Some advice about what to do which my garage...

[crazy about cars]

I have a detached single garage with concrete floor and single skin brick wall. The garage is attached to another garage on the other side which belong to the neighbours (else it would've made a wonderful double garage...) The roof looks like a normal house roof and currently has no insulation.

I've finally got mains power and some lighting in the garage and plan to use it more frequently. I am not sure where to proceed from here. I won't be parking the car inside and will most probably use it as a workshop/temp office. I would like it to be reasonably warm when heated and also get rid of the occasional damp problems (when it rains)

What is the cheapest way to achieve what I want? I understand I can't over insulate it or condensation will cause more damp. My plans so far is to :
1) Paint the walls - not sure what paint to use yet...
2) Use a special concrete floor paint to paint the floors
3) Semi insulate the roof space by putting up some boards and a roll of wool insulation. I would want access to store/retrieve stuff so not feasible insulating the whole roof.

Do you guys think this will be adequate? I won't be using the garage a lot but will be in there maybe 1-2 hours few days during the weekday and more during weekends so I would like the garage to be a nice place to be during those time. I would also be storing some old stuff in there as my house's attic is not usable so I would like to keep damp out as much as possible.

Any ideas? Really need to do this on a shoe string budget as I've already spent lot on other areas of the house...


I might also try to install some draft excluder to seal any gaps in the garage door.

[matthias73]

You can get insulated wallpaper. This should be perfect. Have it here, and it certainly turned an old victorian buildiing into a warmer place to live.

I don't know the specifics, it came from germany. If you are interested, I'l ask my cousin where it was from.

[GavinPearson]

My recommendation is to wash the walls down and degrease the floor. Paint the walls with white emulsion to seal them and then with white oil based gloss.

Painting the floor with a 2 part epoxy gives a great finish that is incredibly hard wearing. Often the kits will recommend using certain preparation chemicals to etch the concrete and help the epoxy grip. Follow them to the letter.

The ceiling is best dealt with by screwing plywood to it and then insulating above to a comparable standard that you would a home.

The garage door is the area that will result in the most significant heat loss, you can get insulating kits for them, and you can pay a lot of attention to making sure that the gaps around the door are fitted with draught excluders, similar to those you would use on a front door.

All you need is a heater, and you should be able to use the space 365 days a year.

[crazy about cars]

matthias73 said:

You can get insulated wallpaper. This should be perfect. Have it here, and it certainly turned an old victorian buildiing into a warmer place to live.

I don't know the specifics, it came from germany. If you are interested, I'l ask my cousin where it was from.

Thanks for the advice but I have a feeling the wallpaper is going to be expensive :P Any indication of a rough price?

[crazy about cars]

GavinPearson said:

My recommendation is to wash the walls down and degrease the floor. Paint the walls with white emulsion to seal them and then with white oil based gloss.

Painting the floor with a 2 part epoxy gives a great finish that is incredibly hard wearing. Often the kits will recommend using certain preparation chemicals to etch the concrete and help the epoxy grip. Follow them to the letter.

The ceiling is best dealt with by screwing plywood to it and then insulating above to a comparable standard that you would a home.

The garage door is the area that will result in the most significant heat loss, you can get insulating kits for them, and you can pay a lot of attention to making sure that the gaps around the door are fitted with draught excluders, similar to those you would use on a front door.

All you need is a heater, and you should be able to use the space 365 days a year.

Thanks! This is sort of what I have in mind too. I've never seen a 2 part epoxy kit for the floor yet but did see a special paint for concrete floors. My aim is just to keep the dust down. Won't be parking car inside as space is too cramped to do anything anyway after car is in. Will definitely have a read as this is the only bit I am worried about.

[Stugots]

Have done same as regards garage floor. Concrete paint to seal it, then fitted old underlay and carpet we removed from front room!.Propper man cave it was. Although i had to vaccum myself now and then as the missus refused. misserable bint!!

[crazy about cars]

Stugots said:

Have done same as regards garage floor. Concrete paint to seal it, then fitted old underlay and carpet we removed from front room!.Propper man cave it was. Although i had to vaccum myself now and then as the missus refused. misserable bint!!

I was thinking of same idea too as it seems simple enough and I know a place to get bargain carpet! Did you have any damp problems with just concrete paint + underlay? Did you do anything to the garage door (presuming you have the metal one) to further insulate it? I find water gets in the bottom bits sometimes.

[LuS1fer]

White emulsion is probably adequate and will brighten it up. I've used it on an inner skin of breeze blocks and it still looks great. You might consider putting in a breeze block liner or insulating block liner (similar to breeze blocks but softer and denser) on the outer walls to keep the damp out. The floor should be protected from damp already as the base is usually laid over a polythene liner. I just used B&Q garage floor paint.

If you're not going to put a car in the garage, cement a line of those pavieres from Wickes or B&Q along the garage shut-line when the door is shut to keep out water. they are easy enough to remove if you wish and low enough to drive a car over anyway.

[crazy about cars]

LuS1fer said:

White emulsion is probably adequate and will brighten it up. I've used it on an inner skin of breeze blocks and it still looks great. You might consider putting in a breeze block liner or insulating block liner (similar to breeze blocks but softer and denser) on the outer walls to keep the damp out. The floor should be protected from damp already as the base is usually laid over a polythene liner. I just used B&Q garage floor paint.

If you're not going to put a car in the garage, cement a line of those pavieres from Wickes or B&Q along the garage shut-line when the door is shut to keep out water. they are easy enough to remove if you wish and low enough to drive a car over anyway.

Thanks for the advice mate. Just curious, what is a "paviere"?

[LuS1fer]

Pavieres are those red/brindle solid blocks you see people's drives done in. They're about 26p each in Wickes or B&Q. Easy to chop to length with a brick bolster and hammer. You can buy a small pre-mix pack of cement to stick them down.

Edited by LuS1fer on Monday 27th February 08:44

[Stugots]

crazy about cars said:

I was thinking of same idea too as it seems simple enough and I know a place to get bargain carpet! Did you have any damp problems with just concrete paint + underlay? Did you do anything to the garage door (presuming you have the metal one) to further insulate it? I find water gets in the bottom bits sometimes.

Does smell a bit after winter, but a good clean out when weather warms up is all it needs.
Have wooden garage doors that open outwards. As lus1fer said a water barrier is reqd. Although parking a car on it will turn carpet to st very quick.

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