Garage door insulation

justjeepin86

justjeepin86

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 9, 2005
Location
Winston-Salem, NC
Ok, I need to insulate my 2 steel garage doors in my basement. I see the different kits out there, from the owens corning fiberglass stuff to the foam panels. Does anyone have first hand experience with any of them? Durability and function are my main concearns over ease of installation. Why do you like them or not.
 
You can also hand cut rigid poly sheets and slip them into the panels of the door.

Make sure you have weather stripping all the way around. Air infiltration is as big an issue as anything.
 
shawn said:
You can also hand cut rigid poly sheets and slip them into the panels of the door.

Make sure you have weather stripping all the way around. Air infiltration is as big an issue as anything.
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I have done that in my old house. I didn't really like the finished product, with me doing it anyway. I plan on replacing the outer seal also, as it is pretty old.
I have read some saying that insulating it is a waste fo time unless it's factory.
 
Replacing panels on an old un-insulated garage door is kinda "patching it" if you ask me. If price is not a concern, I'd replace the entire garage door with a new "insulated" door. Best answer for both "durability and function"...​
 
justjeepin86 said:
I have read some saying that insulating it is a waste fo time unless it's factory.
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I'd buy that. Gets back to a question of how tight all the joints are, how much air infiltration there is, how many spaces there are with no insulation, etc.
 
I had one installed on my (now) rental house garage and liked the results very much! Although I picked the wrong company for the install...:shaking: 3'rd time out I (accepted) their poor install.:kaioken: Works great but it is noticeably crooked and now has holes showing on the exterior piece on the bottom where they remounted it lower.
 
They're super easy to install. Just a bit time-consuming. Screw gun makes a big difference.
 
6BangBronk said:
Replacing panels on an old un-insulated garage door is kinda "patching it" if you ask me. If price is not a concern, I'd replace the entire garage door with a new "insulated" door. Best answer for both "durability and function"...​
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Well, we moved to this house not long ago and i have a long list of things i want to do. A patch is what i am looking for at the moment. I will replace the doors, just not right now. I have thin plastic sheeting i am getting from work, as of an hour ago, for close in panels and i am buying some 2" fiberglass insulation to put behind it. I will see how it works. I have a wood stove down there that i like to run when it's really cold, maybe I can keep the heat in better. Thanks for the replies.
 
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Some insulation is better than none, if you are going to do foam board they make a type with a foil side. I'd get that and place the foil to the inside. Reflect any radiant heat and light back in to the garage. Ive got enough to do one 9 x 8 door if you want it. It was left over from when they sealed my crawlspace. Its 2-2.5 " thick carbon-polystyrene with foil on one side.
 
I glued that foil bubble wrap stuff to the metal doors in my shop. Before you could "feel" the cold from 6' away. Now its comfortable working within inches of the doors. The foil reflects the radiant heat back at you.
 
RatLabGuy said:
that stuff is great...
just don't get it on you, it doesn't come off.
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For the record, I think it's probably not a good application for it. If you use the "real" stuff, it'll expand too much and bend the door. If you use minimally-expanding variant, it'll be too soft.

Probably cost a fortune in $5 bottles, too.
 
When I built my house, I got the garage door used off of craigslist, and it had no wind ribbing and no insulation. I called a local company, and they came out and installed the proper wind ribs for the door and added the approval sticker (most important part for passing inspection) and also added insulation that looked very nice and almost factory. Total charge was about $400 for labor and materials for a 16x7 door.
 
My garage had two un-insulated steel panel doors and no seals around the sides. I did the lip seals on the top and sides, EDPM roll foam in the joints, and stuffed fiberglass insulation in the panels and closed them off with 1/4" luan paneling I had laying around. I did it all at the same time but it made a tremendous difference with how well the garage held temperature (all the walls were already insulated). When I did it I also painted the insides of the doors bright white and it helped with light reflection in the garage and brightened it up a bit.
 
RobMcBee said:
Some insulation is better than none, if you are going to do foam board they make a type with a foil side. I'd get that and place the foil to the inside. Reflect any radiant heat and light back in to the garage. Ive got enough to do one 9 x 8 door if you want it. It was left over from when they sealed my crawlspace. Its 2-2.5 " thick carbon-polystyrene with foil on one side.
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Thanks for the offer, but it would not make sense for me to go that far for it.

Tim C said:
I glued that foil bubble wrap stuff to the metal doors in my shop. Before you could "feel" the cold from 6' away. Now its comfortable working within inches of the doors. The foil reflects the radiant heat back at you.
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I am considering this stuff or some 1/2 foil backed foam board. We shall see when I get around to it.
 
justjeepin86 said:
Thanks for the offer, but it would not make sense for me to go that far for it.



I am considering this stuff or some 1/2 foil backed foam board. We shall see when I get around to it.
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no problem.... Ill eventually find a use for it.
 
Well, I finally got around to finishing the garage doors. I ended up buying some 1" foam from Lowes with the foil face. It turned out really nice and I am happy with it. I have noticed around a 5 degree swing down there while I am running my wood stove. It cut down on some outside noise also.
 

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Only thing I'm not seeing that's any different from a brand new insulated G-D is the seal around the edges. And you can buy that separately and install yourself too if you wanted.

Looks like a win to me!
 
I bought mine already insulated with what looks to be Styrofoam.
The big difference was when I put PVC weatherstrip around it on the outside.
That was 15 years ago and still works like new. I do need to replace the bottom rubber seal, I have one but procrastination...
 
They have seals around the outside that do pretty decent. The place i notice air coming in is between the panels. I am going to try some thin foam for that once it warms enough to have the doors open for a while.
 
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