Everyone knows that metal garage doors freeze over in winter and become covered with a whole coat of frost. You've probably heard that you can use grease or another agent to lubricate the garage door from the inside. Then, supposedly, there will be no ice. A much smaller number of people understand why this happens, and how it is connected with the fact that it is necessary to carry out insulation of garage doors.

Each of us studied thermal conductivity at school. If the garage is made entirely of metal, then freezing is not terrible for the garage door. The entire perimeter of the garage will freeze evenly. And in capital garages (where only the gates are metal), it is the gates that freeze over, because they are the most heat-conducting element.

The garage door will be frozen, but the walls will be all right. In this case, the gate during the winter period acts as a cooled coil in the moonshine still. They condense moisture from inside the room and turn it into ice.

The temperature in the garage affects the condition of your vehicle. And first of all - on its rubber-technical elements. The warmer the room temperature, the more comfortable it will be for you to use the car inside in winter. The temperature also sets the microclimatic conditions inside the basement (if any) under the garage. To keep the warmth inside the garage, you need to insulate it very carefully. This article will discuss how to insulate.

To determine whether it is necessary to carry out the insulation of the garage door with your own hands, you need to understand one important point. Even without taking into account the winter cold, the usual thermal fluctuations during daylight and warm times of the day can cause condensation to form inside the garage. Constantly high humidity has a bad effect not only on the condition of objects, but also on the car body: the metal surface can rust, the electrical wiring can rot. Mold and mildew often appear in the corners of the garage.

After the condensate freezes, the finishing material will crack from excess moisture. But there is great news - such a seemingly serious problem can be solved. Just choose the right insulation material, and then insulate the doors and garage doors. At the end of the work, it will not drop below 5 ° С.

So, gate insulation will solve the problem with:

• corrosion of metal (metal garage doors, metal products located in the garage itself);
• "Rotting" of the car in the garage, which drives in there still "warm". And if in a closed room there is a considerable amount of cold ice, then condensation will form on every metal thing. because cars and "rot" in garages;
• ice, which appears even with a sharp drop in street temperature (not necessarily minus). Because of it, it is impossible to open the gate.

How to insulate a garage door? Let's take a look at this.

Preparation for work on insulation

There are several ways to insulate a garage door. You can initially buy and install high-quality garage doors, on which insulation material is already present. You can also insulate existing gates with your own hands. The latter option will cost you less. By the way, the process itself will not take much time. And for insulation, you do not need to have special skills in construction.

Before installing the insulation, measurements are made of the area of ​​the gate structure so that the total volume of the surface of the insulation can be determined. Where does the insulation of garage doors begin? Since the metal surface is cleaned of dust, dirt and other contaminants. Wash the garage door and wipe it dry. Further, all holes and slots are sealed with polyurethane foam. When it is completely hardened, its protruding remains are removed using a knife.

How to mark the material for insulation?

The marking of the selected type of insulation is done depending on the structure and area of ​​the gate structure in the garage. The ideal marking option is when all the sheets of insulation are fully used, except for the seams and joints between the plates. But how do you go to insulate the garage door from the inside, so that no extra material remains? To achieve this goal, whole sheets of insulation are immediately used. And the space that remains is sealed with pieces of foam.

When cutting the insulation, the stiffening edges of the gate are taken into account, because it happens that the corners of the insulation material protrude strongly above the canvas. The selected insulation is cut at an angle to the desired thickness.

How is the insulation attached?

Polyurethane foam adhesive is used as a fixing material. If you have never used such foam before, then working with it will delight you, since installation with it is reliable, fast and easy. The main advantage of this glue is the quality of the polyurethane foam.

Glue foam is applied to the insulation. After five minutes, the sheet with the material applied to it must be glued to the cleaned surface of the gate.

Experts recommend starting the installation of sheets from the bottom of the gate. The first sheet is glued without pressing strongly to the surface, otherwise the foam structure may be destroyed. After the first sheet has been installed, the subsequent ones must be glued with a standard gap of about a centimeter.

Sealant or polyurethane foam fill the seams that have appeared between the sheets of insulation. An hour later, when the glue-foam is completely dry, the joints and seams between the sheets of insulation can be repaired with foam. Excess foam can be removed with a knife. In order for the insulation of metal garage doors to have an attractive appearance, the mounted insulation is finished with clapboard.

Selection of insulating material

Before insulating a garage door, you should deal with the following. The insulation process directly depends on whether you managed to choose the right insulation material. When choosing, consider its quality and properties. Among the choice of heaters (and there are many varieties), pay attention to the three most popular options:

• on mineral wool;
• polyurethane foam;
• extruded polystyrene foam (foam).

Each of them has a lot of advantages, but one cannot but take into account the disadvantages. For example, the fire resistance of polystyrene leaves much to be desired. But at the same time it has high moisture resistance and low thermal conductivity. Mineral wool, on the other hand, has a high level of fire resistance, but minimal moisture resistance.

Polyurethane foam is the latest technology for insulating a garage from the inside. Spraying is quite effective and fully fulfills the task. It differs:

1. seamless installation;
2. low weight of insulation;
3. low thermal conductivity;
4. high fire resistance;
5. resistance to temperature extremes, chemical and biological aggressors;
6. durability;
7. durability;
8. the ability to use any finish for the sprayed surface.

Mineral wool is a fiber-like material that is made by processing special rock. The material has low thermal insulation, but the room is well insulated thanks to it. Cotton wool is produced in rolls and slabs.

Extruded polystyrene foam is considered a more expensive finish. It differs from other materials in the way it is mounted and glued. The installation begins with the construction of the crate and stretching a film designed to protect against moisture and vapor barrier. You can see how all this is done here:

Note! When insulating a garage door, you need to understand that their surface should quickly heat up, perfectly transmit heat inside, and also slowly release it outside. Do not forget to measure in advance the area that you are going to insulate in order to purchase the required amount of materials and other important elements (glue or fasteners).

