Garage Door Insulation, help choose

[sasilverbullet]

I'm going to insulate both my garage doors. They are the usual overhead metal types. It's a three car garage, one door is a single, the other a double wide.

I'm looking to put some easy to apply insulation as I'm putting a mini-split in there today.

Any recommendations on a product? Link if possible. I'd like to be able to "peel n stick" if possible.

 

[JohnnyG]

If you experience solar heating in your garage, you might do what I did here in FL. I used the aluminum backed polycarbonate(?) board commonly available at any HD/Lowes. The trick is to allow an air gap between the outside metal skin and the insulation itself, shiny side facing out. This is the only way reflective insulation works on infrared heating. This can be accomplished by cutting small squares of insulation and gluing them to the inside of the door before you install the sheets. My gap was almost exactly 1", so two layers of 1/2" did the trick for me. I spray painted each panel on the inside a light sand beige before installation. You wont need glue for the inner panel, it's a tight fit under the frames, but for the square or strips of "standoff" material you can use silcone compound in a tube.
I hadn't learned the "standoff" trick before I did mine, and as a result the door got a bit heavier (two full layers). Called my door repair man and he did a simple rebalance on the torsion springs and all is perfect. If you do the standoff trick, you won't be adding much weight at all, so you may not need a rebalance, even though if they've been in service for a while, it might be a good idea for a checkup/lube.

 

[sasilverbullet]

If you experience solar heating in your garage, you might do what I did here in FL. I used the aluminum backed polycarbonate(?) board commonly available at any HD/Lowes. The trick is to allow an air gap between the outside metal skin and the insulation itself, shiny side facing out. This is the only way reflective insulation works on infrared heating. This can be accomplished by cutting small squares of insulation and gluing them to the inside of the door before you install the sheets. My gap was almost exactly 1", so two layers of 1/2" did the trick for me. I spray painted each panel on the inside a light sand beige before installation. You wont need glue for the inner panel, it's a tight fit under the frames, but for the square or strips of "standoff" material you can use silcone compound in a tube.
I hadn't learned the "standoff" trick before I did mine, and as a result the door got a bit heavier (two full layers). Called my door repair man and he did a simple rebalance on the torsion springs and all is perfect. If you do the standoff trick, you won't be adding much weight at all, so you may not need a rebalance, even though if they've been in service for a while, it might be a good idea for a checkup/lube.

If by solar heating, you mean "sun beating down on it", then no, I don't have that problem. The doors never have direct sun beating on them.

But I will take what you said into consideration, thanks for the input!

 

[Leo99]

If you experience solar heating in your garage, you might do what I did here in FL. I used the aluminum backed polycarbonate(?) board commonly available at any HD/Lowes. The trick is to allow an air gap between the outside metal skin and the insulation itself, shiny side facing out. This is the only way reflective insulation works on infrared heating. This can be accomplished by cutting small squares of insulation and gluing them to the inside of the door before you install the sheets. My gap was almost exactly 1", so two layers of 1/2" did the trick for me. I spray painted each panel on the inside a light sand beige before installation. You wont need glue for the inner panel, it's a tight fit under the frames, but for the square or strips of "standoff" material you can use silcone compound in a tube.
I hadn't learned the "standoff" trick before I did mine, and as a result the door got a bit heavier (two full layers). Called my door repair man and he did a simple rebalance on the torsion springs and all is perfect. If you do the standoff trick, you won't be adding much weight at all, so you may not need a rebalance, even though if they've been in service for a while, it might be a good idea for a checkup/lube.

I used to make those boards one summer. Long ago. It was polyisocyanurate foam. I was on the end of the line.

 

[Amkeer]

I will be doing this in the fall for the main garage that is attached to the house. The mini split will require the door be insulated or doors. I am going with the 3/4 insulation that comes in 4x8 sheets mentioned above. The plan is to paint the outside face by rolling the paint on the full sheets before cutting them. Once installed I will use the foil tape on the seams and roll on some more paint. I am going with the Mr Cool system and doing a self install. My detached garage has the Mistubishi Mini Split that works well.

