Why is my bedroom so cold?

16 years ago

My bedroom is over the garage and I've been told that's why it's the coldest room in the house. When my husband starts up his ride-on mower, the fumes are horrible in the bedroom. But I noticed the other day that when my son was smoking a cigarette in the garage, I could smell it in the bedroom as if he was smoking in the same room. Is this normal? Does it mean I have little to no insulation between the garage and the bedroom? What can I do to fix the situation?

I didn't know where else to post this question, so I picked old houses. 1972 is old by some folks standards, right?

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Comments (6)

doobzz
16 years ago
First off BUY and PLUG IN A CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTOR!! You should NEVER be smelling any fumes from the garage below at all. Yes usually rooms over garages are way colder and its cause of lack of or improper insulation and correct air sealing of the garage ceiling and the room's kneewalls. Fixing this with correct insulation/airsealing is simple but tedious for those type of rooms. But if you can smell fumes from below its all that plus something worse. Im sorry but IMHO i dont think you have a simple DIY job ahead of you on this. Dont ever let anyone warm up or let idle a car in your garage before you fix this. Call a professional house inspector/building engineer etc.
worthy
16 years ago
See this thread for your solution.
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bulldinkie
16 years ago
Could be coldest end of house where wind hits more,moisture makes it feel cold ,insulation,not good ,not enough maybe,Insulate where you can.Garage underneath doesnt help any.storm windows.
alisonn
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for your help. Thanks for the warning, doobzz. Here's a funny story: My husband insisted that we had to buy a house with a two-car garage. So we did. Have we EVER had a car in the garage? No, not in the 9 years we have lived here. Apparently, the husband wanted the garage to put stuff in--so no worries about running cars in the garage.

I'm going to look into the insulation situation.
doobzz
16 years ago
Definitely take a look at the garage ceiling. I bet you dont have enough insulation and/or there is so much air is getting thru that it will ruin any R value (fiberglass alone wont stop air flow). Also check to see if you have any short kneewalls in the room. Those are notorious for not being insulated properly.
genesii
16 years ago
Skip the cold thought for a minute, but keep it in mind-you have air infiltration from the garage. If you put in insulation, that will not solve the smell issues you are concerned about.

As far as the cold, yes insulation. As far as the total cure with safety in mind; insulation, vapor barrier (poly), fire rated sheetrock, tape the sheetrock and keep the vapors out of your bedroom/living space.