A metal garage is the easiest way to hide a car from bad weather and intruders. Naturally, it is necessary to make it warm in order to make it comfortable to stay in the "stall" of your favorite vehicle. How to insulate an ordinary metal unheated garage? Now it is customary to carry out insulation with classical materials. Although the construction market is ready to offer a lot of new products that have excellent characteristics in terms of thermal insulation. Therefore, the problem of insulating a metal garage is easy to solve. But how to do it correctly, how to carry out insulation - we will analyze in more detail.
Materials (edit)
Advanced motorists who decide to insulate the garage with their own hands prefer to use the following insulator options as material:
- Polyurethane foam. Special equipment is required to apply polyurethane foam to the surface. However, only such material allows for a really high-quality insulation, and for many decades. This is the best way to get things done.
- Penoizol. This is the name of liquid foam. It is also durable, it is not afraid of moisture, high temperature.
- Astratek. Another liquid heat insulator applied by a brush. A millimeter layer of Astratek retains as much heat as thick mineral wool. Disadvantage: high consumption (about half a liter per square meter of metal).
Each of the listed materials for garage insulation is quite effective, but usually the owner of the car is forced to abandon it due to its high cost. Therefore, much more often a metal garage is insulated using the most affordable material, namely, foam.
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Insulation of the walls of a metal garage
Consider how to insulate a metal garage from the inside, and completely with your own hands. All work is required to be performed according to a certain scheme. First, it is necessary to make a frame, inside which the insulator slabs will then be laid.
To begin with, you should take care of the availability of a certain tool. It is impossible to do in such a matter as insulating your own garage, without a drill, screwdriver, hacksaw, grinder. When everything is collected that is necessary, you can start the process of warming.
First, you need to mount the frame from the guides and profile, using the material that is taken for the manufacture of plasterboard partitions. The guides are fastened with dowels, and the profile is fixed to them with special hangers.
After the garage insulation, it is not necessary to use drywall for cladding thermal insulation; asbestos fiber is also suitable for this purpose. The material perfectly resists fire, but is fragile. Because of this, the distance between the posts is required to be slightly less.
After completing the installation of the frame, insulation should be placed between the racks. We recommend using a classic heat insulator - glass wool or mineral wool slabs. This material retains heat well, it is non-flammable. But the cheaper option - polystyrene, refers to flammable substances that release toxic components when ignited. If the step between the posts is made across the width of the mineral slabs, their installation will be simple and will not require additional adjustment. The final stage of insulation is the fixing of the vapor barrier material with tape and the installation of the cladding.
The cheapest material that allows you to insulate the walls of a metal garage from the inside is foam.Before using glue to fix this material, it is necessary to thoroughly clean the inner surfaces of the building from rust and the slightest dirt, then by all means degrease the metal. So the mount will be of better quality. When the foam sheets are already glued, it is advisable to blow out the gaps between them from a can of polyurethane foam. Then you can close the insulation layer with any finishing material.
Materials and methods for insulating a garage
How to insulate a metal garage with your own hands and what materials are better to use - we will give several ways to solve the problem:
- If the gap between the boxes and the funds allows, the best option is insulation from the outside with lining the walls with blocks of foam concrete or simple bricks. This is a more costly option, you will have to purchase expensive blocks, fill in an additional foundation, spend time on laying and make a new roof structure. But the advantages of such a solution fully cover the costs, if, of course, boxing is legal. The room will be comfortable in summer and winter, especially if you make a layer of thermal insulation between the walls. It turns out the effect of a thermos. It will no longer be a shabby metal garage, but a capital structure.
- It is recommended to insulate a metal garage from the inside with inexpensive mineral wool slabs. Basalt fiber does not burn, has high performance in terms of thermal insulation. But you will need to make a frequent lattice of wooden bars on all the details of the room to fix the plates between it, then you will have to spend money on buying chipboard or other durable material for covering surfaces. In terms of heat saving, this material is inferior to analogs. The main disadvantage of min. cotton wool - material flowability and adverse effects on humans. Therefore, if you plan to use the box for work, the use of this insulation is strictly prohibited.
- Modern material expanded polystyrene will allow you to quickly and easily perform a layer of rapidly solidifying foam on the walls and ceiling, which is not inferior in terms of thermal insulation to any material. You do not need to use the cladding, the foam hardens and the even layer is easy to paint. But for work, you will need to purchase or rent an expensive tool and equipment. The price of foam will also require certain costs. Therefore, the use of such material in the garage is not cost-effective. Expanded polystyrene is used mainly for the insulation of private households or garden houses. In these places, a layer of foam is applied from the outside and then covered with finishing boards or materials.
