DIY Garage Door Insulation

OJ Bartley · May 14, 2012

I have been looking into this a little, and can't find a lot of proper feedback so I'm hoping that some members will have some direct experience in this area. Our single car garage has a standard uninsulated door, and the bedroom above it has the usual cold in winter/hot in summer problem. The house was built in 2006, the garage is not climate controlled, and does not have a direct entrance to the house.

I am planning to eventually pull the ceiling down to install more lighting and hope to be able to spray foam before putting the drywall back up, but as an extra step I thought some efforts to insulate the door might help. I have seen a few different methods of DIY insulating for those who can't just replace the door with an insulated one.

1) Insulation "blankets" like the ones made by Owens Corning (and TAGO available in Canada):

I'm not crazy about the flimsy look of these, and I read something about the double-sided tape used to attach the fasteners coming loose in summer.

2) Foil "bubble" blankets or panels:

I don't mind the foil look, and it would probably only help with lighting.

3) Foam panels:

I did find this old thread from 2007, but I wanted to see if anyone else had $0.02 to throw in. Right now I'm kind of leaning toward the foil faced foam panels, but I really don't know.

Falcon67 · May 14, 2012

This is 1/2" styrofoam sheets from HD. Cheap and it works. I cut it to fit and just wedged it in. Bought 4 sheets as I recall.

I used 1" pink foam on the old shop door, but it was only an 8' wide door and it added a lot of weight. Might add enough that you'd unbalance a 16' door. So I went with the lighter stuff on this door.

OJ Bartley · May 14, 2012

That's awesome, thanks Chris. It actually looks great (except for that one panel on the bottom!) and that's exactly what I was hoping to do. A couple of quick questions...
Did you use adhesive to attach the panels, or were you able to fit them in snugly without? And in your experience it made a noticeable difference? Looks like you would be more concerned with heat than cold in Texas, but I would think it works both ways.

Thanks again for the quick reply.

Falcon67 · May 14, 2012

Door faces south and stays decently cool. All the panels except one fit snug and stay in place. One flops a little - but it's a garage door and not an issue for me. If you cut them to the right width for the particular hole, they should squeeze in and stay. You will have a gap at the top of each opening because the panels won't bend two ways. They can be a hair long, but not a hair tall. If you're really detailed, you could cut some thin strips to fill those gaps. Double sided tape should work if needed.

> Looks like you would be more concerned with heat than cold in Texas, but I
>would think it works both ways.
I actually put the panels in during winter to keep the door from radiating cold. 112 sq/ft of cold metal is quite the little refrigerator. The door stays cool to the touch so far in the heat. We'll be back in the 90s this week, so I could get a better, less SWAG reading later in the week.

>(except for that one panel on the bottom!)
I grabbed 4 off the rack and didn't look at all the panels - oops, got them home and one had part of the foil torn off. I'll fix it later when I do the house door.

OJ Bartley · May 14, 2012

Thanks again Chris, that's great to know, and just what I needed.

calven · May 14, 2012

Be sure to test the balance of the door after insulating. You wouldn't think insulation could add much weight but it does...

Disconnect your operator and let the door down waist level. It should stay put , not moving up or down. My guess is your door will slowly fall towards the floor. You will need to add more turns to your springs.

If you don't do this your operator (motor) will be working harder than it should and will wear out faster. Unfortionately, adding more turns / tension to the springs will lower the life cycle count as well since they are designed for specific door weights.

Ideally, you should weigh the door and re-spring it for the correct door weight. I'm a bit picky though I suppose :eyecrazy:

Falcon67 · May 14, 2012

calven said:
Be sure to test the balance of the door after insulating. You wouldn't think insulation could add much weight but it does...

As I noted, the high density pink foam does add weight. It also has more R value.

The styrofoam doesn't add much of anything. It's so light you best buy some 2x4s or a sheet of OSB at the same time, otherwise you won't get it home. Lay it in the yard and a breeze will take it away. I set and installed my door and balanced it per the Clopay manual. After adding the foam, the door moved the same as it did before and you can stop it at almost any point. That's why I picked that stuff and not the 1" item.

