Do you want to insulate your garage door? This essential operation to protect a garage from the cold or heat is within the reach of all do-it-yourselfers. Our garage door repair company in Orange gives you advice on how to choose the right insulation and fix it quickly.
To insulate a garage door, insulating material is attached to the inside of the door with double-sided tape. Then install a door flange on the floor and insulating seals around it to block the passage of air.
When should you insulate a garage door?
Garage doors, although directly open to the outside, are frequently poorly insulated. This insulation defect is found at all levels. On the floor and on the borders, spaces allow air to enter the room easily.
As a result, the garage, which can be used as a workshop, becomes uncomfortable to use. In winter, cold and humidity invade the room, resulting in energy loss. In summer, the stifling heat makes it difficult to use the garage as a living room or to store foodstuffs.
What materials and types of insulation are recommended?
Regardless of the material used for your door design, you are free to choose the type of insulation you want. The insulation must be installed inside the door. Indeed, it should not interfere with the opening or closing of your garage door.
The materials that can be used as an insulation layer are:
- Extruded polystyrene;
- Cork;
- A thermo-regulating film.
The first two have the advantage of offering excellent thermal and sound insulation. The third, although less effective, has the advantage of being particularly light and easy to install.
What tools are needed to make this operation a success?
To insulate a garage door, you need:
- One meter;
- A box cutter;
- Insulation;
- Double-sided adhesive;
- The insulating joint;
- A rubber band;
- Glue;
- Aluminum adhesive.
How to install insulation on a garage door?
First step, clean the inside of your garage door thoroughly.
Then measure your garage door. Cut your insulation according to the dimensions of your door using a cutter. Regardless of the type of material chosen, you will need to assemble several layers or panels to completely cover the surface.
Make new cut-outs to get around the various elements on the door, such as the handle or lock for example.
Finally, place double-sided adhesive directly on the garage door. Then lay your panels on top of the adhesive and press firmly to make them adhere. If the panels do not stay in place, you can directly screw them using specific screws, sheet metal screws if your garage door is made of sheet metal, wood screws if it is wood.
As a final step, place a strip of aluminum adhesive where the different panels meet. This will maximize the insulation of the door.
How do you prevent air from getting under the door?
Does a draft seem to be slipping under your garage door? Don’t panic. Get a rubber garage door flange. This strip can be attached directly to the floor.
To install it, mark the floor with markings to mark the location of the door when it is closed. Install the rubber strip and check that it does not interfere with the proper functioning of the door. Also check that in the closed position, the flange sticks enough to the door to prevent air from passing through.
Once you have found the perfect location, clean the floor and then attach the rubber strip with glue.
How to insulate the edges of a garage door?
To insulate the edges of a roll-up garage door, identify the spaces high up and on the sides where air seems to seep in. Measure the spacing and purchase an insulation joint of the same thickness. Self-adhesive, this gasket sticks directly to the walls that it must protect from the cold.
Before sticking it, however, fix it with a tip of double-sided adhesive and check that in the chosen location it does not interfere with the opening and closing of the door. Once these checks are done, glue your joint permanently.