- Probably the most democratic and demanded method of sheathing walls and ceilings using a foam sheet. For fastening, you do not need to create rows of lathing, the insulation is easily glued to the metal using simple foam or construction glue. According to its characteristics, the material is preferable to mineral wool, and at a price it is preferable to all other finishing options.
Let us analyze in detail how to insulate a metal garage from the inside with our own hands using a democratic option.
Insulation of the gate of a metal garage
Having decided to make the insulation of a metal garage of high quality, you should make sure that the gates do not let cold into the room either. Experienced motorists recommend making an entrance door in the gate leaf, then you don't have to open them completely at the entrance. In addition, a special curtain should be arranged from the inside in front of the gate to prevent heat leakage from the room.
An excellent material for organizing the task at hand is transparent plastic or plastic wrap (always thick). Having cut the selected version of the protective curtain into long strips, they are attached with a stapler to a wooden rail fixed above the gate from the inside.Each fixed strip must find one and a half centimeters on its neighbor, then when the car leaves, they will deflect and then return back, preventing heat from escaping.
However, the curtain alone is not enough; the door leaf itself must also be insulated with a protective material. Typically, foam is used for this purpose, which can be fixed to the metal using glue.
You can sheathe polystyrene outside with anything:
- clapboard;
- plywood;
- Fiberboard;
- plastic.
To prevent the penetration of cold through the gaps around the perimeter of the gate, use a rubber seal. So that condensation does not appear subsequently, it is advisable to treat the metal at the place where the rubber is glued with any anti-corrosion compound.
Types of heaters for a metal garage
One of the important tasks when performing garage insulation is the choice of a suitable material. Experts recommend using the following types of insulation:
- liquid;
- foamy;
- slabs of medium and high strength;
- fibrous soft boards.
Liquid insulation
Liquid insulation materials are mastics that are applied in a thin layer to the surface using ordinary brushes. After drying, they form a durable elastic layer, which has excellent anti-corrosion properties, water resistance, increased adhesion to various metals. Thermal conductivity coefficient 0.0012 W / mK.
Liquid insulation
In terms of efficiency, such coatings with a thickness of 1 mm are not inferior to 50 cm of mineral wool plate heaters. At the same time, thermal conductivity decreases with the application of each subsequent layer, due to which it is not a problem to achieve the required performance.
Average liquid consumption is no more than 0.5 liters per square meter. Despite the high cost, this method of insulation is economical, since the use of additional materials or special equipment is not required.
The main advantages of liquid insulation are:
- ease of application on surfaces of any complexity;
- simplicity in operation;
- long service life;
- maintaining the tightness of the layer during multiple thermal expansion of the metal;
- the useful volume of the garage is not lost;
- no finishing layer is required.
Foam insulation
Insulating a metal garage from the inside with a foamy material is very difficult, since it requires the use of special equipment, personal protective equipment, and experience in carrying out such work. It consists in applying polyurethane foam to the prepared surface, which, when in contact with air, hardens and forms a sealed layer.
This material has high adhesion to metal, so it easily fits onto surfaces with any geometry. It is able to increase the strength and rigidity of the structure even with a layer thickness of 30-40 mm. In terms of efficiency, it is slightly better than mineral wool insulation - for comparison, 40 mm of polyurethane foam correspond to 50 mm of mineral wool in terms of thermal conductivity.
Foam insulation
Installation requires the installation of a batten and mandatory outer cladding. No waterproofing layers are required. The loads on the supporting structures are minimal.
Insulation boards of various strengths
Heaters with different strengths include foam and polystyrene plates. They have different densities, due to which it is not particularly difficult to choose the optimal insulation in terms of weight and thickness.
Insulation of an iron garage with polystyrene or polystyrene foam is performed on a flat and solid surface, free from chemically active substances and dirt. Fastening is carried out on a glue base or on liquid nails. Sometimes foil is used simultaneously with foam in order to reduce heat losses.
Penoplex is one of the possible heaters for a metal garage
The advantages of the materials are high moisture resistance and a minimum coefficient of thermal conductivity. The service life is over 50 years.
Fibrous materials
Mineral wool boards or rolls are used as fibrous materials. They can be easily installed even on uneven surfaces, resistant to biological and chemical influences, and have high tensile strength.
Do-it-yourself insulation of an iron garage with mineral wool requires the mandatory installation of guides, which will allow not only to strengthen the walls, but also to create a basis for sheathing with wood or plywood sheets. In this case, it is necessary to find the best option for the thickness of the material, since the useful area of the room is lost.