When choosing a heater, pay attention not only to thermal conductivity indicators, but also to the presence of thermal inertia.

Lathing for insulating garage doors

Thermal insulation using any materials involves the use of a crate for the construction of the door leaf, which will secure the insulation. The door lining will then be attached to it. In order to make the lathing, use wooden blocks with a section of 4 x 4 cm or 5 x 5 cm (depending on the design of the gate). The lathing must be fixed to the power frame of the door leaf: to the corner or to the profile steel pipe.

To make a crate made of wood, you need:

• prepare the required number of wooden blocks in advance. When buying, give preference to exclusively dry wood;
• treat the bars twice with an antiseptic composition (to prevent their rotting in difficult conditions of temperature extremes and high humidity);
• a bar is attached to each power element of the gate. Use a screw for this. To do this, punch in the places where the holes will be, and then use a drill to make through holes. The drill diameter must match the screw. When attaching the bars, do not forget to make holes in them in advance using a thin drill. Then the screws being screwed will not split them;
• if there is a ventilation hole on the gate, it is bypassed around the perimeter with a crate. This also applies to castles;
• if there are no steel power elements on the central part of the gate, then the bars can be attached to one another in any way: with the help of corners, at the end, and the like.

What types of garage doors can and should be insulated? About swing gates

Most garage doors have a swing structure, which undoubtedly needs to be insulated. The base of the gate is a frame made of shaped pipes and a sheet of steel, which serves as an external finish. It is known that steel has a high thermal conductivity, therefore many people know that non-insulated gates made of this material are not an obstacle to heat leakage from the room. It is important that the swing gate has a wicket, which significantly reduces heat loss during frequent movement of people. Therefore, if you are still building a garage, then it is worth ordering a gate that is already insulated and with a wicket.

Sectional and overhead gates are considered very fashionable now. The sections or curtain of this product are sandwich panels of sheet steel on the outside and polyurethane foam on the inside. This design already has the required thermal insulation properties. And additional warming measures are not required in this case. These types of gates, if you want, can also be equipped with a wicket. This must be done without fail.

Handicraft overhead gates are also on sale. However, the insulation of garage doors of such models does not fundamentally differ from swing gates, because they are based on the same frame and sheet of steel.

Roller shutters are not insulated at all due to their special design. And they can not always be called garage doors, since in terms of the level of thermal insulation and anti-vandal characteristics, they are much worse than all other types.

If the garage for your car is located in a garage cooperative, then its arrangement consists in insulating the gate. As mentioned earlier, thanks to this, heat loss will be significantly reduced. Accordingly, this event is mandatory. The question is which materials to give preference to. We have already discussed what is best suited for what purpose.

So that the material for making the gate does not suffer a lot of corrosion due to the accumulation of condensate between the insulation layer and the metal, swing metal gates are waterproofed. Self-adhesive isolon can cope with this function. It can be used as additional or main thermal insulation. In this case, everything is decided by its thickness.

If izolon has insufficient thickness, then expanded polystyrene in sheets is glued to it. In this case, use tile glue or polyurethane foam.

Additional insulation methods

In addition to laying insulation, there are other options for insulating garage doors, which reduce the exit of warm air to the outside. Thanks to this action, it is really possible to create comfortable conditions in the room.

• The use of ordinary curtains, but not those that are used in apartments, but of dense materials that perfectly contain the cold and do not let it go directly into the room. They are made without unnecessary hassle: first, a steel thread or a thin rope is pulled. You can attach a canvas to it with the help of rings well fixed to dense material (for example, to a tarp). This method of insulation is suitable for those who often have to open the gate or, due to certain circumstances, one leaf of the gate always remains open.
• At the first stages of garage construction, or many car owners forget to take into account the fact that less heat can escape through a small hole than when the gate is fully or partially opened. It turns out that it is better to make a small doorway in the gate. Then there is no need to open the garage all the way to simply take tools such as hammers for hammering in nails. Therefore, when ordering a gate, ask to make separate doors for you.
• The joints between the wall and the gate, too, as you already know, are subject to additional insulation. You can also put sills for less waste of heat, which will go through the cracks. To ensure the function of insulation, vinyl material with the appropriate dimensions and thickness is used. Vinyl tape is attached at the edges of the joints where there are gaps. To fasten the tape, use nails or mounting glue. This is an additional barrier to heat loss.

Why is it important to insulate the garage door?

First of all, the insulation of the garage door is taking care of your "iron horse". If you manage to create really good conditions for your car, then it will serve you for a long time and regularly. After all, it turns out that cars can also "catch cold" and "get sick" in an excessively damp or cold room. And, like every patient, such a car needs a special "treatment", which, believe me, will cost you a lot of money. For this reason, as the saying goes, prevention is always cheaper than treatment.

In addition, many people use the garage not only as a parking lot, but also as a warehouse for old things or even a man's personal space. Often, it is in the garage that a small workshop is organized, in which sets of different tools are stored, useful in the process of creating various things or carrying out repair "work".

Note

Also, from the garage, you can make a recreation room for leisure activities with friends. Therefore, carefully consider the insulation of this kind of room. Keep your garage warm in winter and cool in summer. To do this, "should" try to create comfortable conditions for being inside the garage.

Often, car owners do not think about insulating their garage. However, both the condition of the car and the safety of fuel, tools and other spare parts depend on the temperature in this room. And if you use the garage as a workshop, then insulation is an obligatory part of the work. One of the garage structures that requires insulation is its gates.

Why insulate garage doors? What kind of gates can be insulated? What material for insulation to choose? How exactly do you make the gate warm? Let's look at the answers to these important questions.

Why insulate the gate

Many people wonder why it is so important to keep the gate warm. In fact, everything is simple: gates are one of the main sources of heat loss. Through them, warm air leaves the garage, and cold air enters it. And if you are heating your garage, then we can say that you are doing it in vain. After all, all the heat goes outside. And this can negatively affect both the vehicle with accessories and the interior decoration. As a result, you spend money on heating, but you don't.

