Our garage is a metal building and the door faces west, which means in the afternoon it gets a direct blast from the sun, making it extremely hot. Hot enough that if you put your hand on the inside of the door, you’re not going to keep it there very long. We decided we wanted to try to cut down some of the heat radiating off the door, so yesterday we went to Lowe’s and bought insulation.
We know a thing or two about insulating things made of metal. When we converted our MCI bus, we stripped it down to bare metal and put a lot of effort into insulating it. We started off by putting an elastomeric Kool Seal type product on the roof, and then on the inside we put rolls of foil insulation on the walls and ceiling, then a layer of fanfold insulation backed by a layer of one inch thick foil covered styrofoam insulation, and another layer of the rolled foil insulation, before we put on the siding and ceiling covering.
Some people said that was overkill, but we spent a lot of time running back to northern Michigan to see Terry’s oncologist every few months after her cancer treatment, and sometimes it was still wintertime there. We installed a furnace in the bus when we were converting it, but found that we had insulated it so well that we never used it. A very small catalytic heater up front was all we needed to keep us toasty warm no matter how cold it got.
Another benefit of the insulation we put in the bus was that it made it extremely quiet inside. When we bought our Winnebago Ultimate Advantage diesel pusher, on our first night in it we were amazed at how much more we could hear the passing traffic. There was a big difference!
On the garage door, we’re going to do pretty much the same thing; first we will put down a layer of the rolled bubble foil insulation, then two layers of foil covered styrofoam insulation cut to fit into the panels on the inside of the door, and another layer of the rolled foil. I think it will be a noticeable improvement. We don’t have time to do the other walls of the garage right now, but when we return after our summer travels, it’s a project we will tackle.
After reading yesterday’s blog, somebody wrote to ask me what road service we used. We started with Coach-Net years ago, and though I looked at some alternatives a while back, we decided it was still the best option for us. Somebody else asked why would keep a road service that took hours to send someone to tow us. Obviously, they are new RVers. You don’t just call Luke at the local towing company and have him go out and pick up a 40 foot motorhome. You need somebody with the equipment and the knowledge to handle a rig that big, and you don’t find them in every street corner garage waiting for your call. CoachNet also has technicians on call, and many times they can talk you through a problem and get you back on the road without having to send somebody out. They have done that for us two or three times over the years.
On another topic, the print edition of The Gecko In The Corner has been formatted and my cover artist, Elizabeth Mackey, did her usual wonderful job of designing the cover for it. Today I will upload it to Create Space, and it should be available on Amazon within a few days.
It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for a new Free Drawing. I know this week’s prize is going to get a lot of entries. We are giving away a Kindle Paperwhite e-book reader, along with a $25 Amazon gift card so you can really fill that thing with books. They don’t have to be my books, you can purchase any you want, though it won’t hurt my feelings if you include one or two of mine in your choices. Total value of this prize is $145. To enter, all you have to do is click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening.
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Nick Russell
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Thru the years I have had Coach Net service arrive in less than 30 minutes or my worst case was overnite. My breakdown happened in a I 10 rest area at 2 PM on a Sunday afternoon with no service facility open and me safely off the road, by agreement, the tow truck did not come until 9 AM 20 hours later when they had a place to take me about 20 miles away. A diesel pusher requires a special tow service not the local gas station on one occaison the only rig within 100 miles already had a semi on his lift so I had to wait my turn
There should be an oath you take before you by your first RV. “I promise to be patient in all things I have no control over.” If you tend to blow your top off over things like waiting for the proper tow truck, RVing is going to drive you crazy. It’s all worth it to me to have my own pillow and blankets around my neck at night!!!
Good idea on the garage door insulation. Our former 1988 built house had an un-insulated steel door and I insulated it with the blue colored styrofoam sheets cut down & wedged into the individual panels. This improved my situation, but I had to install heavier counterweight springs on the torsion arms. I was surprised, as it didn’t seem to be very much added weight. You may not have any problem with yours or you may be able to increase the tension on your existing springs. Keeping happy thoughts that your project goes smoothly.
If it isn’t already, paint the outside of your garage white. It makes a BIG difference.
Sounds like a exhast fan would do and less effort
Nick – Billy Goode is right about the added weight affecting the operation of your springs. We (mostly my husband) spent 27 yrs. selling and installing garage doors. He mentioned torsion springs but you might also have stretch springs.
So if your door is difficult to open after installing the insulation now you will know why. Good luck. Maybe a local garage door installer could help you with your project.