How to insulate a garage door from the inside with your own hands, step-by-step instructions

Stages of insulating garage doors from the inside with your own hands

Surface preparation

It is necessary to clean up the corrosion of metal garage doors.
Insulating a garage door yourself begins with an inspection for paint peeling and rust. Detected surface integrity violations are eliminated. Next, processing is carried out with fine-grained sandpaper.

Manufacturing of sheathing

The material used is bars, which are sawn in accordance with the size of the gate. At the same time, they try to lay down whole pieces whenever possible. The bolts and all existing openings are framed. To fasten the bars, self-tapping screws are used, the holes for which are made at a distance of no more than 25 cm. The length of the fastening elements is selected so that their tip does not pass right through the bar.

Gate insulation

The stage begins with applying markings to the insulation. It is done in such a way that the workpiece fits tightly into the space between the bars, leaving no gaps. After this, the elements are cut. Here, as a rule, outside help is required.

Lining the inner surface of the gate

An example of a mounted batten on a gate leaf

Important from a practical and aesthetic point of view is the stage of lining the inner surface of the insulated gate. There are several popular options:

Sheathing with rail car. This inexpensive, environmentally friendly material has a very presentable appearance. She is not afraid of temperature changes and mechanical influences. Self-tapping screws are used to attach the lining to the frame.
Use of PVC panels. Their surface does not require special care. The installation process is simple and fast. The service life is long, but the panels do not withstand mechanical stress well.
Moisture-resistant plywood has high technical and environmental characteristics. It has one drawback - the price is not acceptable for everyone.
OSB panels. Using this inexpensive material, you can reliably and aesthetically sheathe the entrance to the garage.

The choice of material depends on the personal preferences of the owner and his financial capabilities.

Thermal insulation

Depending on what type of insulation you decide to use, further steps will look like this:

Styrofoam. He is placed on polyurethane foam. There is no need to apply too much of it, as it will greatly increase in volume as it dries. Just apply a little foam to the back of the sheets and immediately press the squares to the surface of the door leaf. Place all panels end to end. Then blow out all remaining seams, cracks and gaps with foam. After drying, remove excess with a knife.

Mineral wool. Its rolls or slabs are driven tightly between the lathing slats. If you use rolls, you must first coat them on one side with glue and only then press them against the door. Fill all joints and cracks with foam. Attach a layer of waterproofing to the top of the door leaf (oilcloth will do). But be sure to completely cover the entire surface of the cotton.

Interesting: Insulating the attic for winter

Polyurethane foam. It is simply sprayed in even rows onto the door leaf directly from the can. Leave approximately 7-9 cm between the rows. Later the foam will expand and occupy all the voids. On average, 5 cylinders of polyurethane foam are used per 7 m2. After drying, the excess that protrudes beyond the sheathing is cut off with a knife.

Stage 4: door trim

To make the doors look aesthetically pleasing from the inside, they need to be lined. For this purpose the following materials are used:

OSB boards. Durable, dense material. Attaches well to the sheathing. Lets air through. But quite heavy. Be prepared for garage doors to add 10-13 kg in weight.

Insulation of the entire garage with OSB slabs

Profiled sheeting. Durable, moderately lightweight finishing material. In addition, you can choose its color at the request of the master.

Lining. Moreover, both polymer and wood. The first option is especially good. Not afraid of water and temperature changes.

Any exterior door trim is mounted on sheathing beams. The main thing is to choose the right parameters according to the parameters of the canvas.

Interesting: Installation of sliding gates

To learn how to insulate a garage door from the inside with your own hands, watch the video. And remember, warm doors are the key to your comfort and safety of your car.

How did you insulate your garage door?

Types of insulation material

The insulation must have low thermal conductivity. This layer significantly reduces heat transfer. The thicker it is, the warmer the garage will be, but you should remember the principle of reasonable sufficiency. For a garage, an insulation layer of 6–7 cm is enough.

With a large selection of different building materials on the market, there are many insulation materials under different names. Choosing a specific insulation is difficult, especially for people with little experience. However, there are only a few classes suitable for insulating garage doors with your own hands.

Sheathing the structure from the inside

Mineral wool for insulation

Mineral wool material is a good thermal insulator for garage doors. Under this concept there are actually 3 types of insulation for garage doors:

Stone wool. In its structure, the mineral material resembles slag wool, but has better heat resistance. Thermal conductivity is in the range of 0.06–0.07 W/mK. This insulation is inexpensive, but phenol-formaldehyde resins can be used as binders. At high temperatures they emit phenols that are unsafe for humans.
Slag wool has thin fibers - 5–10 microns. The thermal conductivity is slightly higher in contrast to glass wool - 0.04–0.05 W/mK. It is not recommended to use it for insulating gates; it is highly hygroscopic and also has acidity, which has a negative effect on iron sheets.
Glass wool consists of thin glass fibers (6–14 microns). It has a low thermal conductivity of 0.04–0.06 W/mK, can be used at temperatures of −65/+45 °C, and has excellent strength. When working with glass wool, you must use personal protective equipment.

Minvata

All varieties of mineral wool have increased hygroscopicity. That is, their use for thermal insulation of garage doors is limited, since water can accumulate in the insulating layer, which reduces the thermal insulation performance.

