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  #1  
Old 04-07-2015, 01:25 PM
kamikaze kamikaze is offline
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Ottawa, ON, Canada
Posts: 353
Default Heated Garage Workshop for RV building - Ice Damming?

Hopefully this is RV specific enough ...

So I'm having a new house built, and I've incorporated into the plans some customization to support making my garage into an RV building workshop.

Contractor calls me today asking about this, we get to talking, and he says something to the effect of:

"Well if you're going to heat your garage, you're going to have to watch for ice damming in the garage roof and the soffits just outside the door ..."

Basically, the warm air will escape from around the garage door, which is of course not sealed like normal doors usually are, and rise, and possibly (likely) freeze and cause ice damming on the soffits or whatever happens to be in its way ... (in cold Canadian winter, of course).

For those of you from cold climates and and with garage workshops ... is this something you run into? How do you solve it (easily/cheaply)?

Thanks!
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  #2  
Old 04-07-2015, 01:29 PM
Ron B. Ron B. is offline
 
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Location: Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
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I would have to see it to believe it. The air outside would be moving around enough that any escaping heat would dissipate long before heating your roof. I somehow doubt you're the only one wanting a heated garage.
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  #3  
Old 04-07-2015, 01:33 PM
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bret bret is offline
 
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I'm in N Nevada, gets -15C sometimes, average -5 to 5 C I installed drywall in the cycling with R30 laying on top that, insulated garage doors and one 1500 watt heater keeps it room temp. No problems here after 5 years.
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  #4  
Old 04-07-2015, 01:33 PM
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rleffler rleffler is offline
 
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Location: Delaware, OH (KDLZ)
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I never experienced ice dams when I was working in my garage. Granted I'm a little further south in central Ohio.
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  #5  
Old 04-07-2015, 01:56 PM
Gary 40274 Gary 40274 is offline
 
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Location: Conyers GA
Posts: 347
Default Yup it happens

In my place in Minnesota it was a constant issue. The solution is to insulate your garage ceiling very well. The garage door should be insulated type and sealed with weather strip. Unfortunately none of this is cheap

Gary
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  #6  
Old 04-07-2015, 02:04 PM
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Moondog Moondog is offline
 
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Location: Galveston, TX
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Default see This Old House

No problem in Galveston, TX but I used to live in the mountains of PA. Ice backs up water from melting ice. Here is a pretty good explanation of the problem and some fixes from This Old House.
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  #7  
Old 04-07-2015, 02:29 PM
kamikaze kamikaze is offline
 
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Location: Ottawa, ON, Canada
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The garage itself will be fully insulated, including the door.

To clarify, the concern is not that heat inside the garage will warm the roof above it since above the garage is living space.

The concern is warm moist air escaping from around the poorly sealed garage door, rising, and then hitting something cold where the air would cool, the moisture would condensate, and ice dams could form over time.

The theory is sound, but if those of you who have live through the exercise report that this has never materialized into an actual problem, that works for me!
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  #8  
Old 04-07-2015, 02:44 PM
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9GT 9GT is offline
 
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Location: Southern Michigan
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I built both in my attached 3 car garage and in the insulated/finished pole barn I built later. You will not get ice damming in a properly insulated building with a properly ventilated roof. I used a commercial grade insulated garage door in my pole barn but had standard insulated garage doors in the attached garage.
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  #9  
Old 04-07-2015, 02:45 PM
Canadian_JOY Canadian_JOY is offline
 
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Location: Ontario, Canada
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JF - with all due respect, I believe your contractor does not understand what's meant by using your garage as an airplane building workshop. He may be thinking of multiple in/out actions like you were working on cars in your garage. With the RV you're going to be keeping that door closed for extended periods of time, so you're not going to be bringing in huge amounts of moisture as you would with a snow-laden car.

With respect to the door and weatherstripping, two years ago we replaced our door with an insulated one. The installer understood my requirements... "weather-tight". He did a great job in ensuring the weatherstrip fits tightly all the way around the door, and I paid a good bit of extra cash for the best weatherstrip he had. I also insisted the bottom weatherstrip be tightly crimped in place so that it wouldn't shrink at each end over the course of a summer. Of course it shrank over the first summer, so the second time around he did as I suggested and left about 1.5" extra seal material hanging out each end. Problem solved!

The net result is a door which is quite weather-tight. With this in mind, the concept of air escaping and freezing in the vented soffit seems like a very remote possibility indeed.

Of critical importance is sealing the envelope of the garage so as to minimize heat loss and vapour penetration. Think R2000 standard or better. If you get this done properly and the door well sealed, I think the contractors concerns are very unlikely to materialize.
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  #10  
Old 04-07-2015, 03:14 PM
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wirejock wirejock is offline
 
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Location: Estes Park, CO
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Default Ice

I am at 7,500' in Colorado. It gets down to -20 but humidity is really low.
My garage is insulated 2"X6" frame along with the house and ceiling is R30. Garage door is insulated and seals are good. I bought a Big Buddy propane heater and run it off a small tank. On a typical day the shop starts about 45-55 and the Big Buddy runs from 1-4 hours till it comes up to 60. I shut it down at that point to conserve gas. It's comfortable for me. My CO detector has never measured any gas.
I've never seen any ice any where near the garage doors.
The biggest problem is the cold cement wears on my feet. Even with pads it makes my feet cold. Dr. Scholls gel insoles help a lot.
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