Strip curtain doors

[JackOfDiamonds]

Because I have no man-door and no place to put one (garage is surrounded by housing on all sides), I use my roll-up door a lot.

This doesn't really bother me because the garage opener is convenient and hands-free, and I don't mind the wear and tear because I want the garage door opener to break so I can replace it anyway. But every time I do this it lets in a wave of 105F heat, or -10F cold in the winter. Plus, with me always opening the door, it means my nosy neighbors get a clear view to see inside and whatever I might be doing in there.

My idea is put up a strip curtain all the way across, about 12 feet, and as high up against the door track as possible. Then the door will roll up over it. It won't be a perfect seal, but it should be a lot better than a 12x6 opening, and while I'm carrying stuff in and out it should block drafts and be a privacy screen.

This is the outfit I'm looking to buy from but I don't know whether to get 6, 8, or 12 inch strips, or how much to overlap them. I don't want to have to force my way through them, but if they are too flimsy and flutter around like streamers in a slight breeze, they won't do the job. Has anyone done this?

Economy Plastic Strip Door Curtains - Complete Kit - Ready to Install

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[Barnabas]

Is there a way to move them out of the way to drive a car through?

 

[tncatadjuster]

I bought a roll and used it for my hot tub area, used self tapping roof screws. Works well but no privacy. Vevor on Amazon.

 

[Bucko]

Something like this that is retrofitted with solid panels?

Amazon.com

Father-in-law had them on a previous house and loved it.

 

[mike93lx]

Based on the ones I see in manufacturing plants, I would do 8" strips with probably a 1/3 overlap. A 50% overlap is pretty common, but I don't think it's all that necessary

 

[JackOfDiamonds]

Something like this that is retrofitted with solid panels?

Amazon.com

Father-in-law had them on a previous house and loved it.

That would actually be better, basically a giant "storm door" for the garage. I think it would end up looking bad though. I don't want to change external appearance too much. I have to consider WAF.

Is there a way to move them out of the way to drive a car through?

Why would I drive a car through...oh right, some people put cars in their garage. I've long since settled on never doing that. Cars live outside at my house.

 

[no704]

Can’t recall but I think add in man doors for garage doors are actually a real thing. Probably prohibitively expensive?

 

[Bucko]

That would actually be better, basically a giant "storm door" for the garage. I think it would end up looking bad though. I don't want to change external appearance too much. I have to consider WAF.

It mounts on the inside and hangs under the existing door track. You open the main door and manually shut the screen door. When the main door is shut you can't see it from the outside. You do loose some headroom when the door is up. It did have a plate that blocked the opener sensor so you couldn't accidentally try to shut the main door with the screen door in the down position.

The previous owner had installed it and the HOA tried to get it removed because the bylaws stated no screens in front of garage doors but he won because of the design.

 

[CraigStu]

I did a strip curtain on a 4ft throughway from original garage to add-on work bay. I used the heaviest clear plastic that Joanne's Fabric sold. Did 10-12" wide individual pieces overlapping about 2". The key for me was working the overlaps so my most common traffic pattern opened easily. I could walk through no problem even when carrying something in both hands. Since you are dealing w/ sealing off the outdoors where there is bound to be some wind, I'd use the heaviest plastic they sell. And I'd go w/ 12" wide strips. Basically making each individual strip as heavy as possible so wind has less effect. Figure the most common way you go through that door and make your overlaps work there for ease of push through.

 

[JackOfDiamonds]

Do you mean reduce the overlap amount in the area you normally walk through? That makes sense. The strip curtain company above has a few options for overlap, but they go 75%, 50%, 25%, and honestly even 25% seems like a lot to me. But maybe it's needed to get the strips to fall back right, or maybe they just want to sell more plastic.

 

[mike93lx]

Do you mean reduce the overlap amount in the area you normally walk through? That makes sense. The strip curtain company above has a few options for overlap, but they go 75%, 50%, 25%, and honestly even 25% seems like a lot to me. But maybe it's needed to get the strips to fall back right, or maybe they just want to sell more plastic.

