to use, but it will be something more durable than drywall. I was on the fence abvout whether or not to tape up all of these seams, and I still kind of am. Dude would not let me install the batts with the vapor barrier facing the polyiso board, he said it just "looked wrong". Taping up the seams would do even more sealing, but it doesn't hardly leak air at all. What do you guys think? Do I tape the seams and make a sandwich with one really tight surface, or just leave it how it is?

Winter finally set in this weekend while I was stapling up the roof batts. We thought the roof might have had a leak, because the boards in one corner were damp when I got up there to insulate. It had been raining pretty hard last week, so we left it alone.

I had been running this for a temporary heat source:

Ghetto Hyper-heater mode

I came back the next day to inspect the area around noon. It had been cloudy and raining that day. When I checked the area, it was bone dry. No loose screws on the roof, no water anywhere. Later that afternoon, I checked again. Original spot was dry, some tar paper sticking through clapboards was trying to get damp. I figured out that the roof was condensing the moisture out of the air as I heated the inside! Boy, what a relief.

Due to the added insulation, the little 5000 btu air conditioner turned backwards actually put a pretty good dent in the cold. Dude walked in after feeding his dogs outside and asked me how the place was warm. Evidently, that had never happened before without a forced air kerosene heater. I think it will take him awhile before he asks why he didn't do this a long time ago... he is still feeling guilty about spending the money on insulation.

11-23-15, 08:10 PM	#15
jeff5may Supreme EcoRenovator Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: elizabethtown, ky, USA Posts: 2,428 Thanks: 431 Thanked 619 Times in 517 Posts	Well, 99 percent of the insulating is now done. I have to say, for an old detached garage, the place is actually comfortable now. The parts of the building that I sealed up with foam leaked a lot less air than I had imagined they would. The R13 on the inside is doing its job quite well. If the crew who fixed his sagging block wall would have put 2x4 studs facing long side in and out for purlins, I could have put R19 in without some really crazy framing, but the way it is now is worlds apart from just sheet metal. Repaired wall section before this weekend Corner section before this weekend Corner section today Corner and roof above entry door The wall sections will be covered over soon. Dude can't make up his mind what to use, but it will be something more durable than drywall. I was on the fence abvout whether or not to tape up all of these seams, and I still kind of am. Dude would not let me install the batts with the vapor barrier facing the polyiso board, he said it just "looked wrong". Taping up the seams would do even more sealing, but it doesn't hardly leak air at all. What do you guys think? Do I tape the seams and make a sandwich with one really tight surface, or just leave it how it is? Winter finally set in this weekend while I was stapling up the roof batts. We thought the roof might have had a leak, because the boards in one corner were damp when I got up there to insulate. It had been raining pretty hard last week, so we left it alone. I had been running this for a temporary heat source: Ghetto Hyper-heater mode I came back the next day to inspect the area around noon. It had been cloudy and raining that day. When I checked the area, it was bone dry. No loose screws on the roof, no water anywhere. Later that afternoon, I checked again. Original spot was dry, some tar paper sticking through clapboards was trying to get damp. I figured out that the roof was condensing the moisture out of the air as I heated the inside! Boy, what a relief. Due to the added insulation, the little 5000 btu air conditioner turned backwards actually put a pretty good dent in the cold. Dude walked in after feeding his dogs outside and asked me how the place was warm. Evidently, that had never happened before without a forced air kerosene heater. I think it will take him awhile before he asks why he didn't do this a long time ago... he is still feeling guilty about spending the money on insulation.