Glass wool is unsafe during installation; slag wool has high acidity. You can only use stone wool for garage doors provided that isolon and vapor barrier film building materials are attached.

Fastening mineral wool

Foam plastic for insulation from the inside

Gate insulation with foam plastic can be made from various synthetic materials. The main difference between all foams is the base of the polymers used. So, foam plastic can be of the following types:

Polyvinyl chloride. Used during construction work for sound and thermal insulation. The material is made elastic or rigid. This is a good type of foam with high fire resistance. According to the construction classification it is designated PVC.
Polystyrene. The most common type of foam, made from joined balls filled with gas. Do-it-yourself insulation of garage doors from the inside is most often done with this material. Marked - PSB. In this subgroup, extruded polystyrene foam is of most interest. It has high strength and low hygroscopicity. For thermal insulation of garage doors - the best option. In stores it is presented as Technoplex, Penoplex, URSA.
Polyurethane foam. Manufactured in several varieties. Elastic polyurethane foam is ordinary foam rubber, and the hard version is polyurethane foam. To insulate garage doors, purchase rigid material. It has excellent adhesion to any surface and has good thermal insulation properties. Apply directly during garage construction by spraying. This is probably the best choice for insulating the sashes. There is only one drawback - application will require special tools, which makes insulation a little more expensive.
Urea-formaldehyde. The main advantage: it does not expand during drying. On construction sites it is used in liquid form to blow out cracks.

Foam on the sash

Finishing the gate after insulation

As soon as the insulation of the panels with your own hands is completed, the question arises - how to cover the garage doors. There are a lot of options, you can use:

Railcar - which is an inexpensive environmentally friendly material. She has a presentable appearance, she tolerates temperature changes well, and is resistant to mechanical damage. Gates, swing gates, insulated, and finished with clapboard have an aesthetic appearance. It is mounted on wood screws to the gate frame.
PVC panels are easy to maintain, installation is not difficult, and have a long service life. But there is a drawback: this material is susceptible to shock and mechanical damage. The panels are mounted on the sheathing using a construction stapler.

moisture-resistant plywood is a material with excellent characteristics in terms of ecology and technical qualities, the only negative is its high cost.
OSB panel - High-quality, inexpensive material for cladding work on garage doors, which even professionals recommend using.

The material is mounted on the sheathing using self-tapping screws. Before installation on garage doors, swinging ones need to cut the sheets to size, trying to eliminate large amounts of scraps. OSB has excellent characteristics, but to increase its service life it needs to be treated with special compounds or painted.

Video description

This video shows in detail the procedure for insulating a garage.

KFP

When drying, urea-formaldehyde foam (UF) has the property that there is no increase in volume during the drying process. This makes it possible to fill the cavities in liquid form, and then wait until it dries completely. This is another option for how to insulate a garage door with your own hands. This material can be sold under the names: Penoizol, Omiflex and others. Its use as garage insulation is effective.

Polyurethane foam

It exists in various forms. The elastic option is foam rubber. Insulation with a rigid structure - polyurethane foam. The latter option is more preferable for use as insulation for garage doors. Its important feature is high adhesion to various surfaces. This type of foam has excellent thermal insulation and waterproofing properties.

Insulation with polyurethane foam Source uteplenieplus.ru

The material is usually applied by spraying and waiting until it hardens completely. It is applied in several layers, each done after the previous one has dried. Many consider this material to be the best choice for the purpose in question. Its disadvantage is the need to use special equipment during operation. This feature makes the use of this material more expensive.

Purchasing a finished product

If you decide to install a factory-made structure in your garage, then the problems of how to insulate the gate will end there. New lift-and-turn and sectional devices already have a layer of polyurethane foam. Even roller shutter types of gates are sometimes insulated, but the possibility of using them for a garage is very doubtful. Narrow aluminum slats will not provide reliable protection against burglary, and their high thermal conductivity makes them unsuitable for our climate. When ordering a gate, a swing system with a wicket would be a good option. It will significantly reduce the percentage of heat loss.

Gate models

The vast majority of opening systems are swing types. It is necessary to understand exactly how to insulate a garage door from the inside with this opening option, since this is a truly necessary procedure. The basis of such a product is a welded frame made of metal profile pipes. A steel sheet is welded to them on the outside.

This metal has high thermal conductivity - without insulation, the gate does not resist heat leakage at all. With a swing gate design, the presence of a wicket is always desirable, since it significantly reduces heat loss due to the movement of people. When a new garage is to be built, you immediately need to order insulated gates equipped with a wicket for it.

Up-and-over or sectional doors have become popular. They are almost always manufactured in factories. The canvas (each section) is a sandwich panel with a steel sheet on the outside and polyurethane foam on the inside. Since the design is already initially provided with thermal insulation characteristics, the problem of how to insulate sectional garage doors independently does not arise. It is also advisable to equip structures such as sectional doors with a wicket door.

Sometimes lifting and turning mechanisms are made on site by craftsmen. In such a situation, their insulation must be carried out by analogy with swing products, since the basis of the opening system is a frame with a metal sheet.

It is impossible to organize insulation for roller shutter opening mechanisms due to the design features. It’s difficult to even call such products “garage doors,” since their protective characteristics are significantly inferior to other manufacturing options.