Re- agree with your note: From reading on doors, the springs supplied are made for the specific door. If you add much weight to the door, just adjusting the springs may not let you balance the door again.

OJ Bartley · May 15, 2012

I did a little research about balancing doors and adding tension to springs yesterday, and that might be something I feel comfortable with. I get a little nervous the first time I deal with anything under a lot of pressure/torsion, etc. but if I can find a demo of a model like mine and visualize it before I start tinkering I should be OK. I'm away this weekend, but I'll try to get some planning done if I get a chance before I go.

lowheat · May 15, 2012

I used the Perma"R" panels on my single car door a couple of years ago. The panels are wedged in but i also cut smaller strips to fill in the gaps on the sides. The added weight seemed negligible so I didn't have to adjust anything.

It made a noticable differance in the winter... Too hot in the summer to work with the door closed and didn't notice any difference in the house. But sure couldn't hurt.

700hpAMG · May 16, 2012

My garage door is like an oven when the sun is beating it's rays against it. I'm sure the garage which also sits below the loft is hotter due to this.

I'm looking at this one.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009XCJA2/?tag=atomicindus08-20

For a 3 car garage I will need a few kits, and hopefully the results will be worth it.

Doing the attic in a few weekends as well with this stuff
http://www.radiantguard.com/xtreme-radiant-barrier-1000-sf-breathable.aspx

miketyler · May 17, 2012

I installed the foil backed foam board as well and considered the added weight negligible. Perhaps I should do the balance test? Also, I installed in complete lengths and tek screwed to the face of the door leaving an insulative airspace inside. I taped the end seams with the thin foil duct tape. Also seemed to quieten down the door some during operation.

OJ Bartley · May 17, 2012

I had a closer look at my garage last night and I think I'm going to go with the foam board. Upon inspection, it seems that I don't have the built-in "channels" that people fit the foam panels into. However, I still have a lip at the top and bottom and that lip has several holes which I could use to secure the panels with screws. This might even work better because I can cut the panels to exact size and not have to worry about bending them to insert. I should have taken a picture, but didn't have my phone on me.

Now I'm wondering if I should try to leave a little bit of an air gap between the foam board and the door for more insulation, or if I should attach the panels directly to the back of the door with a few blobs of adhesive as well as screws via the holes.

KPSquared · May 17, 2012

Whatever you do, make sure the adhesive is rated for the material. PL400 will eat right through that foam. . .

I think a bigger problem for you is the poorly insulated room above the garage. Someone did something wrong. . .it shouldn't be any different than the rest of the house if the insulation was done right.

wuntunearlybko · May 17, 2012

i know it doesnt look good but i am function over form kinda guy anyway. i used regular fiber insulation and tucked it into all the nooks and cranny's of my door. it made a huge diff! even in the summer with the sun beating on the door inside temps are still within 5* of the house. i priced those kinds of kits and for a couple rolls of insulation and some razor blades i came out way cheaper.

-cutts-

OJ Bartley · May 17, 2012

KPSquared said:
I think a bigger problem for you is the poorly insulated room above the garage. Someone did something wrong. . .it shouldn't be any different than the rest of the house if the insulation was done right.

Thanks KP, I am hoping that it is a combination of A) being far away from the furnace/AC, B) being above the unconditioned garage, and C) being an exterior corner of the house.

If I can improve the temps in the garage, I'm hoping to see a small improvement. And thanks for the tip on the adhesive, I'll make sure I get something compatible.

OJ Bartley · May 28, 2012

I just wanted to thank everyone for the tips and advice. I managed to get this done on Sunday afternoon, and I think it turned out really well. I went with the styrofoam panels (it took 2 1/4 sheets for my tiny garage). I thought I'd attach some pics of my process in case anyone else is wondering about how to do this. If there's anything I've done wrong here, feel free to point it out.

I had to start out by cutting the panels down in the HD parking lot since they weren't going to fit in the car.

Since they were already cut for height when I got them home, it made things go pretty smoothly. I just had to measure and trim for width. Luckily my measuring/cutting was pretty good, and the panels were all a nice snug fit on the height, so I started to cut about 1/16 or so short on the width to make it easier to get them in place.

