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Garage door thickness.

Sumboodie

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Started a project adding missing brackets to bolt the door track to the wall and ended up finding the bottom panel rotting away where the seal goes in.

It's a pretty cheap set of doors, only 1.4" thick. Internet says R-6.8.

Contemplating replacing them with at least a standard 1.75" thick door, r-16 or 3", r-25.

How much heat is lost between an ~r7 vs r-16?

Doors are 10 wide, 13 tall. Most of 1 wall of the building.

Cost me about $1500 to heat last year.
 
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Sumboodie

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any insulation is good insulation.
they saying here is, pay for insulation once, pay for heat everytime it comes on .
r-16 is probably a good return on your $$
I'm guess 5-6k area, so 10+ years I'd guess.
 

NUTTSGT

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any insulation is good insulation.
they saying here is, pay for insulation once, pay for heat everytime it comes on .
r-16 is probably a good return on your $$
That's my train of thought. Insulation is an investment.

Granted, you will always have some leakage around the doors, but that's trues of no matter how thick the door is.

Can you afford all the doors right now or one at a time ? If you did one door, you could take temp measurements during the winter and see if it's helping.
 
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Sumboodie

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That's my train of thought. Insulation is an investment.

Granted, you will always have some leakage around the doors, but that's trues of no matter how thick the door is.

Can you afford all the doors right now or one at a time ? If you did one door, you could take temp measurements during the winter and see if it's helping.

If I did replace, I think I'd d do just 1 door instead of 2. Knock out the wall between and an 18ft wide door vs 2 10s.
 
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Sumboodie

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Called for prices yesterday, nothing so far.
One place claimed they needed to come out, even though I told them what I needed and I just needed a quote.
If I decide to order THEN they can come out.
 

NUTTSGT

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Called for prices yesterday, nothing so far.
One place claimed they needed to come out, even though I told them what I needed and I just needed a quote.
If I decide to order THEN they can come out.
Some places are so busy, they don't want to give quotes or avoid the tire kickers.

If they don't reply back, I'd call again and let them know what your whole project is.... Removing 2 doors, reframing for a single. Tell them you need a ball park number not an exact quote.
 

nadogail

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Garage Door prices are some what flexible but no salesman would admit that. Their job is to load you up with options and features. There is always a discount for your immediate commitment to a sale.
They will probably all tell you that their lowest price model is nothing but ****, but they can get you a deal on the next higher grade model. That deal will have to be made immediately to lock in a price.
 
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Sumboodie

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Garage Door prices are some what flexible but no salesman would admit that. Their job is to load you up with options and features. There is always a discount for your immediate commitment to a sale.
They will probably all tell you that their lowest price model is nothing but ****, but they can get you a deal on the next higher grade model. That deal will have to be made immediately to lock in a price.

Std 2" thick R20 door and suggested no windows to keep it cheaper and better insulated.
 

428PI

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I was quoted something like 5k for a door and conventional opener. I asked about just the door. Would have saved 600 bucks. Problem was that they were 8 months behind and didn't do any rough in framing. Ordered my door from Menards and 3 weeks later picked it up. Door was 2.6k and opener 382 bucks. Framed it in myself.
 

P0234

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I don't think there is going to be any real savings over the life of a door, from something like an actual R5 and going to an imaginary R20 door. Maybe someone has the perfect door somewhere, but any door I've been around, the cold coming from the door is from the air leaks, not the material's lack of insulation.
 
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Sumboodie

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I was quoted something like 5k for a door and conventional opener. I asked about just the door. Would have saved 600 bucks. Problem was that they were 8 months behind and didn't do any rough in framing. Ordered my door from Menards and 3 weeks later picked it up. Door was 2.6k and opener 382 bucks. Framed it in myself.
I'd be doing the framing as well. Converting 2 10x13 openings to a 20x13.

I checked on Maynards site, about 6k. Just they are so far away!

Going to wait for a few other quotes. I'm not affording a 15k door.

The brochure looks like it's great quality, but that's 3+ months 0f wages!
 
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TractorJeff

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2 ten foot doors may have a header supported in the middle? Will that need to change size if removing center support?
I am guessing some investigation into spans and loading need to be done?
 

FredWanaker

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if I run the home AC or heat and blow it into my insulated garage, R6 door facing west, the temperature is stable. But if the space is not conditioned it is closer to ambient as the average outside temperature soaks thru the door, walls and ceiling. I think a greater R value door would help contain the conditioned air but do little to heat or cool the garage any more than the lower R value. The heat or cold might show up a couple hours earlier or later but it will soak thru regardless of the R value.
 

BillD

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Glue some styrofoam insulation to the inside of the door. It's R5 per inch and way cheaper than a new door.
 

