door delima

[al704]

adding an addition to my concrete block garage and I'm trying to decide what to do for a door in the connecting wall. I need something 5 to 6 feet wide and it has to be insulated, new addition will be heated old garage won't. The narrow insulated garage doors I've found are as expensive or more than a 9ft door. Doesn't need to be a roll up door, any ideas?

 

[bazzateer]

Build it yourself out of 4"x2" or 6"x2" and panel both sides with OSB/ply with fibreglass bats inbetween.

 

[BFBOB]

Bazzateer is on the right track, but a similar technique I've used is to make a sandwich panel with plywood glued to rigid foam. Very light, very strong and insulated. Use 2" rigid foam, glue it with a construction adhesive that won't melt it! Read the label. Spread as evenly as you can quickly, "clamp" it with weights. Glue up one plywood sheet at a time; you won't have time to spread the adhesive on both. Then, build a 2x4 frame around it to provide solid places for hinges and latches. Such panels are manufactured for use as a complete wall or roof - Homasote (check spelling) is a brand I've heard of. Check their website for ideas on how to best make a door of it.
I've made panels like this of 1/2" rigid foam sandwiched with 1/8" plywood-amazingly strong for its weight.
I believe rigid foam's R value is greater than fiberglass batts for equivalent thickness, but that's easily checked on the Web. Batts don't add any strength, though. With the rigid foam, I think you could use 3/8", perhaps even 1/4" plywood and have a really sturdy door.

 

[tractordude]

Same as above^^^, How about making a sliding door?

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

Double exterior doors.

 

[akdiesel]

Look on craigslist for a 16' or smaller door for cheap and cut it to size. You can put some aluminum angle iron on the sides to cover the exposed insulation and to help with structural support.

 

[Dcampbell98xj]

Most insulated garage doors come with steel end caps. Find a used door on CL or something and then remove the end caps and cut to size. Just make sure you get the mounting locations for the center hinges centered. Example, if it's 8' wide remove the end caps and cut 1 1/2feet of each end and re install the end caps. You will need to find the correct springs though. A standard 8x7 insulated door usually uses 130lb extension springs. Look at homedepot or lowes for spring around 80 or 90lbs. My company did custom size doors all the time. The factories use the same method. The sections usually come in long lengths and then cut to size.

 

[Falcon67]

What they said - double doors made from maybe OSB sheet and sandwiching 1" pink hard foam board. Trim them out, paint to look like a barn door, maybe a 2D cow painted on the wall next to it...

Chopping down a used door would also be trick.