Attaching the insulation

When installing insulation on the sheathing, there are nuances associated with its type.

When attaching mineral wool, you will need waterproofing. The simplest and cheapest way to solve this problem is to apply bitumen mastic. Pieces of cotton wool are cut in such a way that they can be placed very tightly inside the sheathing. No glue is required.

The top of the wool is covered with a vapor barrier film. You need to close it correctly, taking into account the sides of the film. The vapor-condensate film is placed with the smooth inner side against the insulation, the fleecy side faces outward. Energy-saving vapor barrier material is laid with the foil side out. If ordinary polyethylene is used, it does not matter which side it is laid towards the insulation.

The joints are taped and the film is secured with a construction stapler.

The foam is cut so that fewer pieces cover the insulated area. When slicing, you need to leave a small margin so that the pieces fit tightly together. The easiest way to cut foam is with a construction knife, using a ruler as an auxiliary tool.

Glue the pieces of polystyrene foam with polyurethane foam using a gun. To ensure the required adhesion, the foam is applied along the edges and in a crisscross pattern crossing the center. The foam must be pressed tightly and supported for some time.

After installation, joints and free cavities are also filled with foam. After it hardens, the excess must be cut off with a knife.

Before applying polyurethane foam, it is recommended to cover the bolts, hinges, and locks with film and secure it with tape. It is advisable to work in a protective suit.

For a garage, a household sprayer will suffice. Such installations, if their containers run out of components, can be charged again. Applying a layer 5 centimeters high takes about a minute. After drying, the excess is cut off.

Sheet polyurethane foam is attached like polystyrene foam.

Pine lining

Additional methods of insulation

To make your garage warmer and further reduce heat loss, you can resort to various methods.

Garage curtain

A curtain that is hung directly outside the gate will help conserve heat in the garage in winter.

It is made from a material that must meet the following requirements:

high density;
resistance to high humidity;
fire resistance;
strength and elasticity.

A tarpaulin best suits the above requirements, but it must additionally be impregnated to repel moisture. Sometimes PVC fabrics are used for these purposes. To make curtains from tarpaulin, in addition to the material itself, you will also need eyelets, which are fixed in the fabric in increments of 20 cm. The curtain is hung on a metal cable, threading it through the rings.

If the gate is not insulated from the inside and only a curtain is used, it should be raised at night so that the inner surface does not freeze.

Deciding on insulation

Insulating sectional doors is not difficult, but it does take a long time. Before you begin solving this problem, it is important to choose insulation. The best option may be one of several products:

expanded polystyrene. The material retains heat very well, with minimal thickness;
penoizol. The advantage of this substance is its high combustion resistance. At the same time, the material is quite plastic, which allows it to be given the desired shape;
polyurethane foam. One of the most popular insulation materials. It is produced in the form of a liquid, which when mixed with air forms a foam. It fills even the smallest cracks, forming a warm layer;
Styrofoam. Cheap products that, although they retain heat well, are easily flammable and quickly damaged by rodents.

Surface preparation and lathing creation

The first step is to prepare the surfaces for installation of materials. To do this you need:

Free the sashes from all foreign objects - brackets, hangers, and other elements that are often installed on the sashes. Only the upper and lower latches of the fixed sash and the lock are not removed, which in any case are attached directly to the metal and cannot be moved;
The surface of the gate is cleaned of old paint, peeling or crumbling areas. It is most convenient to use a drill with attachments - a wire brush or an emery wheel;
Detected cracks or deep corrosive potholes are repaired by welding. In difficult cases, patches are welded in, after which the seams are carefully cleaned flush with the main surface;
The prepared surface is covered with a protective layer of bitumen mastic using a brush. The coating is applied in 2 layers in the transverse direction.

After the protective layer has dried, they proceed to installing the sheathing. It is a system of wooden bars installed around the perimeter of each door with several lintels inside.

The sheathing serves as a support system for installing the sheathing, which protects the heat insulator and gives the sashes a neat appearance. After finishing, the inside of the gate can look much more impressive than the outside.

To install the sheathing, a reinforcing corner is used, welded along the perimeter of the sashes, in which holes are drilled for self-tapping screws. In some cases, you have to make holes directly in the sashes, which is acceptable, but undesirable.

The bars under the sheathing must have a thickness no less than the selected heat insulator

This is important because after installing the material, the sheathing will need to be attached to the bars. The internal cavity formed by the sheathing and sheathing must be sealed and not allow air to pass through, so the sheathing must be equal to or even slightly thicker than the insulator. When installing the sheathing, it is necessary to leave the upper and lower latches with a lock and bolt free

These elements are subsequently provided with their own protective covers that cut off contact with warm air. The sides of the bars adjacent to the sashes must be covered with a strip of polyurethane foam before direct fastening. This will ensure the tightness of the sheathing and prevent the formation of cold bridges. All joints between the bars are also insulated with polyurethane foam. The finished sheathing should completely cover the perimeter of each sash. Inside, the lintels are installed based on the area of the sash and the degree of rigidity of the cladding. Sometimes one jumper is enough, but usually several bars are used. It must be taken into account that installing strips too frequently reduces the effectiveness of insulation and makes work more difficult.

After installing the sheathing, installation of the heat insulator begins.