428PI

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I'd be doing the framing as well. Converting 2 10x13 openings to a 20x13.
If not a load bearing wall (and perhaps a load bearing wall) I wonder if say a 2 ft high truss system would work better than say multiple LVL's nailed together for that kind of span?
I am guessing some investigation into spans and loading need to be done?
yes
 

cr-garagedoor

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Let's compare the heat loss for your current R-7 door and a potential R-16 door:

  1. Current R-7 Door: Total R-value: R-7 Heat loss through the door: 1/R-7 = 1/7 = 0.143 heat units lost per unit time.
  2. Potential R-16 Door: Total R-value: R-16 Heat loss through the door: 1/R-16 = 1/16 = 0.063 heat units lost per unit time.
So, by upgrading from an R-7 door to an R-16 door, you would reduce the heat loss through the door by approximately (0.143-0.063)=0.08 heat units per unit of time. This reduction in heat loss can translate to lower heating costs and improved energy efficiency for your building, especially considering that the door covers most of one wall.
 

P0234

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Let's compare the heat loss for your current R-7 door and a potential R-16 door:

  1. Current R-7 Door: Total R-value: R-7 Heat loss through the door: 1/R-7 = 1/7 = 0.143 heat units lost per unit time.
  2. Potential R-16 Door: Total R-value: R-16 Heat loss through the door: 1/R-16 = 1/16 = 0.063 heat units lost per unit time.
So, by upgrading from an R-7 door to an R-16 door, you would reduce the heat loss through the door by approximately (0.143-0.063)=0.08 heat units per unit of time. This reduction in heat loss can translate to lower heating costs and improved energy efficiency for your building, especially considering that the door covers most of one wall.
So how long will it take for him to recoup the cost of the new door, 50 years?
 
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Sumboodie

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2 ten foot doors may have a header supported in the middle? Will that need to change size if removing center support?
I am guessing some investigation into spans and loading need to be done?
No, it's on the "gable" end wall. Trusses are supported on the other 2 walls.
 
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Sumboodie

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Let's compare the heat loss for your current R-7 door and a potential R-16 door:

  1. Current R-7 Door: Total R-value: R-7 Heat loss through the door: 1/R-7 = 1/7 = 0.143 heat units lost per unit time.
  2. Potential R-16 Door: Total R-value: R-16 Heat loss through the door: 1/R-16 = 1/16 = 0.063 heat units lost per unit time.
So, by upgrading from an R-7 door to an R-16 door, you would reduce the heat loss through the door by approximately (0.143-0.063)=0.08 heat units per unit of time. This reduction in heat loss can translate to lower heating costs and improved energy efficiency for your building, especially considering that the door covers most of one wall.
New door is claimed to be r20. Also have 3" doors available, those I'm not sure the r rating.

My walls are r-21 and ceiling is r50
if I run the home AC or heat and blow it into my insulated garage, R6 door facing west, the temperature is stable. But if the space is not conditioned it is closer to ambient as the average outside temperature soaks thru the door, walls and ceiling. I think a greater R value door would help contain the conditioned air but do little to heat or cool the garage any more than the lower R value. The heat or cold might show up a couple hours earlier or later but it will soak thru regardless of the R value.
Heated floor. And currently is my house. (Apartment in the shop)
 

FredWanaker

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New door is claimed to be r20. Also have 3" doors available, those I'm not sure the r rating.

My walls are r-21 and ceiling is r50

Heated floor. And currently is my house. (Apartment in the shop)
if it is a conditioned space you would want as much R value as possible within reason, and considering the climate you are in. You indicate AK, if you experience cold winters, a greater R value on a large door would slow heat loss, heat that you are paying for. However if you are burning wood say to heat, and the cost of the door is $8K, then the monetary savings might not be as much but you would have less wood to split and carry though... The R6 door on my garage does a good job of slowing heat transfer when I am conditioning the garage. But even if it was a greater R value, heat transfer will still occur, just slower.
 
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Sumboodie

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New quote for an 18x12.5 and opener is about 10k.

That's the lowest so far.

20 wide is around 12k
 
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Sumboodie

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if it is a conditioned space you would want as much R value as possible within reason, and considering the climate you are in. You indicate AK, if you experience cold winters, a greater R value on a large door would slow heat loss, heat that you are paying for. However if you are burning wood say to heat, and the cost of the door is $8K, then the monetary savings might not be as much but you would have less wood to split and carry though... The R6 door on my garage does a good job of slowing heat transfer when I am conditioning the garage. But even if it was a greater R value, heat transfer will still occur, just slower.

Gas heat and plan on waste oil.soon
 

smackey05

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I don't think there is going to be any real savings over the life of a door, from something like an actual R5 and going to an imaginary R20 door. Maybe someone has the perfect door somewhere, but any door I've been around, the cold coming from the door is from the air leaks, not the material's lack of insulation.
Pretty much this exactly. I took some thermal images of my door when I was testing out some insulation and the majority of the air came from leaks. I noticed mine last winter, when wind would push against the door it would slightly push back and let more cold in.

I did a whole YouTube video/test on a thermal layer over the door.

20230705T152502.jpg
 
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Sumboodie

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Pretty much this exactly. I took some thermal images of my door when I was testing out some insulation and the majority of the air came from leaks. I noticed mine last winter, when wind would push against the door it would slightly push back and let more cold in.

I did a whole YouTube video/test on a thermal layer over the door.

20230705T152502.jpg

I was surprised my ceiling didn't show cold. It's r19 at best and should be r50.
 
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