The benefits of using fiber boards are:
- excellent level of sound insulation;
- increased fire safety;
- ease of styling.
The disadvantage of mineral wool is its hygroscopicity - as a result of the accumulation of moisture, it loses its insulating properties.
Insulation of the ceiling in a metal garage
Solving the problem of how to insulate an iron garage, you should definitely take care of the thermal insulation of the ceiling. It needs to be insulated not only from the inside, but also from the outside. Only then will it be possible to obtain the desired effect. If the outside of a metal garage is traditionally insulated with paint, then there are several ways to work from the inside:
- multi-layer painting of the ceiling with a heat-insulating agent;
- spraying a liquid heat insulator;
- the use of mineral wool or expanded polystyrene plates.
Having chosen the latter option, as the cheapest, the slabs should be fixed with bitumen mastic. When using expanded polystyrene, you will additionally have to treat the seams with some kind of sealant. When using mineral wool, remember that it absorbs moisture, so you need to protect its layer with waterproofing.
With a roof rafter system, its insulation depends entirely on the design. When there is sufficient clearance between the rafters, the insulator plates should be mounted between them and the waterproofing secured from above. It is advisable to perform such work at the construction stage - it is easier and better to insulate the room this way.
If the step between the rafters is small, you should lay insulation under them. When there is an attic, it is most practical to fill it with expanded clay, and then lay a waterproofing material on top. The final stage of such insulation is the filling of a cement screed. However, high-quality thermal insulation of the interior will not be achieved by this - it is also necessary to carry out internal work. It all depends only on the material that will be used:
- Foil-clad polyethylene should be fixed with slats directly to the ceiling. Such material perfectly repels moisture. To get the maximum effect, plywood or fiberboard must be nailed over the slats.
- Mineral wool. First, it is necessary to glue the waterproofing to the ceiling, then mount the crate. In its intervals, lay mineral wool slabs, protect them with a vapor barrier film and sheathe them with cladding.
- Expanded polystyrene. Glue the tiles to the ceiling using tile adhesive. To improve thermal insulation, it is recommended to pre-glue a waterproofing sheet to the ceiling.
Floor insulation
Basically, we have sorted out the question of how to insulate a metal garage. It remains to consider additional options for protection from the cold. It will help to improve thermal insulation floor insulation. Since its surface is usually made of metal or concrete, we will consider options for warming these materials.
The most affordable now is to insulate the floor with foam:
- First, you need to carefully level the surface, then clean it up, removing all cavities or cracks with a putty.
- For concrete covering, it must first be primed twice.
- If there is a pit or cellar in the garage, waterproofing is required.
- Apply glue with a notched trowel directly to the floor as well as to the styrofoam, lay the slab and press down firmly.
- It is allowed to use special dowels, but then you will have to drill the floor.
- The floor insulation is completed with a screed. Additional strength will be provided by the addition of extruded granules to the solution.
Insulation of the garage cellar
If there is a cellar or a viewing hole, they also need to be carefully insulated.
Cellar ceiling
Before insulating the cellar ceiling, mount a waterproofing layer on it. Then you can already glue the foam to the ceiling. Liquid filler is ideal for insulation, although it is much more expensive to use.
Cellar walls
The material for wall insulation must be mold-resistant and moisture-proof. The best option is expanded polystyrene. Its slabs should be fixed to the lathing or directly to the walls. When performing insulation work, do not forget about wiring. It is required to lay it in a metal sleeve or fasten the box.
Cellar floor
Since the floor in the garage cellar is usually unpaved, it is better to fill it with bitumen. First, crushed stone should be poured, then sand, everything should be tamped and poured with bitumen on top. If the floor is reinforced concrete, it is better to cover it with roofing material over the sawdust, and then fill it with a cement screed on top.
Step-by-step instructions for insulating a metal garage
In order to reliably insulate a room, it is necessary to protect not only the walls, but also the floor, ceiling and gates.
Ceiling insulation
It is better to insulate the ceiling with foam.
- If the ceiling is wooden, then the material can be fixed with nails. If the top is concrete, then it is necessary to make a preliminary frame, in which the foam is fixed. In this case, the material can be fixed with electrical tape, and then covered with plywood or clapboard.
- All joints and gaps must be sealed with polyurethane foam.
- The surface must be impregnated with antiseptics, cleaned and painted.
Wall insulation
Mineral wool insulation instructions
- Make a frame.
- Mineral wool is placed in it and fixed with special clamps.
- From above, the insulation is covered with a vapor barrier material.
- They make decorative trim.