How to insulate a garage door step by step

The procedure for insulating a garage door from the inside with your own hands consists of several stages. Let's look at each of them in detail, as well as proven methods of thermal insulation.

Preparatory work

Having chosen the material, prepare the surface of the gate from the inside. To do this, they carry out an inspection and if corrosion is detected, they get rid of it with a special metal brush for an angle grinder, after which they treat the metal with primer and paint. Then all the cracks are sealed with polyurethane foam. In this way, cold bridges will be avoided.

When the surface is dry, treatment is carried out for the purpose of waterproofing, for which the following are suitable:

bitumen mastic;
vapor barrier;
isolon 2 mm thick.

Manufacturing of sheathing

In order for the thermal insulation to be securely held on the gate, as well as for attaching the trim, you will need to mount a wooden frame from bars with a cross-section of 40*40 mm, which are fixed along the inner perimeter of the gate. Wooden elements for sheathing must be well dried and pre-treated with an antiseptic.

The sheathing is installed as follows:

The beam is attached to the metal frame of the gate with self-tapping screws. To do this, holes are drilled in increments of 25 cm, and in order for the fastener head to be flush with the metal base, recesses are made with a larger diameter drill.
If there is nothing to fasten the bars to in the center, they are combined with each other using corners. They are also used to bypass locks.
If at the same time finishing of the garage walls is required, then it is carried out in the same way - a beam is fixed, to which the cladding is then attached. Wooden elements are secured to the wall with dowels.

Foam insulation

Considering how and with what to insulate a garage door from the inside with your own hands, as well as methods and options for step-by-step actions with photo examples, first of all you should understand foam insulation:

The insulation sheets are cut to the required sizes.
Polyurethane foam is applied to the foam or the inner surface of the gate.
The insulation is placed between the sheathing elements and pressed tightly against the gate, and after half an hour it is pressed down again.

You can learn more about thermal insulation of gates with foam plastic from the video.

Thermal insulation with mineral wool

Although mineral wool is susceptible to moisture absorption, it is still used to insulate garage doors. The preparatory work is similar to that described above.

Mineral wool is placed between the sheathing elements and secured on the sides with fasteners. A polyethylene film is attached to the top of the insulation. At the end of the procedure, the cladding is installed.

Thermal insulation with construction foam

One of the simplest ways to insulate gates is to treat them from the inside with ordinary polyurethane foam. To do this, follow the following steps:

Foam is purchased at the rate of 5 cylinders per 7 m², which corresponds to the area of a standard gate.
Apply the material evenly to the surface and wait until it hardens. Then cut off the excess foam that has appeared on the sides.
Attach the cladding at your discretion.

Finishing the gate from the inside

When the insulation is fixed, all that remains is to line the inside of the gate to make it not only more attractive, but also to protect the thermal insulation. Therefore, we will consider what to cover with and what finish is best for the gate. For the purposes considered, the most suitable are:

corrugated sheeting Practical material, but condensation may accumulate on its surface;
plastic lining. It looks good, is easy to install, but has low strength;
wooden lining. A practical and beautiful solution. However, to protect the wood, it is necessary to use means to protect it from rotting and fire;
OSB boards. One of the best options, since the material is not subject to rotting, is endowed with sufficient strength and is quite attractive.

Insulation works

In fact, the answer to the question of how to insulate a metal garage door is more complicated than it might seem. Foam sheets cannot be attached directly to metal due to the risk of condensation forming between these surfaces. If there is a significant difference in temperature outside and inside the room, moisture will collect on the inside. This will eventually lead to corrosion and rotting of the metal. Such manifestations can be prevented by creating reliable insulation between the metal and the garage space.

Important! You must first take care of the ventilation system in the room.

Stage No. 1. Metal preparation

Before installation of insulation begins, the surface of the metal sashes must be prepared. To do this, a thorough inspection is carried out to detect damage to paint, rust, etc. The surface is thoroughly cleaned using a special brush.

Advice! To speed up the process, you can use a drill equipped with a special attachment.

After cleaning, the entire surface is degreased and primed with an anti-corrosion compound. You can additionally treat the surface with bitumen mastic or another waterproofing agent.

Stage No. 2. Lathing

To insulate garage doors with polystyrene foam or other material, it is necessary to install a wooden frame along the frames of the doors. As a rule, wooden blocks with a cross section of 40 * 40 mm are selected to create the sheathing. To install the frame, only dry, high-quality wood should be used. The wood must first be treated with an antiseptic. This will prevent rotting, mold development, etc. Fastening is done using self-tapping screws.

For your information! Wooden sheathing is needed, regardless of the type of insulation, since it is used for finishing cladding.

Stage No. 3. Insulation: features of working with various materials

As a rule, the insulation is either polystyrene foam or mineral wool. Full treatment with polyurethane foam is very rarely chosen.

Styrofoam

Before insulating the garage door with polystyrene foam, you need to calculate the material consumption and cut it. In order for the foam to fit into the sheathing as tightly as possible, allowances are made around the perimeter of the fragments of a couple of millimeters. The fastening itself is carried out using polyurethane foam.

Advice! It is recommended to use polyurethane foam, which does not give a large increase in volume during the drying process.

