Cheap Garage Door Insulation

natethebrown · 02-19-15, 09:55 AM

Since we finally got a cold snap down here in the South, I thought I would go ahead and insulate my garage door. My garage is the standard double garage with approximate dimensions of 7' x 15'. I used 1/2" Foil backed EPS Boards common at your big box hardware store. I also glued scrap pieces together (1" x 3" roughly) to create 1" thick sandwiches. I glued the sandwiches on all four corners of each board to maintain close to a 1" air gap between the boards and the garage door. Overall, this was a easy project and I am quite happy with the results. Here is a picture of the (almost) finished product:

If all things were perfect then I would be achieving an R of 3, which I know I am not. I do plan on putting boards on the garage panels around the windows, without covering the windows (I like my natural light too much), in the next couple of days, but I just didn't have time to get to it last night.

The total cost, not including glue, was just under $30 (which covers the entire garage door). The wife likes the aesthetics (big plus), the cost was right, and my garage seems warmer. This morning my thermometer read 12 deg F ambient and 35 deg F in the garage. I am looking forward to having a cooler garage in the summer since it is a Western facing garage door.

JRMichler · 02-22-15, 04:43 PM

I did something similar to the 16 foot door on my shop when I converted if from a garage. I used foil face polyisocyanurate insulation because it does not support combustion, and a shop is chock full of fire starters. Sawed it to width on a table saw, cut notches for the hinges, and glued the pieces on. I also glued some polyiso insulation to the header above the door.

The 24 X 26 shop has an estimated heat loss of 10,000 BTUH at 65 F inside and -20 F outside.

MarkM66 · 02-23-15, 01:27 PM

Nice job. How many sides of your garage are attached to the house?

Reason I ask is my mother in law is always complaining about a cold garage. Only one side of her garage is attached to the house. She want's to insulate it, but I'm not sure if that's actually going to accomplish much, unless there's actually a heat supply to the house.

natethebrown · 02-23-15, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkM66

Nice job. How many sides of your garage are attached to the house?

Reason I ask is my mother in law is always complaining about a cold garage. Only one side of her garage is attached to the house. She want's to insulate it, but I'm not sure if that's actually going to accomplish much, unless there's actually a heat supply to the house.

Two full walls. I have only been in the house since July, and boy did that garage heat up towards the end of the day! This is the first time I have experienced a winter in the house, so I really don't know what the bottom end temperature could be. My biggest motivation for insulating the garage was to reduce those extreme temperatures (both cold and hot) to keep my worms (vermicompost) healthy.

Since the ground temperatures in North Alabama never get below freezing, my concrete garage floor should always act as a radiator/heater to keep the garage temperature fairly normal. Since insulating, I have not seen a temperature below 35 degrees F (not bad!) when the outside temperatures were around 10 degrees. It could be me, but I feel like the heat load on the house was reduced slightly....

Daox · 03-19-15, 10:22 AM

Very nice job. I can't wait for the day when my garage is insulated...

Servicetech · 04-11-15, 01:46 PM

Did our double garage door last winter also. Made a 10 degree difference during the really cold weather. The heat from the parked car after driving was enough to melt the ice off the sides. It stayed frozen last winter.

deejaaa · 04-12-15, 12:06 PM

what are you guys using to glue them? I was thinking about tube silicone.

natethebrown · 04-13-15, 07:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deejaaa

what are you guys using to glue them? I was thinking about tube silicone.

I didn't use any glue. I cut all the boards a bit over-sized and they fit tightly in each garage door panel.

jeff5may · 12-10-17, 06:56 AM

I just moved again. This time, the place is a house with a basement and a garage. We have been using the garage since before we moved in pretty much constantly. It will continue to be used in this manner for the foreseeable future until I figure out how and where to set up a separate workshop.

The garage has a standard double wide steel door on it and it is uninsulated. The weather has taken a turn towards winter the last week or so, and I need to get the thing to hold in some heat. The Mercury bottomed out around 15 degF last night, and the garage is hovering about 35 this morning. Actual temperature right now is 19 outside, 42 in the garage and 71 in the house. The garage shares one side wall with the house as well as the roof overhead. The garage has only the bay door and one entry door into the house. Not sure if or how well the rear and end walls are insulated yet, but the walls are finished with sheetrock and painted. So even if thearen't filled with insulation, I Know the exterior is osb, tyvek wrap, and vinyl siding.

I'm going at the low hanging fruit first, and right now the garage door is it. I'm not trying to spend hundreds of dollars to insulate the door. At the moment, I'm looking for information from those of you who have been there before. What to use, how to do it with a minimum of materials and labor involved. I am not looking for stellar insulating power, but anything is better than the thin flat conduction plate I have for a wall now.

oil pan 4 · 12-10-17, 07:47 AM

I was just going to hit the back of mine with my frothpac spray foam kit.