And if you work in a garage, then high-quality thermal insulation is simply necessary for him. In winter, it will be difficult for you to spend time in a cold structure. You can get sick and sleep for many days. That is why it is so important to insulate your garage door. This way, you will keep the heat inside the building and make it even warmer.

What gates can be insulated

Mostly many car owners use it for their garages. This is the option in which insulation can and even should be performed. At the heart of this design is a frame made of a shaped tube and a sheet of steel sheet. It serves as an exterior finish. We can say with confidence that these garage doors do not block heat from leaving the building in any way. An important point in the design of such gates is that they have a wicket. Thanks to it, heat loss is reduced, since people who often go to the garage do not open the entire door structure, but only a small part. The heat comes out slowly.

Advice! If you want to make a gate for your garage, immediately plan to introduce a wicket.

Overhead and swing structures and sectional doors have become quite popular. Their section or sheet is made as a sandwich panel, consisting of steel sheet and polyurethane foam. These prefabricated gates already have proper insulation and excellent thermal insulation properties. Therefore, they do not need to be insulated.

Advice! If you bought such a handicraft structure, then most often it is not insulated in any way. The insulation process will be identical to the insulation of swing garage doors.

But if we talk about roller shutters, then, unfortunately, they cannot be insulated. It's all about the structure itself and the principle of its operation. This is why they are very rarely used for garages in cold regions.

Choosing insulation for garage doors

Your main task for insulation by 50% consists of the choice of material for insulation. If it is not done correctly, then all your work, wasted time, effort and money is wasted. Insulation material is a product that has minimal thermal conductivity and is able to retain heat inside the building. If we talk about the construction industry, then the conductivity of heat in a material is determined by the conductivity coefficient. The following principle applies here: the lower this coefficient, the better the insulation will keep the heat inside.

Above, you could see a table with materials and their conductivity coefficients. It is worth noting that the thicker the insulation layer is, the better the insulation itself will be. However, everything should be in reasonable measures. If we talk about the insulation of garage doors, then 5 cm of insulation is quite enough. What kind of material can you use?

We will consider these types of materials:

1. Mineral wool.
2. Styrofoam.
3. PPU (polyurethane foam).

What is the best way to insulate the gate? What are the advantages and disadvantages of materials? Let's find out.

Use of cotton wool

Few people are not familiar with this insulation. It has excellent characteristics and is excellent for insulating various structures. The material is sold both in rolls and slabs. Builders love and appreciate him very much. But, is it suitable for insulating garage doors? We will find out later. To begin with, consider the types of cotton wool as insulation and its characteristic features:

And now we will find out if any of the cotton wool is suitable as insulation for garage doors. The thing is that they have a fairly high hygroscopicity and cannot withstand moisture. When wet, any cotton wool will lose its properties and will not properly insulate the room. And in winter, the dew point in the garage will be located in the insulation layer. As a result, condensation will harm the cotton wool and reduce its performance. This is solved by the fact that the materials are sheathed with vapor barrier and waterproofing films. However, this is an additional waste.

Insulation of the gate with foam

Cheap, but very popular material for insulation. Unlike cotton wool, it does not absorb moisture and can serve for a long time, reliably protecting the garage. One of the disadvantages is flammability. But, this is the main disadvantage. Otherwise, this is a great solution. Consider why foam can be called one of the best for garage doors:

1. It has a low density and weight. Thanks to this, the insulation has practically no effect on the total weight of the garage door.
2. It has one of the lowest thermal conductivity values. And extruded polystyrene foam is even better than mineral wool.
3. It is environmentally friendly and does not affect human health.
4. Polyfoam does not interact with air and water in any way. Moisture is simply not afraid of him.
5. Durability of the material. It will serve you 50 years or more.
6. It is easy to work with: transport, carry, handle and stack.
7. The water absorption of the foam is less than 3%, and the extruded polystyrene foam is less than 0.4%.

It can be concluded that polystyrene and its types are ideal for insulating garage doors.

PPU insulation

This material requires special attention. It is unusual and produced by spraying. You saw something similar when working with polyurethane foam. Applied by means of a special unit resembling a spray gun, the material is sprayed onto the surface, after which it increases several times. A monolithic layer of insulation is created, which does not allow any cold to pass through. What are the advantages of PPU:

1. Low thermal conductivity.
2. Resistant to moisture.
3. Low weight.
4. High quality insulation due to the absence of seams.
5. Durability.
6. Ecological cleanliness.

This stuff could be at the top of the list, if not a few nuances. Firstly, you will not be able to do the insulation with your own hands, since for work you will need a special device that is available only to professionals. Secondly, such insulation is quite expensive. Not everyone can afford to insulate their garage with it. Nevertheless, PPU rightfully ranks high on the list if you have the opportunity to purchase it.

We insulate the garage door

So we got to the point of insulating the garage swing gates with our own hands. In general, the technology depends on which material you choose. PPU is applied by spraying. But the foam is laid on the gate. We will consider specifically foam insulation, since you can do it yourself and this is the most popular method.

Before starting work, we recommend that you inspect the structure of the gate. If you find rust on the frame or sash, remove it. Thoroughly blow out all cracks with polyurethane foam. So, you will avoid the appearance of cold bridges. Next, you need to install special polymer inserts on the floor. Thanks to them, you will seal the gate from rain and melted snow. Ideally, treat the garage doors with a primer and anti-corrosion agent. But you need to lay the material itself only after the soil has dried.

Let's start fixing the insulation boards. The process is simple as the gate width is small. You need to place the slabs in the space between the sheets and the profile pipe. You can fix the foam directly on the sheets, or between the crate. In the first case, a special glue is used, in the second - the frame device. The lathing is made of bars, metal profiles or slats. After laying the insulation, everything is sewn up with clapboard, panels or plywood. When laying the material, you must do it tightly so that there are no air spaces between the foam and the gate. Otherwise, condensation will form in these areas.