Insulate the resulting gaps in the foam and cover the entire back side of the garage door with foam. In this case, it is necessary to press the foam sheets as tightly as possible to the metal. When all the joints are blown in and the foam has dried, its excess is removed. To do this, as in other cases when working with foam, you can use a regular knife.

Polyurethane foam

Polyurethane foam is applied using special spray equipment. During spraying, personal protective equipment against vapors must be used.

Important! Before starting work, it is necessary to close all openings and moving parts to avoid damaging them.

Once the polyurethane foam has completely dried, it does not pose a danger to humans. Advantages of using this material:

long service life - more than 50-60 years;
good filling of all holes and cavities;
high heat-saving qualities (better than foam and mineral wool).

Mineral wool

Insulation with mineral wool requires more complex technology. To compensate for the hygroscopicity of the material, the metal must be treated with isolon or bitumen mastic. Next, the mineral wool is cut so that it fits into the wooden frame very tightly, without gaps. Otherwise, caking may result in uneven coverage. After installing the wool, a special vapor barrier film is applied. This will prevent moisture from entering the insulating material.

Stage No. 3. Facing

After the insulation is installed, you can begin the finishing cladding. For this, wooden lathing is used.

Insulated swing gates in the garage can be lined in various ways:

OSB sheets;
lining;
plastic panels;
corrugated sheeting

For your information! Fastening the cladding can be done using self-tapping screws or construction staplers.

Sealing the sashes: the last stage of work

In order for the insulation to be complete, it is necessary to insulate the cracks in the garage door. If you do not pay attention to this, warm air will be blown out through them. Therefore, you need to secure a special rubber strip. It is best to have a semicircular cross-section. The seal is not secured to the bottom of the doors. For this part, you can use a brush profile, which is secured with self-tapping screws. In addition to this heat conservation measure, garage curtains can be used.

To choose how to insulate iron gates in a garage, you need to weigh all the strengths and weaknesses of each material. The best material in terms of its characteristics is polyurethane foam, but it is difficult to apply. Foam plastic is more accessible for independent use. If you are just deciding on choosing a gate, you can order models that are already factory insulated. Therefore, when it comes to the question of how to insulate a garage door and with what material, there is no single rule.

Why do you need garage door insulation?

Minimum temperature in the garage – +5 degrees

According to SNiP standards 02.21 - 1999, the temperature in the garage should not be lower than +5°C. In winter, there should be no frost in the room in order to extend the service life of the rubber gaskets of the machine, to prevent corrosion and the formation of condensation in the cavities inside the machine.

A protective layer becomes necessary not only in winter, but also in summer. In hot weather, the metal door heats up, transfers heat to the internal air, and heats up so much that it becomes difficult to stay inside. Vegetable storage is sometimes used in the garage, so insulation from the cold helps create the required temperature regime.

General principles for maintaining room temperature

Sometimes garages are used, provided not only with electricity, but also with other communications. However, in most cases this room can easily lose heat.

Cutting insulation Source ad-cd.net

This happens in the following ways:

Heat is lost because the walls, floor and ceiling transfer heat to the atmosphere.
The movement of air can significantly lower the temperature in this room.
Every heated body is capable of radiating heat. By releasing it into the surrounding atmosphere and into the ground, the garage loses it irrevocably.

To save heat, you need to use an additional layer of insulation and stop the air convection that cools the garage. To do this, you need to know how to make a garage door with your own hands.

In winter, it is not recommended to allow negative temperatures in the garage. Building codes recommend maintaining the temperature at least 5 degrees Celsius. It is believed that in this case no difficulties can arise. If you need to start the car.

Insulated gates Source ad-cd.net

Providing heat is a goal that must be strived for, including when planning and building a garage. Some owners don't think about it. So that the garage has not only a gate, but also a gate. However, its use will significantly save heat during the cold season.

At first glance, they sometimes try to close the ventilation holes for insulation. However, this is not recommended. Lack of ventilation can have a detrimental effect on the health of those inside. However, it is advisable to close other holes, if any.

Even when a layer of insulation is laid, it will be important to leave ventilation holes. It must be remembered that it must be both supply and exhaust. When planning how to make a garage door, you need to take this into account.

Garage doors with wicket Source refite.ru

What is the best way to insulate garage doors?

For high-quality insulation of garage doors, the modern market of heat preservation materials will provide a wide field of choice. It is best to choose today's traditional insulation materials, such as polystyrene foam, extruded polystyrene foam and foil-coated polyethylene foam. These three thermal insulation materials will do the job perfectly. Below we will consider each option separately - the properties and the step-by-step process of laying the heat insulator on the surface of the gate.

Some may wonder why mineral wool was not mentioned. It’s very simple, it’s better not to use this material to insulate garage doors, although many people do this. Mineral wool has the ability to absorb moisture well. And since the garage is a place where the humidity level will regularly exceed the normal level, thereby contributing to its concentration in this insulation, which loses its properties as a result.

Additional insulation for garage doors

There are several ways, in addition to laying insulation, that will help reduce the escape of warm air to the outside, thereby creating comfortable conditions indoors.