02-19-15, 09:55 AM	#1
natethebrown Apprentice EcoRenovator Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: North Alabama Posts: 167 Thanks: 0 Thanked 40 Times in 20 Posts	Cheap Garage Door Insulation Since we finally got a cold snap down here in the South, I thought I would go ahead and insulate my garage door. My garage is the standard double garage with approximate dimensions of 7' x 15'. I used 1/2" Foil backed EPS Boards common at your big box hardware store. I also glued scrap pieces together (1" x 3" roughly) to create 1" thick sandwiches. I glued the sandwiches on all four corners of each board to maintain close to a 1" air gap between the boards and the garage door. Overall, this was a easy project and I am quite happy with the results. Here is a picture of the (almost) finished product: If all things were perfect then I would be achieving an R of 3, which I know I am not. I do plan on putting boards on the garage panels around the windows, without covering the windows (I like my natural light too much), in the next couple of days, but I just didn't have time to get to it last night. The total cost, not including glue, was just under $30 (which covers the entire garage door). The wife likes the aesthetics (big plus), the cost was right, and my garage seems warmer. This morning my thermometer read 12 deg F ambient and 35 deg F in the garage. I am looking forward to having a cooler garage in the summer since it is a Western facing garage door.

03-19-15, 10:22 AM	#5
Daox Administrator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Germantown, WI Posts: 5,525 Thanks: 1,162 Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts	Very nice job. I can't wait for the day when my garage is insulated... __________________ Current project - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. & To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

12-10-17, 06:56 AM	#9
jeff5may Supreme EcoRenovator Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: elizabethtown, ky, USA Posts: 2,431 Thanks: 431 Thanked 619 Times in 517 Posts	I just moved again. This time, the place is a house with a basement and a garage. We have been using the garage since before we moved in pretty much constantly. It will continue to be used in this manner for the foreseeable future until I figure out how and where to set up a separate workshop. The garage has a standard double wide steel door on it and it is uninsulated. The weather has taken a turn towards winter the last week or so, and I need to get the thing to hold in some heat. The Mercury bottomed out around 15 degF last night, and the garage is hovering about 35 this morning. Actual temperature right now is 19 outside, 42 in the garage and 71 in the house. The garage shares one side wall with the house as well as the roof overhead. The garage has only the bay door and one entry door into the house. Not sure if or how well the rear and end walls are insulated yet, but the walls are finished with sheetrock and painted. So even if thearen't filled with insulation, I Know the exterior is osb, tyvek wrap, and vinyl siding. I'm going at the low hanging fruit first, and right now the garage door is it. I'm not trying to spend hundreds of dollars to insulate the door. At the moment, I'm looking for information from those of you who have been there before. What to use, how to do it with a minimum of materials and labor involved. I am not looking for stellar insulating power, but anything is better than the thin flat conduction plate I have for a wall now. Attached Thumbnails Last edited by Daox; 12-11-17 at 04:08 PM..

02-22-15, 04:43 PM	#2
JRMichler Apprentice EcoRenovator Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Phillips, WI Posts: 109 Thanks: 10 Thanked 30 Times in 25 Posts	I did something similar to the 16 foot door on my shop when I converted if from a garage. I used foil face polyisocyanurate insulation because it does not support combustion, and a shop is chock full of fire starters. Sawed it to width on a table saw, cut notches for the hinges, and glued the pieces on. I also glued some polyiso insulation to the header above the door. The 24 X 26 shop has an estimated heat loss of 10,000 BTUH at 65 F inside and -20 F outside.

02-23-15, 01:27 PM	#3
MarkM66 Helper EcoRenovator Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: st.louis Posts: 33 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Nice job. How many sides of your garage are attached to the house? Reason I ask is my mother in law is always complaining about a cold garage. Only one side of her garage is attached to the house. She want's to insulate it, but I'm not sure if that's actually going to accomplish much, unless there's actually a heat supply to the house.

04-11-15, 01:46 PM	#6
Servicetech Apprentice EcoRenovator Join Date: Nov 2013 Location: Moore Oklahoma Posts: 267 Thanks: 108 Thanked 23 Times in 21 Posts	Did our double garage door last winter also. Made a 10 degree difference during the really cold weather. The heat from the parked car after driving was enough to melt the ice off the sides. It stayed frozen last winter.

04-12-15, 12:06 PM	#7
deejaaa Lurking Renovator Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: texas Posts: 3 Thanks: 2 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	what are you guys using to glue them? I was thinking about tube silicone.

12-10-17, 07:47 AM	#10
oil pan 4 Land owner Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: NM Posts: 1,026 Thanks: 12 Thanked 127 Times in 107 Posts	I was just going to hit the back of mine with my frothpac spray foam kit.