Garage Door Questions.

[Drjay9051]

I need a bit of help. Maybe some of you more experienced can chime in. I have a 24x24 "pole barn" It is built in front of an attached work room.

Originally it was just a dirt floor . last year I had a nice slab poured to keep down the dust.

I am going to enclose the pole barn and have no problem with the sides and side door.

My concern is the front portion. I'd like to hang a couple of garage doors, the typical kind that run on tracks seen at most homes.

Spoke with the people at the big box stores and still confused. Across the front are 4x6 supports. One at each end and one in the middle. Also supports along sides but not a concern.

The openings are 11.5 ft, a center support 5.5 inches wide and another 11.5 foot opening.

I have two kayak racks on my truck and height is 7.6 feet so i am looking at 8 ft high doors. I need a total 9 feet opening to safely drive my truck inside. On different threads I have read that I need at least 2 feet of "support" on either side? Not clear on this. I have lots of joists, beams etc above to hang the track so why the 2 feet on either side?

Do I have room for doors?

If this is a problem i suppose i could go to carriage house type doors that open outward (expensive) or maybe metal roll up type door.

Any help is appreciated.

At H.D. it was suggested I just order 2 9x8 foot doors and I'll be done in a couple of hours. i got no help on how to frame for garage doors.

Anybody??

 

[spotco2]

I see no reason for any extra special support. Your building is supported already and you are just filling in the gaps between the existing post.

I would just use 10' wide doors and frame them out with 2 2x6's on each side and a 2x10 across the top so you have something to mount an opener to if you want it.

 

[upndown]

You do NOT need 2' clearance on the side! I've installed doors where the vertical track brackets touched the side walls, as long as the framing is solid. I agree with spotco..10x8 You can even go higher if headroom allows as well as the budget..Good luck

 

[Badasssapper67]

Im considering the same thing with an outbuilding on my new place. It's a 3 bay pole barn with each bay being 11' on center. I'd like to get roll up doors like on warehouses, to the doors wont get in the way when they are opened.
I have no idea what the cost would be going that way and what companies makes a good door.
If it's too crazy expensive for a home shop I'll go with regular garage doors, but would still like to go tall with them, say 10"-12" high.
Anyone have good experiances with door brands?

 

[Drjay9051]

I appreciate the replies.

Small problem (or maybe big one): As you can see from the attached pics there are diagonal braces which will impede a 9X8 or 10x8 door. The vertical supports are bolted to the framing by some pretty big bolts. i think i can safely get rid of the diagonals but not sure.

The entire frame along the top has large bolts connecting the sides and front. Also cross members at top as seen in pic.
I'm thinking remove these diagonals and since I'll be adding a header type beam to frame out the top at 8 feet just connect header to existing structure with long screws or lag bolts.

I really don't want to hire an engineer. I believe the diagonals are overkill.

What are your thoughts?

 

[spotco2]

They are not in the way.

Just use them as an architectural detail and cover them.

That's a $500 upgrade in most places!

BTW.....check with some of the commercial door companies in your area for a turn key price. I just had two 8x10 doors delivered and installed cheaper than I could have purchased just the doors for. They even drove in over 80 miles 1 way to deliver and install the doors.

 

[dr bob]

My garage construction required "shear panels" on either side of each opening. They do a lot of things, most important for your case is that they prevent the opening from 'racking' out of square when the ground moves. Local code/standard required use of a Simpson product, but you can make an equivalent using your jack studs, diagonal bracing, and some OSB sheathing. The header bolts to the tops of the 36"-wide shear panels. I took the requirement a step further by adding OSB facing in and out on the rest of the front wall. It's cheap, and allowed a much easier drywall installation vs. trying to add lathing or shims to areas that didn't include the OSB. Building the shear panels would also eliminate the need to those diagonal blocks if you are diligent about how you bolt the new header to the tops of the shear panels.

 

[Drjay9051]

They are not in the way.

Just use them as an architectural detail and cover them.

That's a $500 upgrade in most places!

BTW.....check with some of the commercial door companies in your area for a turn key price. I just had two 8x10 doors delivered and installed cheaper than I could have purchased just the doors for. They even drove in over 80 miles 1 way to deliver and install the doors.

Not clear on this. If you look at the 2nd image in my post the diagonal is less than 8 foot high and I believe will impede the door. If I order a 10 ft wide door that puts me right in the middle of the diagonal.

Now if the bottom of diagonals were higher than 8 feet no problem.

Am I missing something here?

Wait, are you suggesting I set the doors back? Into the garage ? In other words add supports inside of the existing frame and that way the diagonals could be left in place.

 

[Chitown_hillbilly]

Am I missing something here?

Wait, are you suggesting I set the doors back? Into the garage ? In other words add supports inside of the existing frame and that way the diagonals could be left in place.

Most likely when you finish the front of that building the Garage door would be on the inside of those posts, meaning inside the building not between them. Not sure if that makes sense but you could trim out that diagonal with the door behind it like spotco2's pics.

 

[spotco2]

Wait, are you suggesting I set the doors back? Into the garage ? In other words add supports inside of the existing frame and that way the diagonals could be left in place.

Correct. The door tracks mount to the back side of those post and the door sits behind them on the inside of the building.

 

[James-W]

When I built my garage I had a long talk with the building inspector before I started construction. I found out that the code for doors is, from the edge of the door opening to the corner of the building it must be at least 4 feet. If it is less than 4 feet then you need special bracing in the corner. This is true even when it is an entrance door rather than an overhead door.

I have no idea what your local codes are for this, but that's what they are where I live. I suggest you take a little time and look into this before you start installing doors, you may find what you are doing does not meet your local building code. I could be wrong about this, after all, I don't know what your local building codes are. It is certainly possible you may be OK simply due to the type of building it is, but I would still check just to be sure it is acceptable. It's better to be safe than sorry.

 

[Drjay9051]

Correct. The door tracks mount to the back side of those post and the door sits behind them on the inside of the building.

Got it ! Thanks for the help. Doors will be last thing, after sides, side door etc. I really appreciate your help.

 

[upndown]

When I built my garage I had a long talk with the building inspector before I started construction. I found out that the code for doors is, from the edge of the door opening to the corner of the building it must be at least 4 feet. If it is less than 4 feet then you need special bracing in the corner. This is true even when it is an entrance door rather than an overhead door.

I have no idea what your local codes are for this, but that's what they are where I live. I suggest you take a little time and look into this before you start installing doors, you may find what you are doing does not meet your local building code. I could be wrong about this, after all, I don't know what your local building codes are. It is certainly possible you may be OK simply due to the type of building it is, but I would still check just to be sure it is acceptable. It's better to be safe than sorry.

Never heard that before, doesn't make sense. They sell those prebuilt sheds 10 and 12' wide with an 8x7 door installed. I agree with you tho, doesn't cost anything to check.