These are ordinary curtains, only not like those in an apartment, but made of dense material that holds back the cold well and does not immediately let it into the room. It is very simple to build them - first stretch a steel thread or a thin rope, and use rings attached to a dense material, for example, a tarpaulin, and then attach the canvas. This is useful for those who often open the gate or, due to circumstances, one leaf must be open.
At the first stages of building a garage or installing a gate, many car owners do not take into account the fact that less heat escapes through a small hole than if the gate is opened completely or partially. That is, it is better to build a small doorway in the gate, then you won’t have to open the whole garage to just take, for example, a tool like a hammer for hammering nails. Therefore, when ordering gates, ask for separate doors.
You can additionally insulate the joints between the gate and the wall, and also install a threshold so that less heat escapes through the cracks. Vinyl material of appropriate thickness and size works well for this. Attach vinyl tape along the edges of the joints where gaps form using nails or construction adhesive. This will create an additional barrier to heat loss.

Why do you need to insulate garage doors?

This is the disappointing picture that a garage owner may face in winter if he does not insulate the gate

Garage doors are made of metal. From the point of view of heat conservation, this material is completely useless. During the cold season, drops of water or frost are constantly present on the surface of metal doors. In the summer, under the scorching rays of the sun, the gates heat up, making staying in the garage unbearable.

If we take into account the area of the gate, which is practically one of the walls, the magnitude of the problem becomes clear and requires an immediate solution. If you do not pay attention to the inconvenience, the result will be rust. The process will progress quickly, and one day the hinges will collapse, the lock will fail, or the door leaf will become leaky, which is completely unacceptable.

The solution to the problem is insulation - installing a layer of heat insulator on all open metal surfaces, cutting off the contact of the metal with moist internal air. The procedure is not too complicated, but it requires an understanding of the meaning of all actions.

Human breathing saturates the air with water vapor. After some time spent inside the garage, the air receives a fairly large amount of moisture. Even when there are no people in the garage, the humidity is increased due to the secretions of vegetables stored in the cellar, which is typical for the vast majority of garages. This moisture can be removed using a high-quality ventilation system, but then the temperature inside will become equal to the outside, which is undesirable for storing a car. Therefore, the only rational solution to the problem is to insulate the gates.

Stage 1: preparation

In particular, preparation involves completely cleaning the metal from rye and paint residues. There are three ways to get rid of corrosion:

Mechanical. Using a special brush with metal teeth or the same discs and a grinder. The metal is well processed over the entire surface. Especially in areas of rust.
Chemical. A rust converter can be used here. They cover the entire inner surface of the gate and wait for a reaction.
Using paint. There are 3-in-1 compositions that simultaneously function as a rust converter, primer and paint. Hammerite behaves especially well in this case.

Advice: it is better to prepare the garage door by first removing it from its hinges and laying it on a flat surface.

Typical and dangerous mistakes when insulating garage doors

When insulating a garage and its doors, typical mistakes are very common, some of which will make the insulation ineffective, while others can be life-threatening. Let's point them out.

When equipping a garage, it is better not to use porous insulation materials such as mineral wool, especially for insulating gates. The fact is that usually the walls of a garage are thinner than residential buildings or, in general, are made of sheet metal. In winter, the dew point will most likely be in the insulation layer, it will get wet, and its density and thermal conductivity will increase. As a result, the effectiveness of insulation measures will decrease.

Mineral wool can actively absorb moisture

At the garage construction stage, some car owners, trying to save money, order regular gates without a wicket, although its presence can greatly save heat in the winter. The best way out is to immediately order a gate with a wicket and insulation.
Any garage must be equipped with ventilation: supply and exhaust. And often the supply hole is made in the gate. In some cases, garage owners think that by closing the ventilation holes they can achieve better insulation. They are partly right, but this is not necessary, since the garage must have effective ventilation. Its absence is life-threatening! Therefore, when insulating a garage, you need to take this into account, leaving ventilation ducts in the insulation layer.

Exemplary insulated gates

Note the vent in the lower right corner of the gate

Stage 2: waterproofing

Even if you decide to insulate your garage door with plywood, you still need to pre-treat the metal with a waterproofing material. It protects any insulation from moisture and fungus. And most importantly - from losing your airiness.

Roofing felt, bitumen mastic, 2 mm thick isolon or a membrane are used as waterproofing. The waterproofing is applied overlapping so that there are no gaps.

Is it necessary to do this

The garage is used for more than just car maintenance. Some owners may use it for storage or make a workshop in this room. One of the possible options is the ability to communicate with friends. No matter what the garage is used for, it is not comfortable to be in it in the cold season without heating.

Temperatures below zero cause damage to the vehicle. If it is overcooled, it will be difficult to start it, and frozen condensation will begin to accumulate, which can damage metal parts. If you know how to insulate a garage door, this can be prevented.

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Comments 51

I chose a day where there was not much thaw and foamed the gap between the threshold and the gate, it became better) By the time I had time, the frosts now reached -30.

The bottom can be made with felt

Frozen to the gate.

Then from the heart's sleeve

Hang a curtain made of dornite, we have one of these hanging in every garage and you will be happy

You can put felt padding on the gates, but I also saw that in the neighborhood in garages people wrap a tarp around a board and just lay it down with their hands every time.

Thank you! I am also inclined towards this design, make brackets for the threshold and insert a board with felt there.

