2 car attached garage has the original (4 years old) Builders Model (read “cheap”) 4 panel 16′ x 8′ Overhead Sectional Garage Door.
Steel skin, no insulation and noisy, noisy, noisy. Did not come with opener, I installed middle of range Screw Drive Genie.
I notice that some other homes in sub have 5 panel doors and, speaking with folks who were installing those doors, have been told they’re better. Something about less mis-alignment/binding as the rollers follow the curved section of track on the Door’s way up & down. Any truth to this?
Seems like a portion of the noise is “oilcanning” of the stamped sections and thought that adding insulation could quiet the door as well as slow heat loss. The garage is not routinely heated, when it is, I use a LP torpedo for working on car or snowmobile. So heat loss is a secondary factor here.
Anyway, thought is that I could buy some of the 2″ thick styrene foam / rip it / bond to inside of door with construction adhesive. Then get aluminum skin and bond to exposed surface of foam.
Anybody done this before? Insulating a door that is, if not the same as I’ve proposed.
Or would I be better off with a completely new Door and opener?
Replies
Buy a new door, and save yourself the hassle.
After you add weight to the door, you may have to retorque the springs.
Some springs are not rated to handle an insulated door.
Insulating an existing door can be done, but I would vote for the new door.
Adding weight to the door usually requires new springs to match the new weight of the door. If it is a 'cheap' grade door, you may also need to add horizontal reinforcement to keep the door sections from buckling in the open position.
If it was just the noise, you could replace the rollers with nylon rollers, and add some horizontal reinforcement to prevent 'oilcanning' when in motion.
If you replace the door, specify nylon rollers, and torsion spring counterbalance. An insulated door, with these specs, should be almost silent when in use. The noise of the screw drive operator should be louder than the door itself with this setup.
The additional weight is something that I hadn't considered. It's going to be a sales job to convince the better half why we should do this now, but I'm convinced.
A new insulated door / probably a belt drive opener.
Any recommendations?
I'm in a similar situation re insulation...I've seen a plastic-covered ins system available that attaches somehow to the door. I don't figure it to be heavy, but will have to checkthat out, now the topic's been raised.
go to hd and pick up 5 sheets of 1" foam.if your door can't handle that i'd hate to drive a car under it. if you go with a new door i like wayne dalton. i just bought a new 16x8 insulated with 4 windows. 900.00 larryhand me the chainsaw, i need to trim the casing just a hair.
The screw drive operator would not need to be replaced. While a belt drive operator is almost silent when properly set up,, the screw drive should not make enough noise to bother anyone inside the house. If there is a bedroom right above the garage, some rubber washers between the ceiling and the mount sytem for the opener will help eliminate noise trasnsferring up through the joists.
Most garage door companies make a 'sandwich' style door, steel skins inside and out, filled with polystyrene insulation. Haas, Wayne Dalton, Gadco, Clopay all make a full line of doors, you just need to get the right model.
An 1 3/8" thick sandwich style door should have an r-value of @ 7, and, depending on the way your home is situated can have a significant impact on temperature swings in your home. (Energy savings - sales point)
Find a local door dealer/installer that can help you out. Specify insulated door, torsion spring counterbalance, nylon rollers, and heavy duty hardware (hinges, brackets, etc.).