Even cheaper garage doors

[thunderskunk]

I’m here seeking wisdom.

I built my own swinging, insulated garage doors from 2x3s, T111, and rigid foam. 4.5x8 doors, six total. I wouldn’t say they’re permanent nor better than store bought, but it’s been two years with one set being used several times a day for a mechanic business. It’s a nightmare when it snows. But by golly it was cheap.

Now I’ve got a smaller shed with bigger doors: one is 10x10, the other is 16x10. Technically I can make them a foot higher if I want, but I need 10ft of clearance for… reasons. These doors will open maybe ten times a year, if that. The space is uninsulated, though it’ll be occasionally heated.

This is what I think I’m going to do… on the big door, I’ll hang uni strut from the header. I’ve got these rollers. I’ll drill some holes in some angle iron, bolt a 4x8 sheet of plywood so that it hangs on center, hang another 2ft of plywood under that, and tie four panels together with piano hinges. Very little forces from moment like a big hinged door, very little required precision because it’s not a rolling garage door, and it’s cheap because it’s five pieces of plywood. It… will not look good.

Suggestions? I know I know, just buy a commercial door… got it. That makes a lot of sense. Plywood is cheaper by a factor of 10.

 

[inphx]

I bet a local garage door installer can set aside takeoffs to get you a set?

 

[racecougar]

I'm lost as to which part suggestions are requested for? That specific design approach or other approaches?

 

[nadogail]

Garage door installers typically charge to haul away the old doors when they sell a replacement.

A little Cash should get you some "Good Enough" panels and track to make a door; it may take two or more "Deals" to get enough material to make the door that will fill your opening.

 

[jollygreengiant]

What about just making a sliding door?

 

[nadogail]

Cheap and good and fast have, IMHE, proven themselves to be mutually exclusive.

You can get very Cheap Garage Doors but you may need a lot of patience waiting until the right alignment of components comes together.

 

[thunderskunk]

I didn’t like any of the options: I need the ceiling open for access, lighting, and a vent pipe when we light a fire do various reasons, which rules out a traditional panel door. Plus, the widths and heights exceed what I would reasonably expect those panel styles to withstand. Roll up doors are expensive; $3k non-insulated plus delivery for one door, and I still have to install myself. I got a quote at $14,000 for both of them, and that was on the low end, non insulated.



There’s the front one; it’ll be swinging doors just like the last set I made. I built them in place when I realized it’ll take four dudes to lift a door made of six sheets of plywood, and highly unlikely it’ll be flat, square, and sized right.




The back door is more or less a wall I built so I can turn into a door if I need to. I did finish it last night, but it was late and I didn’t grab photos. They’ll swing like closet doors; I’ll replace the unistrut hanger with full length pieces which supports the end of the swinging doors.

• 2x 10’ unistrut $125 (overpriced)
• 4x rollers, 2x stops $110
• 10x bar holders $20
• 15x hinges $55
• Glue and caulk gun: $80
• 10x Plywood, 1/2” CDX $300
• 10x T1-11 $600
• Lumber: $160

I had hardware and some lumber left over, and still need coatings of some sort. I would say not terrible: $1500 for two massive doors that won’t get a ton of use. The space isn’t getting insulated, but I could add rigid foam easy enough. Lumber prices are high, and I didn’t shop around much this time.