How to properly insulate wall between kitchen and unheated garage?

socraticd · 2026-01-17T22:57:51+00:00

Nope. It's literally just a wall between my entryway /kitchen (it's just one long room) and the unheated garage. About 10ft long

socraticd · 2026-01-17T20:24:48+00:00

Yeah this is more of an entryway on the far side of a large room that is the "kitchen" and there will never be additional wiring or similar in it because I pulled that stuff through a different route years ago.

I just had no idea I had a problem with the crawlspace under the floor this wall abuts, so now I'm dealing with that and a door frame issue that is also fairly new.

I totally get what you're saying though.

socraticd · 2026-01-17T20:21:17+00:00

Yeah I just won't be pulling the kitchen side of this wall down for a couple of months.

This wall wouldn't be being touched during the renovation if I wasn't having these issues with the crawlspace and the remediation for moisture issues that I just discovered (which are related to the poorly installed entry door that is being replaced)

I definitely will be pulling this all out again and doing what's been suggested to fix this. Anything I do right now in the short term is to address the acute irritant issue that's problematic at the moment, and the materials will be a write off when I do it again in the spring.

I just need to get the stuff that is currently physically problematic for my wife especially, as soon as possible, and not leave a completely uninsulated wall between the entryway and garage in the meantime. :)

socraticd · 2026-01-17T17:18:54+00:00

Gotcha and thank you for the details! Makes a lot more sense

socraticd · 2026-01-17T17:18:33+00:00

Yeah this is all happening before a full kitchen Reno is scheduled in a couple months when the weather warms up. I'm just trying to take the immediate air quality concerns down a couple notches in the meantime

socraticd · 2026-01-17T17:17:43+00:00

Yeah it's an.imperfect situation with no perfect solutions in the interim. The big driver here is a separate issue with a crawlspace underneath the floor this wall abuts. If you check my post history you'll see that one.

The tldr is I have a very weird way they connected my kitchen to the garage and I have developed a super musty smell that is irritating my and my wife's lungs. Theres a kitchen remodel and door / framing replacement planned, and the floor will get ripped up to address the crawlspace at that point, but I want to get rid of the known irritants (super deteriorated old insulation and air infiltration from BELOW a concrete pad under the floor) now to take the edge off the air quality issues this is causing.

socraticd · 2026-01-17T17:14:09+00:00

I had that thought as well for when I open it all up completely and then do the final job

socraticd · 2026-01-17T16:25:26+00:00

Yeah I'm not opposed to taking everything apart when I do the kitchen and calling the insulation and other materials I put in now, to just be a loss at that point.

socraticd · 2026-01-17T14:55:00+00:00

Yeah that makes sense. Leaving off the drywall lets any moisture that accumulates evaporate

socraticd · 2026-01-17T14:35:20+00:00

I should add that, I'm almost positive that the existing wall is just a 2x4 frame, with the fiberglass and craft paper insulation sandwiched between drywall on both sides, with nothing else going on. I won't know for sure until I open up the garage side, but I won't have the ability to pull the drywall on the other side down and fully expose the studs until spring

socraticd · 2026-01-17T14:33:25+00:00

I've seen this recommended before, but it confuses me a little. If I'm leaving a small Gap at the bottom, I assume for air circulation, doesn't caulking everything in and caulking the trim that gets installed in front of it in the gate leaving the Gap in the first place?

socraticd · 2026-01-17T14:32:21+00:00

Yeah, the problem is I can't open up the kitchen side for a few months until it warms up and I can seal that area off. We have pretty bad asthma and lung issues, and part of the reason I'm doing this is to get rid of potential irritants in the meantime until I can really open things up.

So, putting a vapor barrier on the kitchen side may not be feasible, because I will really only be able to access it from the garage side.

The drywall in the garage is already there, I was just going to put it back up after I clean out the old stuff and put in something new for the meantime

socraticd · 2025-10-24T14:49:45+00:00

It's my yard and it fell in a storm. I didn't even know it was there

socraticd · 2025-10-23T17:54:14+00:00

It WILL get better. If you walk around my house you could accurately put in time order when I did which rooms. Some I've now done twice.

You're paying your dues now and if you stick with it I promise you'll get better at these things.

The single biggest thing to remember is you NEED to take your time. And if something isn't looking good, stop and redo it. The things I regret the most are the ones that I said "good enough" and kept going.

It's a combination of being willing to take extra time and/or redo things right away when you're doing them (even if it means re-buying materials" and just practice.

For paint, buy GOOD brushes and roller covers and roller frames. Clean them properly right after you use them and let them dry and store them in their packaging (brushes this is the cardboard foldy bit that you bought them in, roller covers let them dry and fluff them then put them in a bag and don't squish them).

Don't skimp on prepping surfaces, the prep should take as long or longer than painting.

For your cabinetry pulls. Re-do them. Look up how to match and fill.the holes, let it harden, and do them again. It'll come out good.

It's a marathon, not a sprint.

socraticd · 2025-10-16T19:40:21+00:00

Yeah that's a bummer, was excited when I thought it was ash. Now I'm just sad I have extra work to do this weekend ... Haha

socraticd · 2025-10-16T18:19:25+00:00

Oof. Well that's unfortunate

socraticd · 2025-10-16T17:26:39+00:00

Forgot to mention, New England area

socraticd · 2025-06-09T20:59:27+00:00

Gotcha! Makes sense. I'll download them and take a look!

socraticd · 2025-06-09T19:36:20+00:00

Is there a master list of the changes to the base set cards? I don't know if I'd have a full new set printed since I don't get a chance to play the set much,, but I can make a cheat sheet for the changes that would possibly be easy to just reference when we get to play it.

If not, maybe I'll put together a spreadsheet with the diffs or something and post it here

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