Baby, It's Cold Outside: Insulating the Garage Workshop

If it seems like we're in a constant state of half-finished projects, we are.  We're quickly discovering that unless you want to devote endless amounts of time (we can't) or have an unending supply of money (we don't), the best way to tackle projects without feeling like you never finish anything is to chip, chip, chip away at them every day a little at a time.  With that in mind, here's the second part of an earlier project: The garage workshop.  To recap, Rob wanted a functional, legitimate workshop for projects and building things.  Our garage is roomy enough to accomodate that wish on one side.   

He quickly decided that in order to be able to comfortably work in the shop year round, it needed to be insulated and heated.  We weren't necessarily planning on doing this so soon but he found a fantastic deal on insulation as long as a bulk quantity was ordered, so we went ahead and bit the bullet and got started. 

Here's the shop side of the garage before getting started:

Two of the same child--wicked camera magic

And halfway finished with the wall that separates the shop from the rest of the garage:

 Finally, the insulation on all the walls was up:

Which is where MY *ahem* expertise was needed: The Ceiling:

Notice my Personal Protective Equipment

Couples who PPE together survive together

We only finished two bays on the ceiling because, frankly, our method wasn't working well.  It took two hours to put up two rows so I think what we're going to do is install the ceiling and lay the insulation in the garage attic rather than stuff and staple it into each individual section (i.e., fitting and stuffing it above and around light and garage door fixtures). We're going with metal panels rather than drywall for the upper portion of the walls and ceiling, which is up next on our list.  After the insulation and walls are completely finished, the plan is to install a wood burning stove with which to heat the area during colder months.  (If anyone has any leads on an affordable used cast-iron wood burning stove that won't break the budget, let me know!)