Another shop insulation question

[lrogers]

I want to insulate the door to my shop, i.e. the garage door. My door is a single skin metal door with a small channel, 1 1/2" wide top and bottom, on each panel.

My thought was to use the blue foam insulation glued to the panels. Any thoughts about what glue to use or what alternative? Is the blue stuff a fire hazard like the white foam in the other thread?????

Next step will be to insulate the ceiling. Torn between blow in and pink roll in.
This is going to be a winter project, I'd die up there now! Again, any insite to sway me one way or the other?

[jking]

Would it be possible to skin the back side with sheet metal after putting in the insulation? That would eliminate any gluing & possibly handle any exposed insulation issues. My guess is all the foam type insulation boards are flammable, but, I don't know for sure. I'll definately be watching to see what others have to say on this.

For the ceiling, I think blown in might be a little cheaper, but, to do it "right" you'll need to use a blower. Some places with rent the blower for free when you buy the insulation. Personally, I don't like working with fiberglass insulation just because of the "itch factor". It's one of the few things that bothers me. Another plus for blown in is for an attic space with headroom issues, it might be easier to deal with since you don't have to crawl to every corner of the attic.

[dlminehart]

Look into blown-in cellulose instead of fiberglass. Has a couple advantages: no itch factor, no carcinogenic threat from inhaling millions of small fibers deeply into your lungs (think asbestos and its effects) not just during installation but during use of the space below if not completely sealed off from attic, and better insulation value since it blocks air movement better than fiberglass. Depending on how leaky the ceiling and how well ventilated the attic space, the convective (air movement) losses can be greater than the conductive (heat movement through insulating material itself) ones.

[thrytis]

I want to insulate the door to my shop, i.e. the garage door. My door is a single skin metal door with a small channel, 1 1/2" wide top and bottom, on each panel.

My thought was to use the blue foam insulation glued to the panels. Any thoughts about what glue to use or what alternative? Is the blue stuff a fire hazard like the white foam in the other thread?????

I think my door has similar construction. I used two layers of foam, one layer at 1" and one at 0.5" (i couldn't find 1.5" foam). I was able to flex the foam slightly to slide into the channels and get a tight fit without using any adhesive.

At least for my county, exposed foam insulation is not allowed on the garage door (i checked with the local building inspector on this). The only exposure rated insulation that i've found is Dow Thermax. Getting it may prove difficult though. Someone else in my area had called around trying to locate it, and was only able to find it available for special order, and only ordering an entire container.

I had tried to coat my door with Flame Stop III, but found it was more flammable than uncoated! I contacted Flame Stop and they suggested a double coat of Flame Stop I-DS. They were supposed to send me a sample to test, but they never did. I'm still looking for a solution for a covering. I've been considering aluminum foil held by foil tape, and i probably would have done that already if i could get the 24" wide foil in less than 1000 feet rolls. I'm still looking for suggestions if anyone has them!

[LarryG]

Is the blue stuff a fire hazard like the white foam in the other thread?????

I know of no rigid foam insulation that can be left exposed. The Thermax product that Eric mentions is a composite panel ... a core of rigid foam insulation, faced with aluminum sheet on both sides. The aluminum provides the necessary protection, as well as a finished surface.

I've seen garage doors faced on their interior sides with hardboard (i.e., Masonite). You'd have to ask your local building official whether this is an acceptable covering in your area (my guess, but it's ONLY a guess, is that it should be).

The question on attic insulation requires more information. Do you want the attic space to be conditioned (or semi-conditioned) space, such as for wood storage? Is the roof vented, on non-vented? Stick-built, or trusses? Etc.

[JimD]

You might consider flashing to cover the foam insulation on a garage door. It is not real cheap or real expensive. It comes in long rolls in varying widths, I think I bought 24 inches wide. What I bought was fairly sturdy. I had to cut it and used a circular saw and saw guide. I did it outside because it is noisy and made a bit of a mess.

Jim

[Almightymoonpie]

Next step will be to insulate the ceiling. Torn between blow in and pink roll in.
This is going to be a winter project, I'd die up there now! Again, any insite to sway me one way or the other?

Ahh come on Larry, got to love Mobile's weather this time of the year, nothing like high 90's and 90+RH. Well it beats a big storm I guess.

[bigdaddyjohn]

From my single installation experience with blown in insulation, let me give an astounding NO! I personally will never use that stuff again. First, it was a royal P.I.A. What a mess. Rented the blower, had a helper (f.i.l.) and still had a crappy time doing it.

Second, fire likes to channel underneath that crap, usually way back into the furthest corner of your home/shop. This results in ALL of it being pulled down and spread around your belongings, in efforts to track down any smoldering embers. It's a PIA! I have personal experience searching for the fire and doing the related overhaul afterwards. It sucks.

But it is a little cheaper.

[ironhat]

I've lived in this house for 23 years and when we move in the blow in cellulose was a good 4" above the joists. Now, it's about half of that. The air space collapses over time. I am in the process of adding 8" of glass batts now. YMMV.

[lrogers]

Thanks for your replies, ideas and suggestions. I think I have found the soultion to the garage door and it has been in my face for the last 30 years! In the ship yard, we use a fiberglass product with a facing on it called hull board to insulate the hulls of ships. Easy to apply and I should have no problems with fire ratings (hey, the navy uses this stuff on combatants). Got a friend I'm going to run this by; he's a contractor and should be able to get this stuff for me.

Eric, it does look like we have the same type door. One idea I had was to pop rivet a thin aluminum skin over the foam. It can be had with a baked on finish in many colors and is very light weight. I've helped skin out trailers with this stuff. A local metal shop should be able to get it for you, shear it size and punch holes for the rivets.

Larry, the rafters are all stick built and the attic has ridge vents. I'm , leaning more toward rolling out the pink stuff. I think it would be easier for me to do by myself.

[thrytis]

I had thought about a metal skin, but the only thing i could easily find was roof flashing, which would be too heavy for a door. I guess i need to check out a metal shop and see what is available.

Thanks!