So, the process of insulating the gate takes place according to the following principle:

Advice! Attention should be paid to the cracks at the point of contact between the two shutters.

This is how you can simply and effortlessly insulate your garage door. You will see in more detail the process of warming from this video:

Let's summarize

Done right, you can protect your garage from heat loss, make it warmer, and save your car and the tools that are stored inside. And working in a warm room will be safer and more enjoyable. Therefore, if your garage door is not yet insulated, you can do it right now.

A garage is a parking place for a car that protects equipment from the weather and a workshop if the car needs repair. Some inhabitants keep inventory, summer cottage supplies for the winter, old things in this room. For a comfortable stay in this room, you need to insulate it.

Many people have no idea how to insulate the garage door from the inside. You can do this work with your own hands, following the special instructions described below.

Preparation for work

There is an option that is easy to use, but very expensive - to buy a garage door model with built-in insulation and interior decoration. Do-it-yourself garage door insulation will be much cheaper. This does not require construction education or experience in finishing work, and it will take a little time for insulation. Consider how to properly insulate a garage door with your own hands with all the nuances.

Garage doors are mainly made of sheet steel, so they cannot keep warm in the room. It is impractical to heat a non-insulated room, as you can get condensation in the room and ice on the walls and gates during severe frosts. Before sheathe the garage door - purchase material than you will insulate the garage door.

You can use different heaters, the cheapest and most effective option would be to insulate the garage door with foam.

• Styrofoam has a small specific weight, so no load on the structure will be provided. The material has low thermal conductivity, is environmentally friendly, lasts more than 50 years and does not absorb water. No special tools are needed to install the thermal insulation, since the foam sheet is easily cut with a simple clerical knife.
• Stone wool(basalt) is a fire-resistant fibrous material with high moisture resistance. It is used in any premises for sound and thermal insulation, does not emit harmful substances. This material is easy to use. Sold in rolls.
• Expanded polystyrene- one of the varieties of polystyrene having the same composition. This material has a lower thermal conductivity due to its increased density, and has a different degree of flammability, which is indicated on the package. To insulate garage doors, you need to use the NG or G1 brand. This material has a drawback, it collapses in the sun, and therefore requires additional finishing.
• Liquid penoizol- a material that is sprayed from a cylinder and is able to fill all cracks and cold bridges. Cures in 15 minutes, hardens within 4 hours, final strength occurs in three days. The advantage is ease of use, good thermal insulation properties, non-combustibility. The insulation turns out to be seamless, there is no need to rack your brains - how to fill up the gaps between the sheets of material.

It is better to order a gate with a wicket in the garage, if it is not provided, then it is better to equip it before the start of the insulation work. The wicket will help keep the room warm during renovation work.

Insulation tool

Before insulating the garage door, you need to prepare the tools necessary for this process:

• screwdriver or drill;
• core;
• screwdrivers;
• square;
• level;
• hard brush;
• sandpaper;
• roulette;
• hacksaw;
• construction knife.

Almost every owner has this set of tools.

Finishing materials

Even before starting work, you need to decide how to sheathe the garage door:

• lining;
• corrugated board;
• plywood, moisture resistant;
• PVC panels.

Based on practice, it can be noted that an oriented strand board (OSB) has a lot of advantages:

• strength and reliability;
• easy to process;
• does not need additional vapor barrier;
• moisture resistant;
• has an attractive appearance;
• is inexpensive.

This material is suitable for rooms with high humidity.

To make a frame for insulation, you need to prepare bars with a cross section of 40 mm, which are pre-treated with special antiseptic compounds to prevent rotting.

Preparing the gate for insulation

Before insulating garage doors, preliminary preparation is carried out. Inspect your swing garage door for rust and loose paint. They need to be well cleaned, rust is removed with coarse sandpaper, paint with a stiff metal brush. Further, the entire surface is processed with fine-grained sandpaper for better adhesion.

The next step will be surface treatment with a degreasing solution. After complete drying, an anti-corrosion primer is applied in two layers. It should be noted that the second layer of primer is applied after the first has dried and perpendicular to it.

There is waterproofing behind the primer, it is equipped if foam is used as a heater, it is optional with other materials. Bituminous mastic is easy to use, with which the door leaves are thoroughly coated, while it is advisable to glue vapor barrier membranes on it. You can use the self-adhesive material "Izolon"

Lathing

When insulating the gate from the inside with your own hands, you need to strictly adhere to the instructions described below - this will help not to make fatal mistakes.

Lathing - installation of bars, previously sawn to the size of the door leaf. It is desirable that the bars are solid. No need to neglect the framing of bolts and vents around the perimeter.

Before installing the bars, you need to mark the door leaf and tilt the places where the holes for the fasteners will be. The step between the screws should be no more than 25 centimeters. It is necessary to pre-drill the holes with a 4 mm drill, in the previously marked places.

The bars are screwed on with self-tapping screws (wood-metal) of the required length. To do this, use a screwdriver. The bars should be 60 centimeters apart - this distance is just right for the width of the foam layer.

Styrofoam installation

Insulation of swing garage doors with foam begins with marking and cutting the material. The cutting of the layers must be done in such a way that the foam fits tightly between the crate. The cutting line must be straight and vertical, therefore the use of a flexible blade is unacceptable.

It is worth noting that you do not need to use fasteners for foam when installing it, since it will be accepted as a finishing material. But for reliability, you can use special silicate glue or polyurethane foam, which can also be used for sealing joints and cracks.

Advice: you need to buy the material taking into account the crate and its location on the swing garage door, otherwise there will be a lot of scraps. You can use expanded polystyrene for insulation, then additional waterproofing is not needed, and it is easier to work with it - it does not crumble. The only drawback is the high cost.

