Insulating the shop door

[Tom Cancelleri]

It's starting to get hot out and last summer the time I spent in the shop was brutal and all movement was accompanied by ungodly amounts of sweating. I decided this year I needed to do something about that. My walls and ceiling are all insulated, heating the shop isn't a big problem, but it could be more efficient. Now it's time to look at cooling the shop. I'll be adding a 14000 BTU portable air conditioner and venting it out of the side of the shop. But those thin panels don't do much for insulating, they are freezing cold in the winter and hot in the summer. So off to Home Depot I went. I bought 3 sheets of 1/2" 4x8 sheets of rigid foil board insulation. It's now reflective side out which is even better for keeping heat in during the winter and cool in during the summer. 

 

I ripped the boards on the table saw to size (be careful, foam kickback is pretty horrid, and happens pretty easy since the material is really light. It shot back into my abdoman and stung a bit and it blew apart into a lot of pieces of foam. I had to piece of of the boards together from 2 pieces since 3 boards yielded exactly enough for my garage door (lots of waste though)

 

I used liquid nails to glue the panels onto the door. Lets see what it does tomorrow. 

 

[rodger.]

Looks good.

[Shane Jimerfield]

I wish I could do that, except my doors are roll ups. Very large too.

[rodger.]

I wish I could do that, except my doors are roll ups. Very large too.

My metal roll up door has insulating panels that came with the door. I'll snap a pic for you.

[Coop]

I hope it helps you/me, as I did the same thing this past winter. I'm thinking of also adding an a/c unit for the obvious and to keep nosey neighbors out. I didn't think of using the ts, but used a box cutter to cut the panels.

[treeslayer]

i had overhead door put on a new insulated garage door a couple years ago, works great winter and summer, I'm with you coop, not going thru another hot summer without AC in the shop, and maybe i can work in peace unless those neighborhood engineers can hear me in there

[Cliff]

I need to do the same thing, how much did that run ya?

[AceHoleInOne]

Just throwing this out....not sure how much weight this added to your door?  

 

 

I insulated my garage door with a fiberglass kit from the box store. I have an electric garage door opener. My garage door spring had broke so I  called a repair guy out to replace the spring. After bull-crapping with the repair guy. He said it's good to readjust the spring for the added weight. If you don't, it will tax your electric door opener and all sorts of bad thing can happen  

 

-Ace- 

[Coop]

Each of my two doors took a about a sheet a 1/4 and each, and each sheet weighs maybe 3 lbs.? at about $15 a sheet.

[Tpt life]

Having replaced these springs, the standard is ten lbs plus or minus. Ten to fifteen lbs of upward force to open the door to halfway, where it finishes raising on its own. The same to close it to halfway where it selfs closes under fifteen lbs of force. This is fairly easy to evaluate by disconnecting the electric opener.

[wdwerker]

Adjusting a torsion spring is dangerous. I have done it but one slip can lead to disaster. There is so much energy stored just waiting to bite you.

I think I would add another layer of foam over the frame and panels. Bevel the edges to allow the door to roll up.

[AceHoleInOne]

Adjusting a torsion spring is dangerous. I have done it but one slip can lead to disaster. There is so much energy stored just waiting to bite you.

I think I would add another layer of foam over the frame and panels. Bevel the edges to allow the door to roll up.

You ain't kidding brother! Have a professional do it.

-Ace-

[Tom Cancelleri]

The added weight is very minimal, 3-4 pounds at most. The garage door opener has a motor power adjustment as well. It's closed cell foam, mostly air.

 

I need to do the same thing, how much did that run ya?

 

12.65 per sheet. I used 3 sheets for my door, thought there was a fair amount of waste due to the size of my panels and the board not being divisible by 3. I also used Liquid nails to glue it to the panels. 

[Madkrafter]

I ended up doing the Owens Corning fiberglass. It was more expensive than the rigid panels but at an R-value of 8, was a better insulator than even the 2" rigid. In my 3-car garage, the single door was fine with the added weight but the double door didn't like it. I had to make a service call to have the springs adjusted.

 

The Owens Corning kits state that they cover a single-bay door. I had to get four to complete our 3-car. $300 for the insulation and another $100 for the service call... ouch!