I was also intrigued by the question until I saw that people were just using the boards, not just one person, but quite a lot.

such a good corner for a sealant... my toad says that a profile for drywall would be enough, it is noticeably cheaper!

The threshold is coated with the compound and the foam is applied directly into the crack on the closed door. After hardening, the foam will remain on the door itself, creating a seal and will not stick to the threshold.

I support! I did exactly the same thing around the entire perimeter, everything worked out perfectly and it turned out hermetically sealed. Only I didn’t smear it with polish, but with a thin layer of lithol. Three years have already passed, no complaints.

You can cover it with tape; the foam won’t stick to it either.

I screwed a doubled fire hose around the perimeter. Bend outward. First, you put a galvanized metal strip with holes into the sleeve. Self-tapping screws every 200 mm.

And I have insulation around the perimeter with frost. Just so neatly.

Nope)) I don’t like this kind of insulation, I used it for a while too)

I sewed up the gate first with a wooden sheathing around the perimeter, then with polystyrene foam and then the whole OSB-3 thing on top. So I tried to adjust the OSB so that it would fit right next to the frame. But there’s still such a neat frost around the perimeter. It doesn’t grow and melts when you heat it too much. Or rather , it doesn’t melt, but falls off in pieces. I’ll have to hang a curtain.

I should have taken a photo of the gap at the bottom too, the options depend on its size

I cut rubber inner tubes from Kamaz into strips. I secured these rubber strips in two layers - on one side and the other side of the rail (it turned out to be a double shutter). I did this around the entire perimeter of the gate. Then I trimmed these strips in place (in width so as not to interfere with the closing of the gate).

Polyurethane foam. I did this to myself, everything tightly in a circle. There are a lot of videos on YouTube.

Now on sale there are a lot of rubber profiles for sealing the joints of window doors and gates. Why reinvent the wheel?

I didn't see the rapids.

You can use the same ones for thresholds. Or too small?

Create an anti-threshold! )))))www.antiporog.ru/ustanovka-antiporoga.html

Cool stuff! I'm afraid it will freeze and the mechanism will become clogged with frost.

to seal the cracks at the gate, the first thing you need to look at is that at the exit from the garage - it’s just the ground that rises in winter or thoughtfully poured concrete... and so that it’s straight according to Feng Shui, or make second light doors so that there is a vestibule so that it plays the role of an “air cushion” or a more budget-friendly option for curtains made of felt and there will be a song

The only problem is with the threshold. I got confused with the rubber bands because I didn’t want a curtain.

A huge canvas curtain covers the entire wall, it will have a very cool effect.

I have a 50th corner welded to the prog without insulation and there are no problems.

a dozen mops with the bristles down. But in general, leave it, ventilation has never harmed anyone.

ventilation and draft are very different things... and where there are cracks, in winter there will be frost and quite a bit of it, which then melts and moisture - one wonders where are the advantages of such “ventilation”...

moisture is where the humid air of the garage comes into contact with cold objects; if there is a blow through the gap under the gate, then there will be no frost there, but if there is frost, what is the problem at the frost threshold? This is not a ceiling. Besides, the more ventilation, the less chance of catching the dew point. And I probably won’t list the advantages of ventilation.

Important little things

Insulated metal gates in a garage are a whole complex of measures and it does not end only with the arrangement of the inner surface of the doors

It is equally important to correctly install the seal around the perimeter of the sashes, plus take into account the accompanying factors that reduce heat loss.

Let's start with the fact that when you order or choose a door for your garage, do not skimp and take a model that has a simple door . If you constantly open a whole sash, then as soon as your neighbor comes to you several times in the winter for advice, all your warmth will disappear. After all, no matter how hard you try, you won’t be able to squeeze through quickly, the open door is too big;

Doors with and without entrance doors.

Now about compaction . It is clear that with such large dimensions it is unlikely that the shutters will fit tightly along the entire perimeter of contact with the frame of the opening. You should immediately forget about such things as self-adhesive seals for windows and ordinary doors; they will last a maximum of a week. Rubber hoses with fastening tape are produced for garage doors and other similar structures. They can be hollow or filled with some soft porous material such as foam rubber. Such a seal is fixed to the base with self-tapping screws using mounting strips or comes with the strip;

Types of rubber seals for garage doors.

It would also be a good idea to install a curtain on the inside next to the gate.. There are several options here:

Thermal curtain.

The next option is more loyal. A piece of tarpaulin with water-repellent impregnation is used as a curtain. In fact, this is a classic curtain. You need to stretch a metal string or baguette on top and hang your sliding canvas curtains on it;

Canvas curtains over the gates.

Almost every motorist has been to a car wash; remember how their driveway is equipped. The curtain there is made of vertically cut soft transparent tapes, such as polyethylene. But this is not entirely polyethylene, and if you buy such a thing in a factory version, it will be expensive. It is unlikely that your garage will have the same amount of traffic as a car wash. Therefore, you can simply cut strips of thick technical polyethylene about 10 - 20 cm wide and, with a slight overlap (10 - 15 mm), staple them to a wooden strip. Next, for reliability, screw another similar rail on top, so that the polyethylene is between them, and fasten it above the entrance to the garage. Please note that any curtain should not drag on the floor; a small gap is always left;

Polyethylene curtain.