 

[1978elcamino]

If you experience solar heating in your garage, you might do what I did here in FL. I used the aluminum backed polycarbonate(?) board commonly available at any HD/Lowes. The trick is to allow an air gap between the outside metal skin and the insulation itself, shiny side facing out. This is the only way reflective insulation works on infrared heating. This can be accomplished by cutting small squares of insulation and gluing them to the inside of the door before you install the sheets. My gap was almost exactly 1", so two layers of 1/2" did the trick for me. I spray painted each panel on the inside a light sand beige before installation. You wont need glue for the inner panel, it's a tight fit under the frames, but for the square or strips of "standoff" material you can use silcone compound in a tube.
I hadn't learned the "standoff" trick before I did mine, and as a result the door got a bit heavier (two full layers). Called my door repair man and he did a simple rebalance on the torsion springs and all is perfect. If you do the standoff trick, you won't be adding much weight at all, so you may not need a rebalance, even though if they've been in service for a while, it might be a good idea for a checkup/lube.

yes, this..
Thats what I did when I built my house and it works great. The downside is the remotes do not work well when you're infront of the door. My garage is side entry so as long as I remember to press the button when the window is visible the remote works fine. If I wait until im in front of the door it only works half the time.

 

[JLawrence08648]

I used foam panels, Great!

I tried construction adhesive, contact cement worked better secured with foil tape.

 

[DBMaster]

I like this stuff, but have never tried it for a garage door. It worked well for the door to my attic. I believe it's the same stuff they use for radiant barriers.

 

[Hall]

Yes, I know this is an older post (but not as old as many that have been resurrected recently )

I used the aluminum backed polycarbonate(?) board commonly available at any HD/Lowes. The trick is to allow an air gap between the outside metal skin and the insulation itself, shiny side facing out. This is the only way reflective insulation works on infrared heating.

This air gap is applicable for heat and cold insulating, yes ?

My gap was almost exactly 1", so two layers of 1/2" did the trick

Is the depth of the gap critical or do you just need a gap ? If I used 1/2" or 3/4" thick insulation boards and cut strips out of these same boards to use as the spacers, is 1/2" or 3/4" enough ? Then again, the boards will probably be loose as everything won't completely fill the space. I haven't measured it but I'm thinking it's 2-1/2 to 3" space.

If you used roll insulation, is a gap necessary ?

What about using the reflective roll type ? They have a decent R value and won't have any gap.

You don't want to layer insulation, do you ? As in, putting roll insulation first with board insulation on top of it.

 

[JohnnyG]

First of all, I'm in Florida and have a south facing garage door. My main goal is to keep the sun's heat OUT of my garage.
I see you are in Ohio, so our installations will be reversed.

The gap is important for any foil reflective surface to have IF you wish to reduce heat gain OR LOSS due to infrared heating. It's the only way it will work. Foil backed insulation might be OK, if you don't mind the shiny surface inside. It shouldn't be painted. It would also be tough to figure a way to provide a gap, unless you are just trying to avoid heat loss from the interior.

The best insulation is dead air. That is why fiberglass roll insulation even exists. It provides a dead air space between the fibers.
I do like the way you did yours, with the strips of the hard foam as spacers. If I were to do mine over again I'd do it exactly that way.

You don't want to layer insulation, do you ? As in, putting roll insulation first with board insulation on top of it.

I don't see this being a problem as long as you don't compress the insulation too much. There is some evidence that slightly compressed insulation increases the R Value. But you want to maintain that dead air.

I hope that clears up what I was trying to accomplish.

 

[Hall]

To clarify, I haven't done anything yet. Regarding FL vs OH and heat vs cold, as it's winter here and currently 25º F, we simply don't want the garage to be colder than necessary. Our bedroom is above it and my wife thinks our room is a bit cooler than others. I did measure the temperatures last night and got this:

Outside temp: 26' F (7:15pm)
Floor (center cross): 49' F
Door (panel): 39' F
Ceiling (center): 48' F

I do not know if the garage ceiling / bedroom floor is insulated but I suspect it is not. The ceiling is "finished" so adding insulation isn't going to happen. The garage is neither heated nor cooled so I expect any insulation to only have a minimal impact... I want to keep the cold or heat out and I'm hoping if I change (increase) the door panel temperature of 39º F, the other temperatures won't be as low.

In summer, we do get 90-100º F and our garage faces west so it gets hot in there to the point that we will crack the door open a few inches to let some built-up heat out.

 

[JohnnyG]

Johns-Manville has a great website if you need technical information about different types of insulation.
I used to live in Ohio and PA, so I know what you're talking about.

I've ripped out complete garage ceilings/drywall, insulated them under the bedroom floor and refinished it. Remember, vapor barrier always goes toward the heated side.
During that process I found the cold air return was connected to the wrong joist space. That in itself warmed the bedroom a good 10 degrees in the winter.
I've also learned that the warmer the garage, the faster salt will rust your car.
My point is, if you need a warmer bedroom, do the work to conserve the heat in that heated space, the garage is better off being cold. Unless you want to work in there in the winter of course.

I hope this helps.