With a few panels in place, fitting well and not shifting around, I was starting to feel pretty good about my process.

Even though they were a tight press fit, I thought I'd play it safe and add a few blobs of PL300 adhesive (safe for styrofoam) to each panel. My wife was a huge help here, and took care of the gluing while I fit the panels into place.

I didn't want to lose the windows, even though I know this will give up some insulation. If I really want to, I'm sure I can apply some of that transparent energy film.

What I did here was just measure and cut out for the windows, and then for a little more durability and consistent looks, I added foil tape to the inside of the cuts. This was another place my wife sped things up a lot, because she taped while I cut the next panel out. (the cutout panels aren't distorted and curved like in the pic)

With a lot of luck, my cuts were pretty good, and I found that putting adhesive on the outside edges of the thin parts helped a lot to secure the panels now that they weren't solid. If I were doing it again, I probably would have run a thin bead of adhesive around the inside of the cutout to seal the area. I might go back and inject some or caulk the edges later.

In the end I think it turned out quite well. I also insulated the bare OSB panels above and beside the door, which I will probably add pink fiberglass to before drywalling them shut.

I can't say if I have noticed any difference yet, because temperatures have been fairly moderate, but I'm confident that it will help, especially in the winter.

Thanks again for the help everyone, I probably wouldn't have gotten this done if not for the good advice and direct experiences related here.

sirsloop · May 30, 2012

Check your door seals and make sure they are in working order. nothing like spending all this time putting insulation on the doors, just to have a big gap on the rubber seals letting in a breeze.

OJ Bartley · May 30, 2012

Thanks sirsloop, I'll double check everything. The sides seemed to seal up well when I looked, and I plan to pick up a Tsunami Seal after I epoxy the floor to help seal the bottom lip.

Oh, and from what I can tell, this does help to keep the garage cooler over the last few hot days we've had so I'm going to call the project a success.

Falcon67 · May 30, 2012

Excellent work - should be well worth the effort.

OJ Bartley · May 31, 2012

Thanks Chris, really appreciate your input.

haugy · Jun 1, 2012

Nice work, and thanks for the pictures.

I hope to do my massive doors the same way soon.

AO928 · Jun 1, 2012

I too used foam panels. I wasn't sure if I wanted them permanently, so I just used a 1"x strip of lathe to hold the panels in. This isn't the best pic, but you get the idea. I'm not sure how much the foil lining helps, but I certainly didn't want that look in my garage. The white foam blends in nicely with my white aluminum garage doors.

mscolvin · Jun 24, 2012

Isn't there supposed to be an air gap between the radiant barrier (foil) side and the garage door? How did y'all handle that?

OJ Bartley · Jun 25, 2012

mscolvin, I debated putting a spacer or something into each section before applying the panels, but then decided against it. I'm guessing (with my limited knowledge of how insulation actually works) that an air gap would help to insulate, but I also wasn't sure if it could create condensation in there that wouldn't evaporate. In the end I decided to just go with the simplest solution, and to keep the panels as flush as possible. It seems to work quite well at resisting the heat throughout the day, but that also means it takes longer at the end of the day for the heat that eventually builds up to dissipate. The main goal with this project is to keep the garage from becoming so cold in the winter though, and I think that should work well, especially when parking the car with a warm engine in there.

Interex · Jun 25, 2012

Great thread! I was considering this when I stopped and talked to a guy a Costco selling his garage door insulation kits. At $40 a kit (for a single car garage) I thought that I could do better than $80 for my standard 2-car garage by going the DIY route.

Great info!

NewShockerGuy · Jul 24, 2012

Excellent!

Can't wait to do this. I am going the perma x route like many have here... The builder has these stupid plastic inserts on the garage that are chipping and painted a flat off white color.. plan on removing those and installing the foil panels, it will look good and reflect more light!

Plus it would be nice to cut down on some of this freaking heat!