I would also like to say a few words about lining the gate from the inside . Izolon and lining, as you understand, are far from the only materials that can be used for such purposes. One of the most popular in garage design is OSB-3 or OSB-4, about 10 mm thick; it has decent moisture resistance and can be bought for reasonable money. If you take plywood, then in this case you need to buy the FSF brand. For those who like a warmer design, we can advise covering the inside of the doors with PVC panels. They are glued directly onto the foam plastic with liquid nails or something similar, and a edging is put on around the perimeter;

Standard OSB board.

There is one more interesting detail. I've seen advice online about insulating gates with polyurethane foam. People say that you can buy 5 - 7 cans of foam, make a frame and fill it with this foam . They promise that such insulation can supposedly last for almost 50 years. But in the open air and with minor vibration, I have seen polyurethane foam deteriorate within 3 to 5 years. Perhaps the person used some special type of foam, but in any case, I do not recommend this method to you.

Polyurethane foam and blowing gun.

Answers to some general questions

Before we go directly to describing the process of insulating a garage door with our own hands, I want to answer some questions that you will definitely begin to have as the planned date of the finishing work itself approaches:

Why insulate your garage door at all?

Many car enthusiasts may object to the proposal to increase the thermal insulation properties of the “house” of their own car by saying that the main thing is the roof over their heads, and everything else is an unnecessary luxury.

But let's look at this statement and consider the problems that arise in the case of such a negligent attitude:

Your stay in the garage is not always limited to walking from the gate to the car in the morning and back in the evening. Sometimes you have to roll up your sleeves and repair your vehicle. So in winter, in the absence of insulation, doing this will be more than problematic. I don’t recommend anyone to sort through steel parts in the cold. Therefore, strengthening the thermal insulation of the room in question is primarily necessary for a person, not a machine;

It is better to overhaul the engine in a warm place, not in the cold.

Temperature changes, which are inevitable in the absence of insulation, lead to the appearance of condensation inside the garage, including in hard-to-reach parts of the car. Such an abundance of dampness accelerates corrosion processes, which can ultimately result in very expensive repairs to your vehicle.

An example of what happens to a car “living” in an uninsulated garage

As you can see, the reasons are compelling enough to begin thermal insulation of the room. But why are we talking specifically about gates? Perhaps it would be better to do global insulation of the garage from the inside with your own hands?

It all depends on what material the walls of your building are made of:

If it is made of brick, cinder block, foam block or concrete, then you can limit yourself to enhancing the thermal insulation properties of only the entrance part, which, as a rule, is made of steel. The fact is that metal has excellent anti-vandal properties and does an excellent job of preventing intruders from accessing your car, but at the same time it also has very high thermal conductivity, due to which it releases all the accumulated heat outside;

Thermogram clearly demonstrates heat loss from iron garage doors

If it is made of the same iron as the gate itself, then, of course, you should insulate the walls and even the ceiling of the garage room. Otherwise, in winter it will be incredibly cold, and regularly falling condensation will cause significant damage to the car.

An iron garage in winter is not the best place to spend time

Do all types of gates need insulation and can be insulated?

The entrance, or rather the entrance, to your garage may have various design solutions that affect the choice of approach to the process of thermal insulation work.

Here are the variations found in our area:

Swing. This is a classic, which consists of a frame and two gate leaves made of sheet steel. Such a structure undoubtedly needs to be insulated, otherwise the metal will release all the heat in winter and all the coolness in summer from the room;

Two doors opening along the vertical axis

An example of a steel swing gate with a wicket in one of the leaves

Custom lift and turn. In this case, the working part of the structure is a sandwich panel, inside of which there is foamed polyurethane, which is already an excellent heat insulator. So you can just enjoy the fashionable gate and not take any additional action;

Scheme of the structure of the door leaf of custom-made overhead gates

Homemade rotary-lifting ones. Here everything is similar with swing structures, since again we are dealing with a steel sheet covering the entrance to the building. It can and should be insulated;
Roller shutters. They cannot be insulated due to their design features. Moreover, I would not install them in the garage at all due to their very low protective characteristics.

Why should you insulate from the inside?

In fact, why? After all, when it comes to a residential building, all the craftsmen unanimously advise performing insulation from the outside in order to avoid transferring the “dew point” to the inside of the building. But here we should not forget that when it comes to gates, their primary functions are protective and anti-vandal. That is, by placing insulation on the street, you run a very high risk of losing it in the near future.

Insulation of garage doors should be done exclusively from the inside

Which gates need insulation?

Most often, garage doors are made in the form of a swing structure that needs to be insulated. A corner or profile pipes are used as the gate frame, to which a sheet of metal is attached. Since steel conducts heat very well, the lack of thermal insulation does not in any way prevent it from leaking out of the garage. Sometimes swing gates are equipped with a wicket gate, which significantly reduces heat loss if the garage is often opened and closed.

Today, the most common gate designs are overhead and sectional. The canvas is made of sheet metal on the outside and foamed polyurethane on the inside. Such a design is already equipped with the necessary thermal insulation from the factory and is able to effectively retain heat.

We recommend: Builders use the term “thermal circuit”

Sometimes up and over gates are made independently. This design, like the swing one, does not have any insulation, since the material is bare metal. If the garage is equipped with roller gates, then their design simply does not allow for insulation.