Garage door height vs wall height

[kylemac]

Hey Guys,

Just looking for another opinion on my build, I want to get as big of a door as I can height wise with my 12' walls, as of right now I am going to order a 12' wide by 10' high leaving me lots of room for my garage door and hardware, but got a price on a 11' high for not much more and was wondering if this was do able without making it a pain to open and close the door because of the tighter radius on the track. As of right now I have a 2 x12 3 ply for the header for the 12' opening but was going to talk to the build department and see if they would let me get away with a 2x10 3 ply or even if I had to go up to a 2x10 3 ply LVL and could get the extra foot it would be worth it. If I do this plus a double top plate that will put me at 12- 1/4" down from my 12' ceilings leaving me with a 1/4" shy of a 11' opening which im sure I can make work. Anyways just wanted to see who had experience doing this and if it is worth it.

 

[jblnut]

Hey Guys,

Just looking for another opinion on my build, I want to get as big of a door as I can height wise with my 12' walls, as of right now I am going to order a 12' wide by 10' high leaving me lots of room for my garage door and hardware, but got a price on a 11' high for not much more and was wondering if this was do able without making it a pain to open and close the door because of the tighter radius on the track. As of right now I have a 2 x12 3 ply for the header for the 12' opening but was going to talk to the build department and see if they would let me get away with a 2x10 3 ply or even if I had to go up to a 2x10 3 ply LVL and could get the extra foot it would be worth it. If I do this plus a double top plate that will put me at 12- 1/4" down from my 12' ceilings leaving me with a 1/4" shy of a 11' opening which im sure I can make work. Anyways just wanted to see who had experience doing this and if it is worth it.

Non standard sized doors are not that hard to get if you want to go that route. We put new doors in one of our sheds and the opening was something dumb like 11'8-1/2" or something silly like that. We gave the measurements to the overhead door company we deal with around here and had a door with equal sized panels for very little money more than a standard sized 12' door. We figured by the time we did what we needed to to make a standard sized door fit it'd have been more money and time than if we had one custom made.

Sort of answers your question but not directly I guess .... Any way to make the building taller ?? It is often not that expensive to add height if it is a possibility.

 

[firebirdparts]

You don't have to cut opening size that close. You can be 2 inches short and it'll still work just fine. The door doesn't go in the doorway.

The real question is whether you want the door to open with 1 foot of space, and you probably are okay. You be the judge on that.

 

[Lonnies Performance]

Low headroom tracks vary from manufacturer, ranging from 8" to approx 14" depending on the size needed to match your door weight.

Your builder will also have to ensure you have enough structure to support the free span width of the opening. You can add a steel header for more strength instead of wood if you are going for maximum height.

 

[rjacobs]

What do you have that you need an 11' opening as opposed to a 10'?

Seems most people go from a 10' to a 14' or 16' in order to get RV's and big trucks in to a shop. On the same note it seems MOST people run 2' less door than wall height.

11' just seems an odd size where I dont think the juice would be worth the squeeze, so to speak.

If you REALLY want a 11' opening I would probably get a rollup door vs. an overhead panel door. My guess is the door cost is quite a bit less than a custom 5 or 6 panel overhead door.

 

[matt_i]

A couple things to consider, they're not all giant factors but they are factors.

- its less insulation (lower R-value) than the framed wall can potentially be
- it covers more lighting when its fully opened
- a 10'6" trim brake won't bend the trim if you go that route, have to get into the 12' range brakes unless you intend to seam it
- LVL is a superior choice over 2x timber any day. However its typically 1-3/4" wide vs 1-1/2" for the machined timber. Not a problem but could change plans.
- have to be very careful as the door rides on top of the horizontal tracks. The top edge of the door has the brackets which make it protrude the most when its horizontal. Scraping the underside of the ceiling will limit where lights and fans can be placed, in rough numbers if you have an 11' opening, an 11" radius, the door rides 4" higher than the track, and gain 3" because of double top plate (minus 1/2" for drywall...more for liner panels)...maybe you gain 1-1/2" due to single bottom plate and 12' studs...I don't know for sure but you are rapidly approaching net zero for any lights.....

 

[YukonXL04]

What do you have that you need an 11' opening as opposed to a 10'?

Seems most people go from a 10' to a 14' or 16' in order to get RV's and big trucks in to a shop. On the same note it seems MOST people run 2' less door than wall height.

11' just seems an odd size where I dont think the juice would be worth the squeeze, so to speak.

If you REALLY want a 11' opening I would probably get a rollup door vs. an overhead panel door. My guess is the door cost is quite a bit less than a custom 5 or 6 panel overhead door.

My travel trailer is 10'6" so an 11ft would be amazing for me. Some boats with towers would be better suited with an 11' door. Just giving some examples.

My walls are 10' originally planned on 8' doors, spoke with the garage door supplier/installer and they agreed 9' doors will work fine in my scenario. But it's not framed yet so I dont know if it's going to be 10' even, or 10' 4 1/4" adding top and bottom plates... not sure

 

[kbs2244]

The top tracks do not have to be horizonal.
If you can make your ceiling sloped the tracks can follow the slope.
That will open up the curve.

 

[ddurrett896]

My buddy ran into a similar situation and instead of the LVL over the garage door (under the top plate), he used a 2x6 where the LVL would have went, then above the top plate had the LVL extended two feet past the door on each side and he strapped that to the 2x6.

 

[PhantomEB]

My ceiling is 9.5 and my door is 9. Lights sunken in flush with ceiling.