-Nigel

700hpAMG · Jul 24, 2012

Installed the double bubble wrap as the seller put it, I can only say that the garage is 'considerably' cooler when the sun is beating down on it with the added benefit of being brighter. Took some before temp readings, have not yet taken any after as my thermo gun is still in the attic, however I am impressed with the temp reduction in the garage.

Bennie · Jul 24, 2012

I have cheap steel insulated doors. on my garage. A 16', 9' & 8' all 8' high, so it's a lot of sqft. of area. I added the "double bubble" insulation and saw a drop in my heat bill. I was able to tuck it in with the existing insulation (it's only 1/4" thick) and where needed a used some heavy foil tape too. The garage is brighter too. It paid for itself pretty quick.

From my understanding (correct me if I'm wrong) the radiant foil is effective as long as both sides aren't up against something. So in my application, the foil is reflecting heat back in to the garage durring the winter.

OJ Bartley · Jul 24, 2012

Looks really good, AMG. The bubbles would have been my second choice. Nice and light, and easy to install. I just liked the idea of the foam wedging itself in for extra strength, but I think they have around the same R value.

Shocker, I can't say how durable the styrofoam will be over time, but it has held in place perfectly since I put it in.

Bennie, that's interesting, you've doubled up and seen a benefit. Maybe I can add the double bubbles to what I have if I want to try for better efficiency.

EOC_Jason · Jul 24, 2012

I've done foam panels on a couple doors. Got them from an overhead door company so they were pretty much already the correct height, just had to trip the widths to get them in. Also they supplied some plastic angle pieces that you wedged between the edge of the foam and the door brackets and such, I guess to act more as aesthetic trim but also helps hold the foam in.

+1 on checking around the door for air leaks. All that work won't be worth snot if the air can just flow freely between a gap.

2011gt · Jul 25, 2012

700hpAMG said:
Installed the double bubble wrap as the seller put it, I can only say that the garage is 'considerably' cooler when the sun is beating down on it with the added benefit of being brighter. Took some before temp readings, have not yet taken any after as my thermo gun is still in the attic, however I am impressed with the temp reduction in the garage.

is this what you bought? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Garage-Door...836?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a1df70abc

CodeRedZ · Oct 2, 2012

good thing I found this thread. I was thinking about doing 4x8 sheets since it would be cheaper than the kits. Good to see it is working out for most people

OJ Bartley · Oct 2, 2012

Mine still seems to be more effective than it was, but I won't really know until we get into winter.

Scott P · Oct 2, 2012

I have an east-facing garage door here in Houston, TX. It gets crazy hot in the summer and just radiates the heat. I don't know which insulation to go with. I do want a nice look and haven't been completely sold on the look of the foiled bubble wrap. There is a company in Texas that offers a few different insulation solutions including plastic backed fiberglass, foam board and the foiled bubble wrap. It's a standard two car garage sized door.

Falcon67 · Oct 2, 2012

I did our house garage 16' south facing door this year with the same 1/2" styrofoam with aluminized back. Knocked 10~15F off the garage temp. Didn't much care how it looked, we just park the cars in there.

OJ Bartley · Oct 2, 2012

Scott, mine gets a lot of light before noon and it can warm up fast. The foil backed foam board seems to have helped with that.

PatKrewe · Oct 18, 2012

I think one of the simplest solutions is to look into garage doors that are themselves insulated. I know a local Phoenix garage door repair and install company that has them from Clopay which is a national brand.

CodeRedZ · Oct 18, 2012

PatKrewe said:
I think one of the simplest solutions is to look into garage doors that are themselves insulated. I know a local Phoenix garage door repair and install company that has them from Clopay which is a national brand.

yes if you need to install a new door I agree, but if you have a preexisting door already that is in great shape, no sense in spending money on a new door

CodeRedZ · Oct 18, 2012

here is a good link from DIY

http://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/how-to-insulate-a-garage-door/index.html

brianpgriset · Jan 20, 2013

I just finished 1/2" foam board on my garge door similar to others in this thread. I spaced the board off the back using him strips to create an air pocket and a nice tight fit. Like falcon my door faces south and gets blasted during summer making it very hot. Hopefully this will make it a touch more tolerable. :thumbup:

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