Stone wool in gate insulation

Such a process as insulating a garage door from the inside with stone wool will not be difficult even for a beginner. This is a good insulation, with an aluminum film on one side, which reflects heat by 97%. It is mounted directly on the door leaf using assembly glue. From the garage side, the insulation must be protected with any facing material.

The use of expanded polystyrene

For garage doors, many use insulation such as expanded polystyrene, which has good insulating qualities. The installation method is the same as when installing the foam.

Insulation of gates with penoizol

Do-it-yourself insulation of garage doors, liquid foam insulation will not work - this will require special equipment and qualified builders. The material is sprayed in several layers by a spray unit. The lathing for this method is mounted as in the previous case, it will be needed to attach the finishing.

This method has many advantages:

• does not change its properties over time;
• excellent adhesion;
• high thermal insulation properties;
• when applied, there are no cold bridges;
• does not require the installation of a vapor barrier;
• service life 70 years.

Application of polyurethane foam

As soon as the layers of insulation are installed, you need to carefully cover up the cracks. The best and simplest option would be to insulate garage doors with mounting foam, which fills all voids and cracks.

It is better to purchase professional material for the gun, this will help to significantly save material, since the gun helps to accurately distribute the foam in the right amount. Foam tends to expand, thereby filling all voids. As soon as the foam dries, it is trimmed flush with the insulation.

How to cover up the gaps between the base and the insulation? To do this, you can use "Izolon" - a self-adhesive material used as additional insulation and vapor barrier.

When insulating, it is often used to lay the door leaf with penofol, before starting the installation of the battens. It is an innovative, non-flammable, easy-to-use insulation material.

Insulation of gaps

When the gate is insulated, there are gaps between the curtain and the slopes, into which cold air penetrates from the street. For complete tightness, these cold bridges must be eliminated without fail. To do this, use inserts and thresholds.

Vinyl inserts do an excellent job with this problem. They are pasted over the edges of the gate, having previously covered them with two layers of paint. For better adhesion, there are special notches on the inside of the inserts.

Before installing the inserts under the threshold, the space is preliminarily cleaned from dust and dirt. Fastening of the material is carried out using a special assembly glue.

Insulation of a garage door

Before insulating the door in the garage, surface preparation is carried out. It must be done in the same way as when insulating large swing gates. Equipped with waterproofing and vapor barrier.

After that, the crate is mounted with pre-prepared bars. First of all, they are screwed around the perimeter of the wicket. Then you need to cut out a block equal in size to the diagonal line of the wicket and screw it with self-tapping screws. The lathing is ready, it needs to be treated with special compounds against decay.

Insulation in the case of a wicket is cut in the form of two triangles and inserted tightly into the crate. All gaps are foamed as described above.

Gate finishing after insulation

As soon as the do-it-yourself warming of the canvases is completed, the question arises - how to sheathe the garage doors. There are a lot of options, you can apply:

• Railcar is an inexpensive environmentally friendly material. She has a presentable appearance, she tolerates temperature changes well, and is resistant to mechanical damage. The gates, hinged, insulated, and finished with clapboard have an aesthetic appearance. It is mounted on wood screws to the crate of the gate.
• PVC panels are easy to maintain, installation is not difficult, long service life. But there is a drawback, this material beats shock and mechanical damage. The panels are mounted on the lathing with a construction stapler.

• moisture resistant plywood is a material with excellent characteristics in terms of ecology and technical qualities, the only drawback is the high cost.
• OSB panel - High-quality, inexpensive material for facing work, on garage doors, which even professionals advise to use.

The material is mounted on the crate with self-tapping screws. Before installation on garage doors, swing doors need to be cut to size, trying to exclude large amounts of scraps. OSB has excellent characteristics, but to increase its service life, it must be treated with special compounds, or painted.

In custody

As you can see, the work on insulation is painstaking, but not difficult, and if done according to all the rules, then the insulated garage doors will protect the room where the car is located from winter frosts.

It is worth considering another important nuance - you should not use such material as mineral wool for insulating garage doors. The fact is that it absorbs moisture, which, when frozen, almost completely deprives the material of its thermal insulation capabilities. This fact also applies to glass wool.

Do not forget that when cold and warm air comes into contact, a dew point appears - condensate, which, if the insulation is improperly installed, can reduce all work to zero. Now you know how to properly insulate the garage door and you can do it yourself.

The condition of the vehicle largely depends on the temperature in the garage, but, above all, its rubber-technical elements. Moreover, the warmer it is in the room, the more comfortable it will be to use the car inside in winter. Finally, the temperature here also affects the microclimatic conditions in the basement (if any) under the garage. And in order to keep warm inside the garage, it is necessary to carefully insulate it. So, today we will talk about how to insulate a garage door with your own hands.

Do you need to insulate the gate at all?

To find out whether the gate really needs insulation, you need to understand for yourself one extremely important point. So, even without taking into account the winter cold, the usual thermal fluctuations in the warm and daytime can lead to the formation of condensation in the garage. Permanently high humidity levels negatively affect not only the condition of the object, but also the body of the vehicle: metal surfaces are covered with rust, electrical wiring begins to rot, and mold or mildew appears in the corners of the garage.

As soon as the condensation freezes, moisture will begin to crack the finishing material. But there is great news - it is quite difficult to solve such a seemingly serious problem! It is only necessary to choose an insulating material, and then personally carry out the appropriate measures to insulate the gates and doors. Once the work is completed, the temperature in the garage will not drop below 5 C. Let's find out how to do this.

What can be done in general? Getting ready for work

There are several options at once: for example, you can simply purchase and install modern high-quality garage doors that are already equipped with insulation material, or you can carry out work on the thermal insulation of the existing doors on your own, which, of course, will cost significantly less. This will not take much time, as well as special skills in construction.

