Insulating the garage door

STB · Post by **STB** » Fri Dec 23, 2011 2:15 pm

The weather has turned cold. It has been in the 40's at night. So SWMBO suggested it would be a good idea to insulate the garage door.
The washer and dryer are in the garage.
Over the years I have used ridged foam 4x8 sheets for various projects. Some that come to mind are, Trailer house skirting, Lining basement walls, and retail displays. Cutting and fitting has always been a problem. I have tried knives, table saws, hand saws, drywall saws, other saws in the arsenal, four letter words, even purchasing a saw blade that had a knife edge instead of teeth. None of the methods seem to be vary accurate or effective.
Not looking forward to the project and mess, I set up the SS. It just happened that it was set on a slow speed and to my surprise it worked. I wished that I had discovered this years ago.
The original intent was to fit the panels and use foam in a can to seal around the edges. But the SS worked so well adjusted to low speed that I cut batten strips and wedged them around the edges to fix the panels in place. My only screwup was, the foam panels fit to tight, this expanded the door seams, which made the door hard to open and close, the door opener fault would trip. The door opener had to be readjusted.
The good news is less air infiltration between the seams.

beeg · Post by **beeg** » Fri Dec 23, 2011 2:22 pm

Looking good there. Ya gonna seal the seams between the garage door panels?

robinson46176 · Post by **robinson46176** » Fri Dec 23, 2011 3:31 pm

stumpbuster wrote: Not looking forward to the project and mess, I set up the SS. It just happened that it was set on a slow speed and to my surprise it worked. I wished that I had discovered this years ago.

Good to know.

.

STB · Post by **STB** » Fri Dec 23, 2011 4:00 pm

beeg wrote:Looking good there. Ya gonna seal the seams between the garage door panels?

I do not think so unless there is excessive air infiltration. But I can see daylight at the edge of the door.
At our local big box store they sell pipe wrap for $1.99 for a 6ft length. I am thinking I could split one into 1/3Rd's and fasten it to the garage door jam with the curved side riding on the door edge.

Ed in Tampa · Post by **Ed in Tampa** » Fri Dec 23, 2011 5:48 pm

Our local Big Box stores sells a garage door framing product. It is PVC plastic molding that has a vinyl strip attached to it. You mount the molding to door frame so the vinyl rubs the door. Makes a very air tight seal.

I used it on my garage door to seal in the air conditioned air.

mgdesigns · Post by **mgdesigns** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 12:48 am

How much $$$ did this insulation of the garage door cost? I have my engraving bench out in my unheated garage and it's bitter cold in the winter, even with an electric heater at my feet. Holding the 30 lb. steel engraver's vise gets my left hand numb.

stumpbuster wrote:The weather has turned cold. It has been in the 40's at night. So SWMBO suggested it would be a good idea to insulate the garage door.
The washer and dryer are in the garage.
Over the years I have used ridged foam 4x8 sheets for various projects. Some that come to mind are, Trailer house skirting, Lining basement walls, and retail displays. Cutting and fitting has always been a problem. I have tried knives, table saws, hand saws, drywall saws, other saws in the arsenal, four letter words, even purchasing a saw blade that had a knife edge instead of teeth. None of the methods seem to be vary accurate or effective.
Not looking forward to the project and mess, I set up the SS. It just happened that it was set on a slow speed and to my surprise it worked. I wished that I had discovered this years ago.
The original intent was to fit the panels and use foam in a can to seal around the edges. But the SS worked so well adjusted to low speed that I cut batten strips and wedged them around the edges to fix the panels in place. My only screwup was, the foam panels fit to tight, this expanded the door seams, which made the door hard to open and close, the door opener fault would trip. The door opener had to be readjusted.
The good news is less air infiltration between the seams.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 1:04 am

mgdesigns wrote:How much $$$ did this insulation of the garage door cost? I have my engraving bench out in my unheated garage and it's bitter cold in the winter, even with an electric heater at my feet. Holding the 30 lb. steel engraver's vise gets my left hand numb.

Set the vise on the heater for a spell!:D

Ed in Tampa · Post by **Ed in Tampa** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 11:59 am

mgdesigns wrote:How much $$$ did this insulation of the garage door cost? I have my engraving bench out in my unheated garage and it's bitter cold in the winter, even with an electric heater at my feet. Holding the 30 lb. steel engraver's vise gets my left hand numb.

Figuring the cost is easy go to the big box store and price 4x8 sheet of 2 inch rigid foam board. Average garage door is 16x7 so you will need about 4 sheets of foam.

The panels on my door were about 18 inches wide so I cut the sheet into 8'x18" strips and wedged them into the opening. Simple and easy.

STB · Post by **STB** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 12:12 pm

mgdesigns wrote:How much $$$ did this insulation of the garage door cost?

Each 1" x 4' x 8' sheet cost $8.79 at the Lows store in Henderson NV. I used 4 sheets (one for each garage door section). I heat with a 1500 watt electric heater. It raises the garage temperature about 30 deg. (after adding the ridged foam).