Edmonton's older neighbourhoods are laid out on a grid with rear lanes, and that means a very large number of detached garages - a different job from the attached garage that dominates newer suburbs. Garage spray foam insulation in Edmonton is mostly detached-garage work as a result of that layout.
Which one you have changes the answer completely.
Detached garages
A detached garage is its own small building. Nothing you do to it affects the house, so the only question is what you want the space to be.
If you want to heat it and work in it, you are insulating a standalone structure with a large door in one wall. Sealing matters more than depth, because a detached garage is typically built more loosely than a house - single-layer sheathing, unsealed penetrations, and a big opening that dumps the air every time it is used.
There is a limit to what insulation can do about the door, and an honest installer will say so. The goal is a building that holds temperature between openings and recovers quickly, not one that never loses heat.
If it is unheated storage, insulating it may not be worth much at all. An unheated garage with no heat source will sit close to outside temperature regardless of what is in the walls. Insulation slows heat transfer; it does not create warmth. We would rather tell you that than sell you a job that will disappoint you.
The exception is if you are heating it occasionally - then you are insulating so it warms up quickly and holds it, which is a real and reasonable goal.
Attached garages
An attached garage is a different problem, because it shares walls and often a ceiling with heated space.
The priority is the shared assemblies, not the exterior walls of the garage:
- The common wall between garage and house.
- The garage ceiling, if there is living space above it.
That second one is the most common complaint in the city: a room above the garage that never warms up. It sits over an unheated space, usually with framing that leaks air on several sides. See bonus room insulation.
There is also a safety dimension. The assembly between a garage and living space is a fire and gas separation, and vehicle exhaust and fuel vapours should not be able to migrate into the house. Sealing that boundary properly is worth doing on those grounds alone, before comfort enters the conversation.
Garage Spray Foam Insulation Edmonton: The Covering Requirement
Foam in a garage generally needs an appropriate thermal barrier over it, and a garage is exactly the kind of space where people skip that because it feels like a utility building.
Get it specified in the quote. See thermal barrier vs ignition barrier.
Edmonton's deep cold
Because Edmonton stays cold rather than swinging, an unheated attached garage sits as a large cold surface against the house for months. If there is a room above it, that is why it is uncomfortable, and it is why the ceiling assembly is usually the highest-value job on the list.
Garage Spray Foam Insulation Edmonton: Why Work With Us
Alberta's spray foam specialists. We see the building before we price it.
Garage Spray Foam Insulation Edmonton: Common Questions
Most garages here are detached - does that change it? Yes, and in Edmonton it is the common case. A detached garage is a small standalone building, so the whole envelope is in play rather than just a shared ceiling and wall.
Is it worth insulating an unheated garage? Only if you intend to heat it, or if there is living space above. Otherwise the money goes further on the house.
What thickness for a heated garage? It follows the R-value you are targeting and how the space is used - a workshop heated all winter is a different spec from one warmed occasionally.
How much does garage spray foam insulation cost in Edmonton? A detached garage and an attached one are different jobs, because the attached one shares a wall and a ceiling with living space and has a covering requirement over the foam. Edmonton's deep cold is what makes the difference between them worth paying for.
Best garage spray foam insulation contractor in Edmonton? Ask whether they treat a detached garage differently from an attached one, because in Edmonton's deep cold a standalone building has no warm side to borrow from. A crew that quotes both the same way has only ever done the easier of the two.
No price without a site visit. Get a quote, and say whether the garage is attached or detached, and whether you intend to heat it.
See also garage spray foam insulation province-wide.