Note! The garage doors themselves are thin, so they are unable to reliably protect from the cold in winter. It is generally unreasonable to heat a metal garage, since the only thing you will achieve in this case is the formation of condensation on the walls.

It is also worth noting that it is better to insulate the gate from the outside, although this is often impossible. With internal insulation, condensation will appear in those areas where the insulation is in contact with metal surfaces, for this reason, all surfaces should be protected with an anti-corrosion agent, and the heat insulator itself should be fastened as tightly as possible in order to avoid air gaps. A wooden frame is erected on top of the insulation, which will serve as the basis for future cladding.

How to make heating in a garage with your own hands

Earlier we talked about how to choose the type of garage heating and make it yourself, in addition to this article, we advise you to read this information

Now - directly to the workflow!

Insulation instructions for garage doors

The thermal insulation procedure consists of several stages, let's get acquainted with each of them in more detail. By tradition, we will start with the selection of materials and the preparation of all the necessary equipment.

How to choose a heater?

In this case, the characteristics and quality of the heat insulator are extremely important. Of all the known heaters for our case, the following is suitable:

• mineral wool;
• Styrofoam;
• polyurethane foam;
• extruded foam.

Each of the options has its own strengths and weaknesses. Note also that even before insulating the garage door with your own hands, you should correctly determine the required number of materials. Move on.

Speaking specifically about foam, then it does not have a high enough fire safety, but it has increased moisture resistance and insignificant heat conductivity. Mineral wool is more fireproof (so to speak), but its moisture resistance leaves much to be desired. Polyurethane foam spraying is a new method of thermal insulation - costly, albeit effective. This method has several significant advantages.

• No seams remain after installation.
• Polyurethane foam weighs quite a bit.
• It can be applied to any surface, not even prepared.
• The material is resistant to temperature extremes, exposure to chemicals, it is durable and strong.

But due to the high cost, this method is not very popular - as a rule, foam is used to insulate the garage door. Therefore, we will focus on this material in this article.

Necessary equipment

You don't need any specific tools - almost every car owner should have everything you need at hand. So, for work you should prepare:

How to insulate the front door yourself

Earlier we talked about several ways to insulate the front door, what tools and materials are best used for this, in addition to this article, we advise you to read this information

Calculations of the required number of consumables

First, measure the gate and determine what and how much is needed. For finishing cladding, you can use various materials: plastic, plywood, lining, etc., but in practice, the best option in this case is OSB boards, which have a number of advantages:

• reliability;
• affordable cost;
• strength;
• ease of processing;
• excellent aesthetic data;
• low vapor permeability (you can not use additional vapor barrier).

For a garage, you will need material labeled OSB-3 or OSB-4 one centimeter thick. At the end of the measurements, calculate the required number of slabs (for reference: the standard dimensions of one slab are 250x125 centimeters). Often a couple of slabs are enough, and after work a lot of scraps remain, which will also be useful in the future.

OSB slabs will be fixed to a crate made of 40x40 mm wooden blocks. The lathing will be created along the perimeter of the structure and along the area of ​​the door leaf, and will be attached to the supporting parts (such as profiled pipes or steel corners). When calculating the dimensions of the crate, you need to take into account several points (this is another important point regarding how to insulate a garage door with your own hands).

• Dimensions of load-bearing elements.
• Dimensions of foam sheets.
• The fixing step of the future cladding (at least 400 millimeters).

The bars will be fastened with self-tapping screws (their length depends on the thickness of the bearing elements), for OSB boards the best option is screws equipped with a press washer.

Note! It may be necessary to treat the inner iron surface with a special anti-corrosion primer that can protect the material from rusting. The primer can be any, it is only important that it is intended for a sufficiently wide temperature range. Before applying the primer, the surface will need to be degreased with a solvent.

To mount the foam to the metal (as well as to fill the resulting gaps), you need to purchase polyurethane foam. It is desirable that a professional one, that is, a special gun is used for application. The expansion of such foam is less, and with the help of a pistol it is much more convenient to apply it.

Wooden blocks should be treated with an antiseptic so that they do not rot. An antiseptic can also be anything; moreover, it can even be paint with antiseptic characteristics. Finally, ordinary foam (not extruded) must be protected from moisture, for which you can use bitumen-based mastic, a vapor barrier membrane, isolon, and so on.

Stage four. Preparatory activities

Step 1... First of all, treat all wooden elements with an antiseptic. Do this in one or two layers, depending on the specific product (if there are several layers, then each of them must be given time to dry). Use a regular brush to apply, but start work only with protective gloves - most antiseptics are based on harsh chemicals.

Step 2... Next, proceed with the preparation of the inner surface of the garage door. Thoroughly inspect the surface, clean up any traces of rust found. Any paint that has already peeled off must also be cleaned off. Further, in order to increase adhesion, the entire surface is carefully processed with sandpaper. Finally, the metal is coated with a degreasing solvent.

Step 3... Start applying an anti-corrosion primer, and apply it in two layers: the first along the canvas, the second across, after the previous one has completely dried.

Step 4... When the surface is dry, proceed with waterproofing (as noted above, this is a prerequisite for ordinary foam). There are several methods of waterproofing, let's get acquainted with each of them.

• By means of bitumen-based mastic.
• With the help of an isolone.
• With a vapor barrier membrane.

The entire surface must be covered with waterproofing, which will later be covered with a heat insulator.

Stage five. Installation of the lathing

We continue to consider how to insulate a garage door with our own hands. According to the previously drawn up diagram, cut the bars of the desired size. To attach them, make holes in the frame with a diameter of 0.4 centimeters in increments of about 20 centimeters. To fix the bars themselves, you need to tighten them with clamps and, using a 0.25 centimeter drill, make holes in them along the depth of the screws.

Stage six. Styrofoam laying

The foam will be placed in the voids between the battens. To do this, first measure the dimensions of the cells and cut the insulation using a metal ruler and a mounting knife. It is important that you make each Styrofoam sheet a few millimeters oversize on either side. So the insulation, being sufficiently elastic, will fit extremely tightly.

