Insulating Garage Doors

[curlyws6]

Another thing on the list to do in my garage is insulate the garage doors.

Any advice / tips on insulating panel garage doors? I have seen several posts on here where people have insulated garage doors and need advice.

 

[Floorguy]

Another thing on the list to do in my garage is insulate the garage doors.

Any advice / tips on insulating panel garage doors? I have seen several posts on here where people have insulated garage doors and need advice.

My local home depot sells specific panels to do that with. Yhey are foam covered with a vinyl type paper. Just cut to size with a razor knife and use some liquid nails to adhere to door.

Pretty simple and works GREAT.

 

[engnerdan]

I bought the same thing mentioned above from the local Menards. They work great and I did not even glue them in, I just cut them to the exact size I needed (extra and they will bow out).

Dan

 

[zcarnut]

Like Floorguy, I used the insulated foam panels (I got mine at Lowe's) cut to fit. They were one-half inch thick so I laid one piece on top of another. Be sure to get enough adhesive. I needed sixteen tubes of Liquid Nails!

 

[spoulson]

Like Floorguy, I used the insulated foam panels (I got mine at Lowe's) cut to fit. They were one-half inch thick so I laid one piece on top of another. Be sure to get enough adhesive. I needed sixteen tubes of Liquid Nails!

The insulation looks great! But 16 tubes?! That's one per section. Liquid nails is fairly strong adhesive. Even with two ply, was it really necessary to use so much?

 

[BearHit]

Wow - I only used 2 tubes of adhesive - I diagonally cut each panel to make it as tight of a fit as possible - so even without adhesive - it wasn't likely to fall out.

 

[curlyws6]

Keep the information and pics coming! Thanks for the replies. This looks like a fairly easy project.

The temperature is starting to go up here and I was surprised at how cool the garage was inside today (maybe the insulation in the walls is paying off ).

 

[JP WNY]

Would it be beneficial to add this foam board or somthing else to an existing residential foam insulated garage door? My heater just arrived and I'm trying to seal everything up where possible.

 

[boiler7904]

I bought the same thing mentioned above from the local Menards. They work great and I did not even glue them in, I just cut them to the exact size I needed (extra and they will bow out).

Dan

That's what I'll be using in a few months. I'd do it now but it doesn't make much sense to insulate the door when two whole walls and the ceiling aren't insulated - damn cheap builder.

 

[Franz©]

Just used the 3/4" foam the siding guy uses for underlayment. I swapped him 3 bails of straw for the foam he was saving for an aechery target.
The foil faced is nicest.

 

[spoulson]

What about insulating around the door sides? Mine is just your regular 8x7 aluminum doors with weatherstripping around the sides. It doesn't seal all that great, since I can see daylight through them most of the time when the wind blows.

 

[rattlecan]

What about insulating around the door sides? Mine is just your regular 8x7 aluminum doors with weatherstripping around the sides. It doesn't seal all that great, since I can see daylight through them most of the time when the wind blows.

I noticed this on my garage as well.

I am going to try to seal mine up with a rubber flap...

But am looking for alternatives.

 

[Mac Attack]

Make sure after adding insulation (even though the foam pieces are light it still adds up), adhesive, and maybe paint that your door is still properly balanced. If not then your garage door opener may fail due to the added stress.

 

[Workinprogress]

I just did this to my garage doors. i used the pink foam insulation, the 1.5 inch thick stuff. I used construction adhesive and a tight fit to put them on. Yes it will make the door heavier, so what I'm going to do is first skin the door with frp and silicone around it to seal any air gaps when I attach the panels. Next, put the door up, disconnect the springs (carefully supporting the door as well!!) lower it on a scale, record the weight, buy heavier replacement springs to re-balance the door, and re-attach, done. The reason I'm going thru the trouble to cover the pink foam is, first off it looks silly, then the frp will be durable and strong and have a finished look.
I also found and stopped air leaks first by shutting the doors during the daytime with all the lights off and looked for light penetrating, then I used an infrared thermometer to find cold spots that were harder to track down, I've found this usefull inside the house as well (around outlets and switches are common offenders)

Grant

 

[nova65ss]

Really no reason to replace the springs after doing this unless they are old, say more than 8 years. A couple of turns on the springs will be more than enough to compensate for the insulation.

 

[Workinprogress]

My springs are linear, not the twist type

 

[thammel]

Now for my thoughts!

I have two 7' x 8' uninsulated doors. There are four panels per door with vertical steel channels at the middle and edges so I end up with eight spots that are 44" x 20" x 1.5" deep (or thick) per door. I'm planning on filling the channels with minimal expanding great stuff. Then I checked tonight at both Lowe's and Home Depot and found the best solution at Home Depot. There I found 4' x 8' Super Tuff-R panels that are 1 3/8" thick. This is a polyisocyanurate panel with a foil face on one side and a blue plastic face on the other. The R value is 9.1!!! It's not cheap as one panel is $27 and I'd need 4 to do both doors. The panels are really light so I'm not concerned about the effect on the openers. I plan to glue them on with the foil side facing the garage interior. Do any of you have any experience with this stuff? Any concern re safety - fire resistance (or lack therof) and outgassing? I recall what I read about isocyanate paints and was scared from using them. (Another story - I painted with lacquer 20 years ago but would not use the new isocyanate paints now - too toxic.)

Tom

 

[carrerakid]

I am new to this board. glad I found it. I have an older wood doors and plan on gluing ridged foam to the wood panels. Does anyone have pictures of such an application.

A word on life safety. When considering foams look for the E84 flame spread and smoke generation numbers. Don't leave anything exposed to your garage space with flame spread greater than 25 or smoke generation greater than 50. Most unfaced foams are way above these numbers. I am looking for foil faced since it is typically in the safe range. You don't want fire or smoke hazards in a garage!

 

[awakeinAZ]

Just today I found some foil kits that equal an R6 value. this is a very good price and probably don't add a lot of weight. There are two colors to choose from too!

Website
http://www.texasgarages.com/

 

[74-77Camaro]

My 16' garage door is about 11 years old, I just moved in a year ago. The bottom rubber bulb weatherstrip on the bottom of the door was so baked, hard and brittle that it was not sealing properly and lettting a lot of dirt and cold air in. I would check yours if it is very old. I bought a replacement at HD and was an easy fix.

Also, since the floor was not quite level at one end, I had a gap at one end even after the new bulb. I was looking at those garage door threshold kits on websites, but they were all running about $80 for a 16' door. Then I found this:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=96328

Looks like the same thing, half the price. I bought one and just laid it under the door for now, not even gluing it down. Works great!

 

[Ramblur]

I started out with insulated doors when I built 11 yrs.ago.
Money well spent. They do start leaking water when
the huricanes get above about 70 mph or so,other than that I'm
a happy camper. I forget the R factor,its not that great
but it sure kills the radiated heat. Wayne Dalton thermospan.

 

[NewShockerGuy]

Sorry to bump an old thread. What size is recommended? Lowes has 1/2" 3/4" and 1" I believe.

Thanks,
-Nigel

 

[YEAHTOM]

Could this also be done to a wooden door?

 

[Angelfire]

I forget the thickness of rigid insulation that I used but found I didn't need any adhesive. My door was constructed such that I was able to bend the insulation slightly while installing and "snap" the pieces into place. Bends in the door panels hold the insulation in place.

 

[700hpAMG]

any recommendations on adhesive? Tried Liquid Nails which was a fail. 375 worked for a few months then failed. Door is clean, just the light radiant foil is pulling off. Spray adhesive it very weak, tried is as well.