Garage Workshop: French Doors or Large Opening

[John Poole]

I'm going to be placing a workshop in a garage that has 2 bays + 6' and I would like to have the ability to flow out into the yard from the back of the garage. The front of the garage goes into a public ally and I do not want strangers with felonious intentions taking inventory of what is in my shop. Here's a picture of the garage in its current state with an area marked out in red that I would like to have as an opening.
2017-05-26 09_garage_back_exterior.jpg
Here's a picture of the interior wall showing the framing:
2017-05-26 09_garage_interior_wall.png

Has anyone considered this kind of issue and found a product such as a sliding door or French doors? Or did you have to go custom? I'd like to be able to have more than a door's width of an opening.

[George Bokros]

Make sure you get a good header over the opening.

[Bruce Zurbuchen]

My shop has inward opening french door with blinds in-between the glass panes; works fine. A slider will only get you half the opening for ventilation.
Bruce

[Frank Pratt]

And sliders tend to much more troublesome.

[Terry Therneau]

I would consider building a set of carriage house doors. I've done this twice, once for my shop and once for my son's garage. The second set (for him) was better and faster -- I do learn. For my shop the main reason was heat, for my son it was an old house with a tuck under garage that doesn't have the head room for a standard overhead door.

The biggest thing you need is underneath clearance on the outside and it looks like you have that, in both our cases the driveway sloped away. The basic plan is a set of glulam 2x 4s for the frame -- they are absolutely straight and true, and stay that way. Make each door 4' wide. I used long pocket screws in the corners; they hold it the shape until you put the plywood on, which gives the strength. Infill with 1.5 in foam, glued to the ply (it adds a more rigidity), 1/2 ply on the outside to stop lawn mower projectiles and 1/4 on the inside, or 1/4 on both. My two 4' doors meet at a middle post which is removable.
In one case the local lumberyard carried the 2x4s and in the other it got them in with a weeks notice.

I can give more detail if you need.

Terry T.

[Brian Henderson]

Don't do a slider for reasons others have listed. If you want airflow, you will only get half of what you can get with French doors and also only half of the space to move things in and out. I learned that when I had barn sliders on my old shop and always had trouble moving things around because only half of the opening is available at any time.

[Harry Hagan]

More light with French doors.

[Bryan Lisowski]

I would keep it as it currently stands, I wouldn't want to give up the wall space. If you want natural light, add a window high up where someone on their feet couldn't see in.

[Jim Becker]

Outward opening doors would be my choice (and are on my own shop, as a matter of fact)...you just need to size such that you can support and hinge them properly and can get appropriate weight bearing headers into the opening without compromising the structure of the building.

[Bob Bouis]

If you can't find outward opening doors, you can special order them in the big box stores for the same price as the regular ones. FYI.

[Bill Dufour]

That does not look like a bearing wall to me. Since you are in the bay area be aware that removing that wall will make it a lot more flexible. Not sure if it is correct vocabulary but it becomes a "soft story" when cut open like that. If that wall is running north-south you may want to add a strong wall or strong frame on each side of the new openings. At the least it should be sheeted inside with a properly nailed shear wall. Building inspector will probably want tie rods on either side from foundation to rafters. You may have to add some tie down bolts when you cut the mudsill. I think there has to be one within one foot of the ends of the mudsill.
Bill D
Modesto, CA

https://www.strongtie.com/softstory/products

[Wayne Cannon]

Terry,
I'm interested in any details you can share. I currently have two 10' overhead doors that I want to replace with carriage-house doors for 1) better insulation, 2) for a smaller opening in hot and cold weather, and 3) to free the overhead space for better lighting and DC ducting. I plan to include a horizontal slotted "door" (maybe 6" high x 16" wide) in one of the doors to allow long boards off the table saw to slide through without opening a full door.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I am planning to go with a trifold door that looks like French doors but opens to the same size as a garage door. There are a number of factory made options. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/385902261801075985/

[Ted Reischl]

French doors. I put in a set on my current shop when it was built. Each door is 3' wide so that yields a 6' opening.

Pretty much a standard framing job, header, etc. First you pick out the door, THEN you do the framing. I know, sounds rather simple but I have a neighbor that thought he should frame it out first and then go find a door to fit. Too funny. Someone should take his circular saw away from him.

I built a pair of screen doors so I can open up both doors.

BTW, outward opening doors are NOT a good idea. Unless you would like your screen doors on the inside.... besides, it is much easier to force outward opening doors open. Just think, the hinge pins are on the outside of the door....doh! So you would need special tamper proof hinges.

[Jim Becker]

BTW, outward opening doors are NOT a good idea. Unless you would like your screen doors on the inside.... besides, it is much easier to force outward opening doors open. Just think, the hinge pins are on the outside of the door....doh! So you would need special tamper proof hinges.

It's true that an outward opening door setup requires some extra care for security. Mine came with tamper-proof hinges standard. In addition to the deadbolt in the middle of the two of them, I also have heavy pins that go into the header and floor so even if the lock was picked, the door cannot be opened from outside.