Insulating Garage Door

[simbey1982]

Hello All,

So reading through some previous posts ive come to the conclusion that i need to insulate my garage door. So i wanted to ask the experts what they think.

I have an attached two car garage that is 24' x 24' x 8.5' The walls and ceiling are insulated and its finished with drywall and painted. Concrete slab floor, double uninsulated metal garage door with top row of windows and one. Just a space heater for heat when its needed. Unlike many of you on here its your average garage but it suits my needs.

I have mulled over some solutions but want to ask a community that has some experience

The solutions i have found are

1.) The Owens Corning Garage Door Insulation Kit This is R-8 and is fiberglass strand with vinyl backing.

2. Garage Door Foam Insulation Kit This is R-4.5 and is a rigid foam with relief cuts so it can be bent into panels.

3. Buy my own rigid isulation and go to town.

Price wise they seem with $50 or so of each other which isnt a big deal. I do get some moisture in my garage which im hoping to solve with some ventilation soon.

Another big issue is the top bay of windows across the top it seems odd to do cuts around these or should i just not insulate the top row.

Anyone who has done this or has experience with any solutions please post im open to all options. I am a pretty handy guy so any reasonable solution goes

Thanks in advance,

Cory

 

[2_lude]

I'll toss in another option.

Reflectix and double sided tape. Made a huge difference keeping garage cooler in the Texas heat.

 

[z28toz06]

get some polyisocyanurate panels and cut them to fit the panels. metal side facing the garage inside. You can place some frp or luan over them if you want to protect them from gouging etc. everything i've read on here those kits are $h1t.

you might have to increase your spring tension if it adds enough weight to the doors and you don't have an opener.

 

[spyhunter]

home depot has a kit, 75 bucks for a 1 car. it's the pink stuff with a vinyl backing

 

[harvero]

Plain uninsulated door.

One layer of reflective insulation.

Add in a JM insulation kit.

Add another layer of reflective insulation.

Got a deal on the kits.

I got the reflective insulation from http://www.insulation4less.com/Insulation4lessProduct-1-Prodex-Total-48-Inch.aspx

 

[simbey1982]

Harvero,

I like that setup I think that may be the route i go. I have seen that reflective stuff but didnt seem like enough by itself. Both would be awesome! Thanks for the reply anything else?

Cory

 

[simbey1982]

So after much research I finally settled on a setup. I went with a garage door Insulation from Atlas EPS. It is a foam insulation with a Polystrene cover to help protect it. It has relief cuts along the back to allow you to pressure fit it in your metal door. It has an R-Value of 4.5. Not huge but about what you get.

I decided against the BATT style insulation because of its tendency to fall out and mostly because of the moist environment I live in I didnt want the insulation getting moist. I also found that the EPS stuff was only about $40 more than the Batt style insulation.

I almost went with the reflectix stuff but it just looked terrible with the rest of the garage. I have a white/gray theme going and the chrome did not really go with it so I decided on the Atlas EPS.

It comes in boxes of 8 panels which will do a standard 1 car garage door so i got two boxes. Dimensions of the panels are 1-1/4" x 20-1/4" x 54" At $85 each the total was $170 and there was a free shipping special. The total weight of both boxes is 20lbs but after trimming the insulation I think it came in around 16 or 17lbs added to door weight. So the website for these folks is http://www.doorinsulationkit.com/ and here is some pics of my install. Hope this helps somebody.


1. This is the box it came in

2.This is the front of an uncut panel

3.This is the back of an uncut panel

4. I didn't take a true "before" shot, but here is my door with only two panels installed. I decided to cover my windows because I wanted insulation and didnt care about them

5. The height was right for my door so I only needed to make a cut to width which was done with a razor knife

6. Then one edge was placed in the door.

7. Then flex the board to fit the next edge.

8. And snap into place. I deviated from the instructions which wanted you to cut a small piece for semi enclosed areas. I cut the panel to fit and slid it in for a tight fit...be careful though as i was too forceful with one and put a small crease in it...grrr...

