Is it worth paying extra for insulation?

A

Adk44

New member
I'm going to be moving into a new development and wanted to get people's thoughts on insulation upgrades. Is it worth paying extra?

I'm not near any major roads and will be in a quiet area, so outside noise shouldn't be too much of an issue.
 
We paid ~$1,500 to add interior insulation + exterior garage walls. It helps with noise mitigation - the plumbing pipe noise, HVAC noise, walking upstairs noise, etc. We also did surround sound in the living room. So you don't want to hear all of that upstairs.
 
Note this is only for noise and not energy efficiency. I opted for the in wall insulation and solid doors.  Well worth the cost for the convenience.  This isn't something you can do later.
 
Adding insulation to the garage for full exterior wall coverage is well worth the price.  I'm not a big fan of batt insulation, so any sprayed alternative would also be attractive to me.  The interior insulation upgrade is personal preference...I don't really care for it, but many people with older kids, rooms with instruments, media rooms, etc. find it beneficial.
 
Living in a house that would benefit from an insulation upgrade, I would definitely say yes. The challenge for us now is ripping into walls, etc. I personally believe so much energy is wasted due to temperature changes. My vote is in favor.
 
I would do it. We didn't get the option but I wish they had offered it especially in the garage. Right now it's like an oven in there.  I should have had the drywall torn down and insulated the walls after close of escrow. We don't have a lot of stuff in our garage so may do it at some point.
 
Adding insulation to single stud walls doesn't nearly nothing.
 

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I don't think insulating a garage will make much of a difference when it comes to preventing it from being hot.

I think a better solution for that is to open the garage doors a bit and allow cross ventilation.
 
The facing of the garage and the door material play the most important role in how hot the garage will become.

My old place has a garage that's facing SW and has a thin metal door and is always hot like a owen in summer. My current place has a garage that's facing NW and has a thick wood door and is always the coolest place of the house during summer.

We didn't add extra insulation for the house.
When you have young kids or even teenagers you would like to hear them and know what they are doing in the house. Or for some extreme case, you would like to hear the noise made by burglar.
 
It is almost ridiculous how much they charge for insulation given the actual material/instillation cost. But in my experience, insulation does not do much for soundproofing at all. I have found that finishes can have more of an affect on how noise travels through a home. Typical insulation in an interior wall has only minor impact in my opinion.
 
sentosa said:
The facing of the garage and the door material play the most important role in how hot the garage will become.

My old place has a garage that's facing SW and has a thin metal door and is always hot like a owen in summer. My current place has a garage that's facing NW and has a thick wood door and is always the coolest place of the house during summer.

We didn't add extra insulation for the house.
When you have young kids or even teenagers you would like to hear them and know what they are doing in the house. Or for some extreme case, you would like to hear the noise made by burglar.
Click to expand...

I agree that the garage door material matters greatly with how well insulated the garage will be. I always try to enter the garages when touring models, and when the garage door is 2"+ thick wood, rather than metal, the garages are always much cooler.
 
Perspective said:
sentosa said:
The facing of the garage and the door material play the most important role in how hot the garage will become.

My old place has a garage that's facing SW and has a thin metal door and is always hot like a owen in summer. My current place has a garage that's facing NW and has a thick wood door and is always the coolest place of the house during summer.

We didn't add extra insulation for the house.
When you have young kids or even teenagers you would like to hear them and know what they are doing in the house. Or for some extreme case, you would like to hear the noise made by burglar.
Click to expand...

I agree that the garage door material matters greatly with how well insulated the garage will be. I always try to enter the garages when touring models, and when the garage door is 2"+ thick wood, rather than metal, the garages are always much cooler.
Click to expand...

So if you like everything in a model, but the garage door does not meet your expectation. You would pass?
 
eyephone said:
Perspective said:
sentosa said:
The facing of the garage and the door material play the most important role in how hot the garage will become.

My old place has a garage that's facing SW and has a thin metal door and is always hot like a owen in summer. My current place has a garage that's facing NW and has a thick wood door and is always the coolest place of the house during summer.

We didn't add extra insulation for the house.
When you have young kids or even teenagers you would like to hear them and know what they are doing in the house. Or for some extreme case, you would like to hear the noise made by burglar.
Click to expand...

I agree that the garage door material matters greatly with how well insulated the garage will be. I always try to enter the garages when touring models, and when the garage door is 2"+ thick wood, rather than metal, the garages are always much cooler.
Click to expand...

So if you like everything in a model, but the garage door does not meet your expectation. You would pass?
Click to expand...

Yes, when I say the thickness and material of which the garage door is composed is a big factor in how well insulated a garage is, what I'm really saying is the thickness and material of the garage door is a dealbreaker for me. That inference makes complete sense. [sarcasm on]
 
irvinehomeowner said:
I don't think insulating a garage will make much of a difference when it comes to preventing it from being hot.

I think a better solution for that is to open the garage doors a bit and allow cross ventilation.
Click to expand...

Makes a huge difference in my experience...I've had garages with and without, and the garage without insulation was stifling hot at all times, even after I added fans to circulate the air.  My garage with the insulation gets nowhere close in temp.
 
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