Every time you get into the car or truck in the garage during the middle of winter you think about it… Why haven’t I taken the time to “finish” this garage with insulation and sheetrock? Why is it still just the studs and the plywood? It sure would be nice to have an “extra room” on the house to go and have some “man” time… Well, if those are the questions and thoughts that are running through your head, this DIY (Do-It-Yourself) article will be right up your alley!

Step 1: DREAM

Sit down and figure out what you want the space to be. Do you just want it to house the vehicles or would you like to make the space “your own” by including a workbench, heater, a fridge with beverages, gaming tables, etc.?

Step 2: BUDGET

How much can you afford to spend on the project? Are you planning to do everything in a weekend or are you going to spread it out over a longer period of time? The answers to these questions will affect your project.

Step 3: PLAN TO SHOP, DON’T JUST BUY

Make a solid list of everything you’ll need for the project and shop the advertisements from your local hardware and home improvement stores. A good list will help you keep your costs down as you won’t overbuy or buy on impulse!

Here are your essentials:

-Insulation—

-Insulation comes in 16” or 24” widths. 16” insulation is for between the wall studs and 24” is for in between ceiling trusses. Coverage area is listed on the package.

-You’ll want to figure the area you will be covering. Figure out the square footage (length times height of each wall and the ceiling surfaces) you need to cover and the distance between your studs. Your local home improvement store sales people will be able to help you get an accurate measurement, but bringing in your measurements will help with accuracy.

-Standard 2 x 4” walls will need R11 to R13 insulation. Standard 2 x 6” walls will need R19 to R22.

-Sheetrock–Measure the square footage you will need and then add 10% for overage. You’ll be grateful for the overage when Murphy’s law kicks in and you won’t have to stop everything to go and get one more sheet of $6 drywall because of one wrong cut!

-Sheetrock/Drywall screws–1 5/8” length

-Utility knife

-Tacking hammer

-Tape Measure

-Chalk Line

-48” Drywall Square–This is optional instead of the chalk line, and will make your life easier by giving you a raised straight edge to help cut the drywall!

You may want to consider renting:

-Sheetrock jack

-Drywall gun

Step 3: ELECTRICAL

Plan out your electrical needs for now and in the future. Where would you like additional outlets and will you require any larger capacity outlets? For this project, ceiling outlets were added for fluorescent lights, as well as two 220-V outlets for heaters. A local electrician was hired to pre-wire all of the outlets and to make sure everything was done “to code.”

While the electrician is there, consult him/her about the possibility of putting in a timer for your heater in the garage. This way you can set your heater to come on in the early morning to heat up the space and then also right before you return home from work.

It is also good to consult a local contractor to make sure that your project complies with local and state building code.

Step 4: INSULATION

Use at least R19 or more insulation for the ceiling and R11 and R13 for the walls that is paper backed. Paper backed insulation is easy to work with, but a person could also use bare insulation with plastic as a barrier instead of the paper backed insulation. It has the same effect either way of insulating the space. It’s also good to know that if you are using the garage as an attic space, you’ll want to stick with the R19 rating, but if you’re not, go for the R30 insulation for the space above the ceiling. It will hold the heat better and help with efficiency.

Because this is a garage, it is not a “finished” room in the interior of the house, a lower R rating on the insulation can keep your costs lower. You can use a higher R rating if you choose to, but keep in mind that no matter how well you have a garage insulated, you are still going to lose some heat when you are backing cars out and putting them back in.

To install the insulation, use a tacking stapler hammer to install each bat between all of the studs. Stuff the insulation around door frames and windows to prevent gaps in air, which could cause frost on the inside in the winter.

If you have a small gap or void in a difficult to reach corner, spray expanding foam in to fill the gaps. You can get that at any local home improvement store.

NOTE: If you are going to heat your garage, be sure to check that you have an insulated garage door. An insulated garage door will have a significant impact on how long your garage will retain heat before it begins to cool down.

Step 5: PREPARATION FOR HANGING OF THE SHEETROCK

Remove all screws, nails, and staples from existing studs before you begin hanging the sheetrock.

Step 6: HANGING THE SHEETROCK

Begin hanging sheetrock on the ceiling. Choose one corner of the room and work lengthwise. If you have 10-foot ceilings in the garage, use 10-foot sheets of rock. If you have 8- foot ceilings, use 8-foot sheets of rock. This will allow you to hang full sheets vertically on the walls later, and will give you fewer seams to fill if you choose to tape and mud the walls later. Using sheetrock that is the height of your walls is easier to handle if you are doing this job yourself.

The use of a 48” drywall square will help you to cut straight lines on the sheetrock. You can also use a chalk line to draw a line to follow with your utility knife, but the drywall square gives you a raised metal edge to follow as you cut. To cut the sheetrock, don’t cut through the entire sheetrock board. Score the paper side a few times and then break the piece off with your hands. If you don’t score the paperside, when the rock breaks, the paper will peel off the back and lessen the rock’s strength.

As you are attaching the sheetrock, be careful not to drive the sheetrock screws too deep. This is where a drywall gun is a handy thing to rent. Screws driven too deep or not deep enough will cause sagging sheetrock in the future. The screws are designed to hold the walls up by the pressure they assume on the outside of the sheetrock. Screws that pierce the paper have no pressure and, therefore, are ineffective at holding the sheetrock up.

NOTE: Renting a sheetrock jack can save you time and your back will thank you later. A sheetrock jack allows for a better fit of each piece of rock as you begin to screw it to each stud. The jack usually comes in three pieces and is relatively inexpensive to rent. The $40 is well spent, preventing injury, and allowing for better alignment and fastening to the studs. Depending on the size of the garage, 8 hours and two people should get the job done!

The right tools for the job obviously help move a project along. If you don’t have the right tools, some local hardware stores may offer a “loan a tool” program to help you use the right equipment for the job.

Step 7: FINISHING THE CEILING

Cut around each electrical box. A nice finishing trick is to trace around an extra electrical box to make sure the hole is big enough, but not too big for where your face plates can’t cover up the edges.

Step 8: FINISHING THE WALLS

Choose the same corner you started from with the ceiling and begin sheetrocking each wall. Be sure to look for any screws, nails, or staples before you start the process, as if you cover them with sheetrock, they will cause bulges on the other side of the sheetrock.

Step 9: FINISHING TOUCHES

Cut smaller pieces as you need them to fit around any hardware that is attached to existing studs. For this project, the headers above the garage doors were in need of several small pieces.

Step 10: TO TAPE AND TEXTURE OR NOT???

For many people, the next step is to tape the lines and mud all of the holes and heads. For this project, the hanging of the sheetrock was the major upgrade that the homeowner wanted. Taping and texturing wasn’t needed for the garage in their case. It’s entirely up to you and based on what your “vision” was of the finished product at the end.

A fully insulated garage with maybe a heater warming up the car before you go out on a cold day in the Midwest—sounds refreshing. Taking the time to plan a DIY project like insulating and sheetrocking your garage may just be a great way to “finish” your garage, increase your home’s value, and also save on your energy bill!