These are primarily a commercial thing... Think forklifts going through them or lots of traffic. The overlap should make them more durable. But in a home setup, I think it's unnecessary

 

[egdede]

I worked in a facility that had a cold storage area with this product and forklifts pushing through. The overlap is also what will help keep out that blast of hot air the OP is worried about.

 

[CraigStu]

No I mean like this quick top down view drawing. The arrows represent my usual path from the original garage to the add-on. I exaggerated the distance between each strip for clarity since they would actually be in contact. See the first three strips on the right are overlapped one way and then the 4th reverses the overlap.

This way I could easily walk through and usually those three strips moved almost as one and were pushed away from the 4th strip.

 

[walta]

The economy ones with less overlap are easier to walk thru but the wind will also blow thru.

The thicker ones with more overlap can slap you if you follow the forklift thru.

Do not expect them to stay transparent for long if you have much traffic.

Walta

 

[duneslider]

We sell and install strip curtains and the heavier and greater overlap is used to vary the amount of movement from one side to the other. A minimal overlap is probably just fine for you. These used to be very common between freezers and conditioned space and it works okay for that but should be great for your needs.

Nowdays, high speed doors are king. We don't sell nearly as much strip curtain as we used to.

 

[Dig Doug]

My garage is air conditioned and I typically open the door so it’s easy for me to bend over and walk thru, When it’s not over 100. My dogs are usually in / out of the garage all the time.

Thinking outside the box -
you could probably make a free standing bifold blind set up - 3or 4 panels that fold on top of each other w/ fence panels on wheels so its movable

 

[JackOfDiamonds]

An interesting idea...build a flimsy/moveable internal partition with a door in it. OSB or paneling or something.

 

[tncatadjuster]

On the strips by the hot tub I did a running bond and it worked well.

Up stairs I have a small overhead door, I framed out with lightweight metal studding and attached green house plastic with self tapping roof screws. I can lift the entire unit out of the door and replace in about 60 seconds, it is light and easy to move. I have wedges I place on top and side, the unit has worked well.

 

[gfd_703]

Our fire station had a door in a door set up. A man door in the big roll up door. I worked for 30 years but was a constant trip hazard because of the door bottom brace that has to run all the way across the entire door. It also was difficult to open at times because it not only opened like a man door but also hinged where the garage door folded. Plus side was it did not take up any wall space and was no noticeable from the street.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Not sure how much privacy you'll gain but HF has a 16x7 garage door screen for about $25.

I bought one in an attempt to modify for my enclosed trailer, allow ventilation but also create more shade than anything at all.

 

[nadogail]

I have seen transparent strip doors used to create Air Conditioning Boundaries. You can push through them without bumping into somebody on the distant side.

 

[scooby074]

Plant I used to work in had a lot of strip curtains for heat control. Basically they dropped 3/4 the way down to the floor around heat sources to allow the forced ventilation to help remove the heat better. They helped a bit, until they got destroyed There were other strip barriers to control airflow between building sections that forklifts would drive through but they were replaced with high speed doors which are 100x better and seal tighter so long as nobody drives into them.

Ops issue for privacy, some smoked strips would work pretty well. 30% overlap to save some cost. But there would be minimal ventilation from the outside when the door was open. Nice in winter, but ****** in summer.

I saw somewhere a frame that had screen on it that rode on rails in the same way the solid garage door does. It basically allowed you do turn your garage into a screen room for summer, but Ill be dammed if I can find it. Some No-See-Em screen on those frames and you wouldnt be able to see anything through them. Edit:see bucko above

 

[Spareparts]

Over in NAM the little beer joints had them, not to control heat/cool but to keep the flying critters out, that would be another
advantage of them, keeping or slowing down Flies/Wasps out of the shop.And Mosquitos.

 

[captaindiode]

If you really don't plan to put cars in there again, why not frame in a 6 ft double door. Would be easy enough to remove if you sell. You could even leave the garage door in place, just raised.