Video - Cutting foam technology with a knife

There are several ways to fix the heat insulator between the battens of the sheathing, let's get acquainted with them.

Method number 1. Styrofoam may not be fastened at all, since the sheathing plates will press it tightly enough to the gate anyway.

Method number 2. The material can be glued using polyurethane foam. An excellent option, especially since the foam is already required in the work.

Method number 3. Finally, you can use liquid nail glue, which is known to be specially designed for this.

Note! The polyurethane foam has excellent adhesion, but it is still advisable to moisten the surface a little before application. This is explained by the fact that the foam hardens only when exposed to moisture.

Take a sheet of styrofoam, apply foam on one surface around the entire perimeter (a little, in the center - in a zigzag pattern). After that, wait about ten minutes for the material to increase slightly in volume, and press the sheet to the desired place on the gate. After another fifteen minutes, re-press the foam to make sure that its adhesion to the surface is as strong as possible.

After attaching the last sheet, blow out all voids and crevices using the same polyurethane foam. When the foam dries (and this will take at least a day), the excess is cut off with a knife. Now get down to the last step of the job!

Stage seven. Sheathing

Measure the gate with a tape measure and determine how exactly the OSB boards should be cut. It is important that they completely cover the crate with insulation, but at the same time it is necessary to act according to the principle of the ultimate integrity of the plates. If the joints cannot be avoided, then they should be located exclusively on the uneven bars.

You can use an electric jigsaw or a hacksaw to cut the slabs. Next, the plates are in place, if necessary, make cutouts for ventilation holes or locks. Use screws for fastening - it will not only be reliable, but also look beautiful. The vertical fixing step should be 150 millimeters, but 250 millimeters in the center and horizontally. Drive the screws into the pre-drilled holes.

Note! If you have any difficulties with the tightness of the doors or gate leaves, then you can paste over the problem areas with tape, a sealant or a tube (these are sold in a large assortment, and you can choose the optimal size and shape for yourself). Thus, you will noticeably reduce the heat loss of the garage.

The doors, sheathed with OSB plates, already look excellent in themselves, but if you wish, you can paint them with paint of any color you like. Of course, all this depends solely on personal preferences, since the main thing is already ready - the garage doors are insulated. For a more detailed acquaintance with how to insulate a garage door with your own hands, we advise you to watch the thematic video below.

Video - Insulation of the garage door

As a conclusion

As a result, let us remind once again how important it is to insulate the gates and the garage itself as a whole. Even the usual (not taking into account winter) temperature fluctuations during warm and daylight hours can lead to the formation of condensation in the garage. A permanently high level of humidity negatively affects not only the condition of the room, but also the body of the vehicle: metal surfaces are covered with rust, electrical wiring begins to rot, and mold or mildew appears in the corners of the garage. As soon as the condensation freezes, moisture will begin to crack the finishing material. But high-quality insulation will allow you to get rid of all these troubles!

The garage can be used for its intended purpose - as a parking lot for a car, as well as as a workshop or warehouse, where you can store inventory and various things. If you often do car repairs, then it is best to insulate the building. These works will be most effective in the area of ​​the gate. However, before carrying out such manipulations, it is necessary to familiarize yourself with the rules, which state that it is better not to use porous heaters like mineral wool for thermal insulation of the garage. This is due to the fact that it will shift towards the insulation, it will get wet, its density and thermal conductivity will increase.

Material selection

You should not try to save money by ordering a gate without a wicket. Its presence allows you to keep warm inside the garage. It is better to immediately make a gate not only with a separate door, but also with insulation. Among other things, the building must be equipped with a ventilation system, which can be exhaust and supply. The inlet can be made in the gate. Insufficient ventilation can create life-threatening conditions.

Insulation of garage doors can be carried out with different materials, but one of the most effective is polystyrene. This material has a low density, so the insulation will not put additional stress on the structure. Polyfoam has a low coefficient of thermal conductivity, it does not emit substances harmful to human health, which is true under normal operating conditions. This insulation does not interact with air and water, and the formed layer will last more than 50 years. Processing canvases is quite simple, you can use the available tools for this. It should also be noted that the water absorption of the foam is rather low and does not exceed 3%, but if we are talking about extruded polystyrene foam, then this indicator is even less, it is equal to 0.4%.

Gate insulation: preparation of tools

If you decide to insulate the garage door with foam, then at the first stage you need to prepare the tools. You will need:

• electric drill;
• screwdriwer set;
• metal brush;
• screwdriver;
• hacksaw for wood;
• roller;
• core;
• clamps;
• square;
• sandpaper;
• hammer;
• meter tape;
• metal ruler;
• construction knife.

Preparation of materials

In order for the gate to look attractive from the inside, you can use facing material, which sometimes is corrugated board, wooden lining, or OSB. As practice shows, it is best to prefer oriented strand boards, since they have many advantages, namely: the material is strong and reliable enough, easy to process, has low vapor permeability and eliminates the need for vapor barrier membranes to cover thermal insulation. Oriented strand boards can be purchased at a low cost, and after the completion of the work, the gate will have an attractive appearance. For cladding, it is recommended to use OSB-3 or OSB-4 boards, the thickness of which should be 10 mm. Such material is intended for rooms where conditions are characterized by high levels of humidity.

After you determine the size of the gate, you should calculate the number of slabs. Each of them has a standard size of 1250x2500 mm. As a rule, the master gets by with two canvases, and after carrying out the work, there are scraps that can be used for other purposes. Insulation of garage doors is accompanied by the installation of a lathing on which the facing materials will be attached. For the frame system, it is recommended to use a square section with a side of 4 cm. They are fixed on the supporting part of the gate, which are metal corners, sometimes a profile pipe. Be that as it may, the crate must be installed around the perimeter and on the area of ​​the canvas. The distance between the elements of the crate should be 40 cm.