9. Rinse and Repeat until done. The website claims it "takes an hour." Realistically with being careful, measuring, cutting, and fitting a 2 car door it was more like 3 hours but still it was quick and easy.

Well, there ya go. I have had it up for a few days and can notice a big difference between garage and outdoor temp. I also added a dehumidifier to help with my moisture problem and its like a new garage! If you have questions about the dehumidifier see my thread about that Dehumidifier Thread. Have fun!

 

[Andamo]

I went ahead and ordered the Atlas EPS insulation for my 3 garage doors. I have Clopay doors and they already have a little over 3/4'' of insulation on the doors. That left me with just under 1'' from the insulation to the door lip for the Atlas EPS insulation. Since it's 1.25'', it would never fit. I thought maybe about cutting out the original Clopay insulation, but why take out insulation to add more. Plus, it still wouldn't be a interference fit with the new insulation because I'd have 1.750'' from the lip to the door. What I am going to do is cut the insulation to fit snug, then get Styrofoam glue and glue the new insulation to the old. First though I think I need to wash the dirt off the old door insulation so the panels adhere.
The new insulation is wider than I need so I ripped them on my table saw to fit. That seemed to minimize the ''popcorn'' from going everywhere.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Wow, that's some serious mark up. Sorry I didn't see this thread earlier. I would have told you just to buy some 4'x8' sheets and cut them yourself, you probably could have done it for half the money.

The important thing is you got it done and it looks good. Personally I think those fiberglass look like **** but to each their own.

 

[Todd.Brock]

The Polystyrene install looks really good. I bought an insulated door over the winter and love the fact there is a metal layer to protect frorm gouging the insulation.

 

[Eagle Point]

I bought the kits from Lowes which I think is the Atlas EPS kit. I installed it on 2 - 16' & 1 - 9' doors at my home and it looks very clean and makes a noticable difference. The biggest hassle was cleaning up all the little foam balls that were everywhere after trimming the pieces. There has been no problem with the added weight, which is not very much, effecting the door opener operation plus the door is a little quieter going up & down. To me it was well worth it.

 

[Andamo]

I suppose it was a little pricey now that I can't use them as intended. But they do have a finished surface on the one side, and I know that's not worth the extra money and now with the purchase of glue, that'll be a little more. But, it's too late to send them back now since I took the saw to them.

 

[redsky49]

Looks excellent. Job well done!

Not to be a naysayer, but I have encountered situations where insulation placed directly behind glass resulted in cracking of the glass. The heat buildup from direct solar gain, along with the loss of all that area of radiation back into the occupied space (due to the insulation), results in expansion that may break the pane.

Just something to be aware of.

As always, offered only as opinion

 

[Cobra6]

get some polyisocyanurate panels and cut them to fit the panels. metal side facing the garage inside. You can place some frp or luan over them if you want to protect them from gouging etc.

my doors came with insulation on the back - I was thinking about putting some Luan or FRP over the insulation panels - has anyone done this?

I wonder if it would be possible to cut some panels and slide those in - or would some caulk hold them or do I need some screws or something?

 

[Andamo]

Well the gluing of the panels in place didn't work ! The panels fit nice and snug, but I think I'm going to get some aluminum strapping and run it across the panels and screw them into the sides and middle just to make sure then don't fall out when the door is open.

 

[mpire]

I was thinking of getting some of that white vinyl covered Masonite and cutting it and screwing it to the door to give it a more finished look.

 

[Cobra6]

Well the gluing of the panels in place didn't work ! The panels fit nice and snug, but I think I'm going to get some aluminum strapping and run it across the panels and screw them into the sides and middle just to make sure then don't fall out when the door is open.

Thanks for the info - I was afraid that the panels might not stay glued on -
looks like the Fed Gov shutdown and furlough will send us defense contractors home, so I will have some extra time to look at some Luan or FRP and figure out how to attach it.

