Vapour Barrier Problems in Garage

[G55man]

I currently have drywall installed in my attached garage with no insulation or vapour barrier on 3 of the 4 walls. My walls are in pretty rough shape from the previous owners so I'm considering taking down the drywall on the 2 sidewalls and adding insulation and somewhat of vapour barrier. Now my dilemma is I don't have full access to the top 2-3 feet of part of the wall as there is a mezzanine that runs from wall to wall. I could slide up insulation batts up in that area but there is no way get a proper vapour barrier. The front wall also has very little room to insulate since there's 2 single garage doors that basically take up the whole front wall and again there is no access above the mezzanine.

So my question is.....is there really much point trying to insulate my garage considering I can't get a proper vapour barrier installed? I live in Toronto so I will be dealing with some decent temperature fluctuations.

The other option is to leave the drywall as is and just patch all the holes and imperfections which pretty well means repairing most of the wall.

Thanks

[goofball]

If you don't have heat going to the garage, then there is no need for a VB, imo. Just add the insulation and then drywall over it.
The only thing you want to make sure of, is that if you have any walls shared between the home and the garage, that those walls are air tight so that no air from the garage can reach the inside of the home. Those are the only walls that you need a vapour barrier on.

[woof]

I think I'd agree with goofball.

[Owbist]

I am not sure where you see an advantage in insulating an unheated garage. Seems like a waste of money and energy unless you have other plans than storing your vehicle - or other stuff as most do

[Steve98]

I agree you need a vapour barrier between heated and unheated space, not between the garage and the outside.

Unless you have living space above the garage, it doesn't seem to make sense to insulate it.

[pessamystic]

You might as well put a vapour barrier where you can and insulate. if you ever decide to continue and finish the garage, you'll be happy not to have to tear down walls. also, it'll lessen noise transmission if you play a radio in there. heat (and cold) will transfer thru the walls more slowly. perhaps not enough to make a difference normally but if you have to work on your car one wintry day and can get it close to the insulated side and put blankets across the top, well, the insulation will help. last reason, vapour barrier almost costs nothing. why not?

if you have living space above the garage, it must be insulated and drywalled by code. if you have holes in that drywall, you should fix them right away.