LESLIE: Bud is online with The Money Pit looking to convert a garage to some living space. Tell us about the project.
BUD: Well, actually, it’s already been converted by some real amateur people.
TOM: OK.
BUD: And it has, I believe, 24-inch-on-center studs all over and no insulation. And I’m looking to possibly – I don’t want to disturb what drywall is there because I’ve got all the ceilings and the walls that were messed up by these people.
TOM: OK.
BUD: They turned the gas off and it froze and water broke and that damaged (inaudible at 0:14:20) but anyway, I need to get – if you have a source of low-expansion insulation – foam insulation?
TOM: Well, you’re going to have to use a blown-in insulation. I don’t think there’s a low-expansion foam, if that’s what you’re asking us. I think what you have to do is you have to use a blown-in to get insulation behind those walls. That’s your only option right now. I don’t see a way around that unless you want to take that drywall down and do it right. And frankly, the cost of the blown-in is – for a small job like that might be pretty expensive. It could possibly make sense to take that drywall down.
But you would blow that in and you’d blow it in under pressure so that it’s set – it basically fills up the whole cavity. Usually, there’s two holes – one in the middle and one towards the top – that assures that it gets all the way up there. But I think blown-in is probably the way that you have to go.
Now, you’re only going to need to insulate the walls that are over exterior – that are exterior walls. If it’s a wall between the house and the garage, that you would not have to insulate because that would already have been insulated.
BUD: I think your advice is good. I’ll just probably have to rip all the drywall down and just put …
TOM: Sometimes, it’s hard to put lipstick on a pig, so to speak, you know what I mean?
BUD: I thought maybe you had some lipstick kind of advice.
TOM: Bud, thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
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