 

[Andamo]

I got some nylon strapping from my neighbor and I tried one strip of it and didn't like the way it looked. While I was doing this I came up the idea of making short 2'' x 1/2'' sections of thin aluminum flat stock and using 4 of them around the perimeter of each panel. Since the panels stick out past the door about 3/16'', that should hold them tight against the original door insulation and keep them from possibly falling out when the door is opened.

 

[simbey1982]

I will look out for that cracking in the windows.

As for being pricey it really came down to the finished look so i paid extra to have that. Thanks for all the comments and good luck

Cory

 

[DefSport]

Bumping this up as I'm looking to insulate my garage doors soon. I'm in Houston, so summer heat is my main problem. Thankfully the garage faces east and the the doors get some shade from the house/setback.

I cut some 3/4" rigid iso on my last house, and it wasn't too hard of an install. About 1.5-2 hours total for a 2 car garage door, but I never liked how fragile the boards were. It didn't take much to dent or ding them up, so they showed a fair bit of wear after a few years.

So I came across the Atlas EPS kit, and while it's a bit pricier than the DIY rigid iso, it also offers a polystyrene cover.

My question is - how durable is this cover exactly? Is it strong enough that the occasional tool/object ding is not going to leave a permanent mark?

If it's much more durable than bare iso board - I'll probably spring for the extra cost. If it's not, then I'll just do it myself again.

Or if someone has found something that you can put over the iso board to protect it and even change out if it does get damage would be good as well. I thought about coroplast, but it seems that enough to do 168 sq ft of garage doors starts bringing the price dangerously close to the Atlas EPS kits.

 

[Merlinii]

I found Amazon and Sears to be a bit pricey then I found the Atlas Website.

http://atlaseps.com/products/matador-garage-door-insulation

Residential Matador Garage Door Insulation Kit with FREE Shipping

http://www.doorinsulationkit.com/single-garage-door-insulation-kit.html

This looks like a good way to go. How is it holding up for the folks that have installed it?

 

[Merlinii]

Atlas EPS S-GDIK001 Matador Garage Door Insulation,
Universal Kit for 8-Foot and 9-Foot Metal Garage Doors,
Includes 8 White Boards

Here's a DIY install video
Matador Garage Door Insulation Kit - YouTube

 

[Merlinii]

I'm thinking about using:

1) Johns Manville R-8 Garage Door Insulation Panel Kit

2) Insulfoam Garage Door Insulation Kit

or

3) Atlas EPS S-GDIK001 Matador Garage Door Insulation

I know there a TONS of threads on here about them...
but any thoughts or feedback is greatly appreciated.

 

[jameswood]

Bumping this up as I'm looking to insulate my garage doors soon. I'm in Houston, so summer heat is my main problem. Thankfully the garage faces east and the the doors get some shade from the house/setback.

I cut some 3/4" rigid iso on my last house, and it wasn't too hard of an install. About 1.5-2 hours total for a 2 car garage door, but I never liked how fragile the boards were. It didn't take much to dent or ding them up, so they showed a fair bit of wear after a few years.

So I came across the Atlas EPS kit, and while it's a bit pricier than the DIY rigid iso, it also offers a polystyrene cover.

My question is - how durable is this cover exactly? Is it strong enough that the occasional tool/object ding is not going to leave a permanent mark?

If it's much more durable than bare iso board - I'll probably spring for the extra cost. If it's not, then I'll just do it myself again.

Or if someone has found something that you can put over the iso board to protect it and even change out if it does get damage would be good as well. I thought about coroplast, but it seems that enough to do 168 sq ft of garage doors starts bringing the price dangerously close to the Atlas EPS kits.

Might check out white scrim. Comes in rolls and has a matching tape (sticks incredibly well). No weight, easy to replace if damaged or patch w/ matching tape if torn, low cost per sf.etc...

I used perforated white to cover my cathedral ceiling insul job but haven't gotten around to doing the OH yet.

Had some areas on my 9x16 (commercial door) that EPS couldn't cover so used min expanding foam from an etec gun and its small tip.