Insulating an existing garage door 6 February at 11:58AM in In my home (includes DIY) MoneySaving 6 replies 133 views

Arfa__

I'm in a newish build 2007 house with an integrated double garage, that has the master bedroom immediately above. It's a timber frame build with wool insulation and external render. This bedroom has always been cooler than the rest of the house, for multiple reasons I'm sure: has 3 external walls, is above a cold garage etc. last summer I topped up the loft insulation above with an additional layer of 200mm. I'm not 100% certain what insulation is in the garage ceiling/bedroom floor, difficult to ascertain this with cutting holes...

Anyway, as one strategy to improve matters, I was thinking of adding insulation to the existing garage doors, by retrofitting some foam board into the door frame. The frame design will allow them to slot in and overhangs to retain them on two sides. I was going to use some doubleside carpet tape or glue to secure them too. My hope is this would prevent the garage from getting so cold to improve the temperature in the bedroom above and make it more comfortable when tinkering in the garage. Sure I could replace with purpose-built insulated garage doors, which would be more effective, but that'll be a much bigger expense (at least couple of grand for each door).

What do you think, worth doing?

Has anyone done this? Enough improvement to warrant the outlay? Any tips/advice?

I'm looking at using the Celotex material: https://www.insulationsuperstore.co.uk/product/celotex-40mm-tb4040-insulation-board-2400mm-x-1200mm.html  which I could chop up into rectangles to slot into the door frame. Measuring up, 4x of these sheets will cover both doors, each is 2.34 x 2.15m, with 66x53cm rectangle slots in the frame. This would add ~7kg weight to each door.

Would this be suitable?

Can anyone recommend a supplier without such a huge delivery charge? £65 for 4 sheets!

Thanks,

Doozergirl

You're far better off adding that same insulation to the garage ceiling and therefore insulating the bedroom itself with no thermal breaks.  

The garage will always be an unheated space so it's better to insulate the room. 

GDB2222

Would the balance spring on the door cope with the extra weight? Could you crank it up a bit more?

qWhat about draughts around the edges of the door? Insulation of the walls? 

Really, adding non flammable insulation to the garage ceiling would be a more direct solution.

jbainbridge

Nothing you do is likely to make the garage any warmer. As others have said insulating the garage ceiling is the right thing to do.

diystarter7

Hi OP

Is the door a roller type dorr?

Yes, do the ceiling but if door is not roller type/American style , then there may be options that improve the situations

As the others said, poss do the ceiling really well and you will not a massive difference and possibly if require a seal strip pn the bottom and top as long as it does not interfere with opn and close methods.

Thanks

Arfa__

So, garage side walls appear to have the same construction as other external walls in the house. I presume this will include fibreglass wool within the timber frame, but I've not tapped the walls to inspect.

Yes, the garage doors are roller up-and-over doors. They have a rubber bumper on the bottom which is pretty good at stopping drafts there. The sides do have some slight gaps though. I think I could improve these with some sticky back draft excluders, assuming they're robust enough for the door to slide door against them.

Good spot on the balance spring, will look into that.

Totally understand that the garage ceiling is probably where bigger improvements are to be had in regards to the bedroom warmth. Though, that'll be a bigger, more expensive job, and beyond my skills. Compared to insulating the garage doors I reckon I could do for < £200.

FreeBear

Arfa__ said: Can anyone recommend a supplier without such a huge delivery charge? £65 for 4 sheets!

Use a local builders merchant - Most will deliver for a nominal charge, or even free.