Sliding/rolling partition wall ideas?

[ert01]

So my garage is a 24x24 double detached. 8' high door on one side and a 10' door on the other side. I have attached a quick layout that I made so you have an idea what I'm talking about and how the shop is laid out.

I want to build some sort of rolling or sliding partition wall down the middle to help contain dust/grime and heat.

I will be using the side with the low ceiling as my workshop/clean(er) area and the high side where I will do my welding/cutting/vehicle work etc... (the dirty stuff).

Primary heating is a wood burning fireplace (I know, not as fancy as hydronic in-slab but I like things simple and I like getting firewood). In the winter it can take a long time to warm the garage and I find I often don't need to heat the whole thing if I'm doing just little work on the clean side at the bench or something.

Any ideas where to go for hardware to build such a thing or any ideas on how to make this work? It doesn't need to be thick and insulated and soundproof... Just easy to extend/collapse and it should ideally have a decent seal on it.

Thanks!
Mark

 

[Zeke]

Wait, someone is gonna come along and tell you to use the search function.

(Some people are wearing their ******* a little tight lately.)

 

[uhohjim]

Build yourself a sliding door setup just like a pole barn sliding door......anchor a track to the ceiling and hang a door with rollers from the top . You can buy the hardware from Menards probably Home Depot as well......Shouldn't cost you more than a couple hubndred dollars at most . Jim

 

[Zeke]

BTW, I was going to suggest an e z up dust control system with plastic spread out on spring loaded poles, but that won't keep much heat in one side and it would be dangerous with a wood stove and welding.

Your best bet would be a light weight fireproof partition that can be hung in the center and moved to a wall when not needed. Or somehow folded up. I don't think you can get 100% dust control w/o building a wall.

 

[lilredex]

You could probably do something with inexpensive panelling or even chip board. Take a look at restaurants that have moveable panels for partioning their spaces, then head out to find some barn door hardware........might even find something cheap at PAL. A simple heat sheild should offer sufficient protection on that wood stove.

BTW.......WELCOME , more Canadians on board.

 

[White04mach]

At my grandfathers old dealership (1940's) they had 5 doors hinged together on opposite sides so that when you folded them up it was like an accordion. They had very small rollers on the bottom of the doors to support the weight and where held in place along the header with simple gate latches. It was actually used to separate the shop from the showroom and was used for getting cars into the showroom. the 5th door (on the end) was a regular door so you could pass though and still just swing it open when you accordion the others. You could build yourself a header and use doors to make two 10ft sections to fold up one on each end.

 

[BirdRacer]

What about a wall with a 16' roll up door in the middle?

 

[rsanter]

go find old projector screens and line them up.....
low cost and will retract easy

always thought that would be a cool way to do soft partitions

bob

 

[Torque1st]

Some people use a tarp rolled up over a piece of tubing or pipe with ropes and pulleys to raise and lower it.

 

[c/o say]

Have you seen Karnages post Saving some space in garage may not work for you but its a good idea. BTW you might keep a eye out for used accordion doors at schools/churches that are being remodeled. See Milt I diden't tell him to do a search lol and I diden't put a link in because I'm computer stoopid.lol

 

[c/o say]

Have you seen Karnages post Saving some space in garage may not work for you but its a good idea. BTW you might keep a eye out for used accordion doors at schools/churches that are being remodeled.

 

[Karnage]

Lol! So here's the link on what I'm currently working on

Saving Some Garage Space!

There's also a link in that thread to where my inspiration came from.

 

[green.bubbly]

What is the dog going to think about the partition wall?

 

[c/o say]

MODS can you please remove one of my posts above sorry .

 

[ert01]

Haha the dog will have to move his lazy **** outta the way.

Thanks for the help so far guys.

I had considered a "soft" door using canvas tarps but I am not convinced I can make it look as nice as I would want.

I am an industrial electrician and we use Unistrut a lot so I started flipping through their catalog today and found they make trolleys to roll in the strut. I could probably make something with that, but again I don't know how to keep the bottom even remotely solid if it's just suspended from the top.

Here's an image of the Unistrut system:

I do like the idea of accordion doors... that will be something to consider for sure.

My floor right now is just a rough concrete slab with cracks in it. Ideally after I fix the cracks the "clean" half will be tiled and the "dirty" half will have a new slab poured on top. I may be able to do something about putting a track in at the seam but I wouldn't want it to fill up with dirt and dust and make the door slide rough.

 

[Torque1st]

That Unistrut stuff is basically barn door track. Probably 10X as spendy though.

Any track in the floor is going to be a PITA to keep clear.

 

[KenB]

I don't know how to keep the bottom even remotely solid if it's just suspended from the top.

Leveling feet; toggle clamps.


Ken

 

[clkimmel]

My neighbor built his garage with a "clean" and "dirty" side in mind and built a partition wall with a standard overhead garage door separating them.

 

[philjung]

How about insulated curtains?
Our company has bought several curtains from Goffs, and they offer insulated versions as well, they can include a chain at the bottom to weigh it down and keep it straight.

http://www.goffscurtainwalls.com/climate-curtains/climate-curtains

 

[sberry]

Several ways to do it, could use a different type of curtain.

 

[shannonw]

For the goffs check out good pic here (last post):

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28966&highlight=goffscurtainwalls

I ran across that last setup the other night and thought it was awesome. Only thing is i don't paint enough or woodwork enough to justify the 2800 cost. I've been using temporary plastic i put up then pull down.

The wire idea with hooks isn't bad, saw a few doing that. I like that setup above though. Briefly considered ways of making something similar even if not as durable....either 3 walls or better a U shape in the middle of the garage. I was thinking something with the unistrut type stuff too, maybe some pocket door tracks and wheels that come down. Other thing...maybe pvc with a channel cut in it screwed to the roof with some ball shaped or other insert that slides thought it.
Reason thought about the pvc is for the U, easily bendable.

For curtains I was thinking heavy mill, then a bit of canvas on the bottom or weights like they use in the shower curtains.

 

[shannonw]

sberry can you explain the mechanism how these roll up? I'm looking to divide my garage (splitting the length in 2) to carve out a space for sanding, painting small stuff.

i've put everything on casters down the side walls, when i need to do something like that i'll move the couple items on that end to the clean end, and drop the curtain.

Goffs are more heavy duty and expensive than i need but nice product btw, saw a thread on here with them and if i had a 3 car garage it would be damn tempting to break the bank for some of those.

 

[Ncray]

The comments about the sliding partition wall above gave me much more. I had a similar question like this. The answer to that question has come from here.