More about preparation

If the insulation of garage doors with polystyrene or expanded polystyrene will be accompanied by the further installation of finishing, then before starting the installation of the frame system, the wooden blocks must be treated with an antiseptic. Depending on which compound will be used, one or two coats may be required. It is necessary to produce these works with a regular brush. During the drying of the bars, you can start preparing the inner surface of the gate, for this, the rust is cleaned to metal, it is more convenient to do this with a brush-attachment on a drill. It is important to clean up any loose paint, in hard-to-reach areas it is more convenient to use a metal bristle brush. Sometimes experts advise to resort to the use of sandpaper, which the master must walk over the entire surface, this will improve the quality of adhesion of the primer to the metal.

At the next stage, the surface is treated with an anti-corrosion primer, it is applied in 2 layers. The direction of the second must be perpendicular to the first. Once you have waited for the surface to dry completely, you should take care of waterproofing, which is relevant in tandem with ordinary foam. If applied, then this operation is not performed. Waterproofing can be done with bitumen mastic, sometimes vapor barrier membranes are glued to the surface.

When the photo is insulated, it is recommended to consider it even before starting work, which will allow you to eliminate many mistakes. At the next stage, the crate is installed, the bars of the required length are cut to the size of the wicket, they must be solid. In those places where locks and bolts are located, as well as ventilation grilles, it is necessary to make a frame of bars, installing them around the perimeter. To fix these elements, several holes are drilled with an electric drill, the distance between which should be 25 cm. For this, a 4-mm drill is used. In those places where the bars will be installed in the end, the holes should be 5 mm. Before drilling, it is recommended to mark and punch in places so that the drill does not heat up.

For reference

When the garage doors are insulated with their own hands, the lathing is sometimes required without installing the facing material. At the same time, the installation of the lower row of horizontal bars may be accompanied by some difficulties, which consist in the fact that it is not possible to get the tool to hard-to-reach places. If you remove the gate, then these works can be done without problems, if not, then you need to attach the bar to the end, because the rest of the crate will take on most of the load from the facing material.

The nuances of installing insulation

Insulation of metal garage doors is usually carried out with foam, it should be cut only after measuring the space between the bars. About 3 mm of material is left on each side so that the foam fits tightly between the blocks. When cutting, it is necessary to ensure that the blade enters the thermal insulation vertically, if the blade is flexible, then it can be pulled to the side, which will certainly violate the cutting line.

Sometimes the insulation of garage doors with foam plastic is not at all accompanied by mechanical fixation of the material, because it will be pressed to the base by the cladding. You can use liquid nails, sometimes polyurethane foam is used, which will come in handy later when sealing joints.

When insulating garage doors with polystyrene foam, it is recommended to use 40 mm slabs, which may have different sizes. When buying material, it is necessary to take into account the location of the crate so that the cutting of the foam is not accompanied by the formation of a large number of scraps. If possible, try to strengthen solid sheets of material. Experts recommend purchasing extruded polystyrene foam, since its water absorption rate is minimal, there is almost no need to protect such material from moisture, but such thermal insulation is more expensive. As practice shows, it is much easier to work with extruded polystyrene foam, it does not crumble during cutting.

for insulation

For the installation of the bars, use galvanized self-tapping screws for working with wood, their size should be 3.5x30 mm, as for the fastening of the side surfaces, then their fixation is carried out using self-tapping screws with dimensions 4.5x70 mm, they are installed in the end. If the gate frame is made of a profile pipe, then the length of the self-tapping screws must be increased by adding the section of the pipe. The fasteners should go into the block to a depth of 1/2 of the section; when installing the facing material, it is better to use screws with a press washer with dimensions of 4.2x32 mm.

Padding

Insulation of garage doors is usually carried out only after applying a primer to a metal surface. To do this, use an anti-corrosion agent that excludes the formation of rust in high humidity. The primer can be any, based on alkyd or synthetic resins. It must be designed for use over a wide temperature range. In order to degrease the surface, it is necessary to purchase a solvent together with a primer.

Insulation with polyurethane foam

Insulation of garage doors with mounting foam is accompanied by the use of polystyrene or expanded polystyrene. As soon as the insulation plates are installed to the metal surface, all joints must be filled with polyurethane foam. It is better to purchase a professional version of it, which involves the use of a pistol. Such a composition expands less in volume, and the gun allows you to conveniently apply the mixture to the desired place and in any quantity. In order to exclude rotting of the bars, an antiseptic agent should be used, it can be made on an oil or water basis, sometimes such mixtures are paint with antiseptic properties. If you decide to use regular foam, then it should be protected from moisture. This can be done using a vapor barrier membrane, self-adhesive insulation "Izolon" or bitumen mastic.

Insulation of sectional works

Insulation of sectional garage doors is carried out using almost the same technology as described above. Before starting, you need to choose a material, which can be polystyrene, its installation is carried out using plastic dowels. This material is resistant to mold and mildew. If you want to ensure fire safety, then you should choose foam that was made using fire retardants; in the event of a fire, the material will exhibit self-extinguishing properties.

If it is possible to use special equipment, then polyurethane foam can be used for insulation. The work will cost more if it is carried out by a team of professional builders, but the efficiency will be at its best. In the first step, the gate is measured as well as the individual sections. This will allow you to cut the material according to the parameters. The insulation is glued to the surface, and polyurethane foam is applied to the joints.

When the insulation of the garage door joints has been completed, you can proceed to waterproofing. To do this, use Izolon, which sometimes becomes an additional means of thermal insulation. In some cases, this material is used as the main insulation layer.

Conclusion

Insulation of garage door slots is no less important than thermal insulation of the door leaf itself. To do this, use polyurethane foam, which has excellent adhesion to a huge number of materials. However, before installation, the surface is moistened, because hardening occurs upon contact with moisture.