After a long excavation, jockeying for concrete, and getting the roof structure up, it was a relief to move on to interior work. While we weren’t completely weather tight since the roof membrane had not been installed, it was close enough to continue. The other relief was to have the pad poured and to be working on a flat surface. Setting up a ladder on gravel is not the most pleasant business.
All exterior walls received a layer of 1″ thick foam board, adhered with construction adhesive. This would seem like a simple task, but all the raised imperfections on the concrete walls had to be chipped away. Somehow, a piece of concrete debris always finds its way in behind one’s safety glasses. The end result of this step was a giant box that looked like it was papered in aluminum foil.
Once the insulation was up and taped (so it would function as a vapor barrier), it was time to start framing. The framing was relatively quick and easy because it there was only a single door to worry about. The front wall had already been framed to support the roof structure.
With these steps complete, the pile of construction supplies dwindled significantly. It was a rather bittersweet moment for the golden mantled ground squirrels because we removed their artificial habitat. However, we were pleased that we could move on with rough electrical. This occurred just after the roof membrane was installed.
With rough electrical completed and inspection passed, we moved on to insulating the rest of the garage. The roof received approximately 7″ of spray foam (R-value ~49) and 2-layers recycled fiberglass batting (R-13) was installed between the studs and on the low roof.
Additional progress was made when the garage doors were installed. We went with Clopay Modern Steel garage doors. The R-value was one of the highest we could find (R: 18.4). The modern style may seem a bit odd for a log home, but we are hoping to capture a modern rustic aesthetic. American Garage Door in Wheatridge, CO was the closest dealer. Seth was fantastic and was very patient as we tried to find the closest Sherwin Williams paint color to our preferred Benjamin Moore color (North Creek Brown). We didn’t quite nail it and the doors had to be repainted. A minor inconvenience for a really good looking door.
Alex playing on the garage roof membrane after watching “The Princess Bride” 
Rigid foam insulation. 
Spray foam insulation for ceiling 
Good spray foam crew – caught that we had overlooked the knee wall. 
Fiberglass insulation – no rigid foam because this is the shared wall with the house. 
American Garage Door doing their thing.
For the level of expertise – section was contracted out after we got the rigid foam board up. Spray foam is a bit of an art – if you put it on too thick it won’t cure right. If you are doing walls, you may have to shave it down. Better leave spray foam to the experts. They have the equipment and PPE. Installation of the garage was included in the price an the pros will get it done faster than we ever will. It was nice only having to worry about scheduling.
Wandervogel with the McElvains 