Garage Door Insulation

[tom slick]

Anyone done DIY garage door insulation?

I have sectional overhead garage doors that are metal with no insulation. I want to insulate them and have seen a few options. One is fiberglass batts with a special backing. Another is foam boards with or without foil. A third option is foil with air bubbles like bubble wrap.

 

[Boomer]

The foil is an excellent blocker of radiant heat but does little with conduction. It is great in the summer for not letting radiant heat being emitted from the inside door surface to your garage or your skin but in winter it won't really help you. It does wonders in an attic at reflecting radiant heat from the roof.

Make sure that if you put panels on the inside of the door that they still open satisfactorily. I am assuming that you have a multiple panel door that opens up .

 

[eagle23]

Funny you should ask. I just did mine (sheet metal, like yours) and decided to go with foam board, one side foil the other vinyl or roughly equivalent. It seemed more fun than the prefab stuff and was cheaper. I got mine from Lowe's since Home Depot didn't have the foil side and the board was pink (!). I'm sure it functions fine but.....

I used two layers (foil inward). I think it ends up about R-6 but if not it's better than R-0. My doors have a northern exposure but if you have afternoon sun, it would probably help a lot in summer.

My doors have enough metal framing inside to retain the boards but I also used 3" aluminum tape to secure everything and close off any remaining air gaps. BTW be sure you have a gasket on the bottom of the door to seal where it touches the concrete.

The difference was amazing. I shouldn't have been amazed but I was ). Even when it got to 6 degrees here a week ago, the garage never got below 60; previously it would have been about 40 maybe 45 at absolute best. It's attached to the house and the furnace is in there with the washer/dryer so the furnace always provides a decent heat source.

Others here I'm sure have done it differently. Being in CA I don't know what temps you get but it also quieted outside noise too.

Hope this helps, and good luck whichever direction you go!

 

[Donald]

Read the reviews on Amazon. Some seem better than others.

It will make the door heavier.

 

[skyactiv]

Originally Posted By: Donald
Read the reviews on Amazon. Some seem better than others.

It will make the door heavier.


You can adjust many garage door springs. There are Youtube videos that explain how.
It's easily done.

 

[eagle23]

The additional weight should be nominal. Neither the foam board nor fiberglass weighs much.

 

[tom slick]

Thanks fo the input.

 

[javacontour]

This is true. I added foam insulation boards to both a single wide door and a double wide door and it required no change in the spring. It has helped some. I need to address the fit of the door as I think it has too much play, exceeding the range of the gasket around the door in some windy conditions.

Originally Posted By: eagle23
The additional weight should be nominal. Neither the foam board nor fiberglass weighs much.