Replace a 16' garage door with?

[Brad Ridgway]

I have a small setup as you can see here (roughly 19x20):

http://home.cfl.rr.com/bridgway/shop.jpg

My 16' overhead garage door is having some problems with paint flaking and looks like crud and i'm thinking maye now is the time i rethink some of this... I free up the ceiling for some limited storage and usable lighting if i get rid of the overhead entirely. However i like the access it provides given the limited shop space.

I've also been toying with a retractable awning to gain some additional working room when needed (but shelted someone from the Florida sun). About this time, opening that door in the afternoon puts a huge amount of sweat on the TS top when i'm using it

Any ideas? I have thrown around:

1) french doors: more wall space on the front wall, but less access for wise cross cuts on the TS.
2) sliding glass doors: not sure i like them for security / exposure with such a short overhang
3) some type of sliding barn door like what i see in Norm's shop when he starts the show. But with an HOA, i'm sure it will need to be symentrical and open left and right. As with french doors, i really would like to get as wide an opening as possible.
4) something similar in concept to the nana-wall, but not glass as i am not willing to aborbe that much expense...

btw, I had considered expading the whole building forward, but i think cost on this would rise rapidly when the concrete/roofing are factored in even if i do most of the rest myself...


thx for any idea/opinions/links you might have?

-brad

[John Pahl]

I like the idea of a sliding barn door myself. Is this attached to your house? If yes then maybe this option wouldn't look the best. The other thing I would think about is what would taking out this door do to the resale value of the house?

John

[Jim Becker]

I replaced the garage type doors on my shop building with double, outward opening 6' steel door units. They provide the access I want and need as well as nice fresh air without taking up shop space during nice weather. Security hinges insure that the doors cannot be easily taken off, either. (Outward opening hinges have the barrel on the outside)

[John Cooper2]

I have seen and have plans somewhere for a set of Bifold door that would be like closet doors. They work the same way and fold against each other outside. Don't take up any room in the "shop" and look great. Think I got the plans from Barnplans.com or something like that.

[Ken Harrod]

How about the roll-up style door? Very little overhead space used for them. Just some space on the wall directly above the door.

[Brad Ridgway]

Thanks everyone...

Well this is a detached outbuilding, but it's inline with other frontages in our neighborhood and governed by the same HOA architectural rules, etc. I don't think mismatch of the barn style doors with my house would be an issue, but aestetically, any option is going to have to look good and not commercial...

All four options suggested have merit...

I need to check out what these swinging type steel doors would look like... at 8wide x 7-ish high, might not look so great ...

I have a hunch that a rollup would almost certainly violates our covennate just due to the small slats... Additionally because my interior ceiling is right at 8' and the concrete header is just over 7, i might night have enough room anyway. The ones i've seen have pretty big cylinders to hold the door (maybe 7' wouldn't be so bad)


-brad

[Mike McCann]

I have also seen double french door on some houses with very big patios. this might work in your garage sot if you go to sell a regualr garage door can be re-installed.

[Brad Ridgway]

Only problem with double french door is limits the location of the table saw (assuming i continue to feed stock/sheets from outside) and more importantly the width of such items being cut...

Even if i feed from inside toward the door, i see that being restrictive... Given the small shop, i don't see a better location for saw to handle large goods...

-brad

[Eric Gustafson]

How about the roll-up style door? Very little overhead space used for them. Just some space on the wall directly above the door.

If I could get a roll-up door that: is not too ugly, is insulated, and fits my 8' ceiling, THAT would be my next "tool" purchase.

[David G Baker]

I have a 10'x10' roll up door and it is great as far as saving ceiling space. The door faces South and is painted dark brown. I have the foil covered bubble wrap insulation on the door and it helps insulate the door in the Winter and Summer. With your living is the South and if you are considering getting a roll-up door and it gets a lot of direct Sun I would get one that is painted white because mine gets so hot in the Summer that you can't touch it if it has been closed for a while. I also would like to have a fixed awning for extra work space but it would have to be pretty high because I park my John Deere in my shop.

[Jim Becker]

The out-swing steel doors I mentioned are 6' wide and "normal" door height. You build out the wall in the former garage door opening. That would certainly be easily removable in the future should you need to reconstitute the building into a garage for resale, etc. Here is a picture from a recent thread of mine that illustrates this:

[Ben Cadotte]

You might want to check with your local tax authority. I know in several areas that if you have sliding doors on an outbuilding it is taxed cheaper than one with standard doors. I know this is the case in my parents county in MI and in my FIL's town in MA. So there may be tax advantages as well to think of in your choice. Sliding doors can be made to look very appealing.

[Wayne Cannon]

Does anyone know if the sliding barn-door style (like Norm's NYW shop) can be reasonably weather-stripped so it isn't a bad heat/AC leak?

Having the same interest in freeing up the ceiling space, I'm interested in this thread.

[Chase Gregory]

I've put a sliding door on my barn/shop (which is still not finished).

I had originally intended to just have the 10' slider and a couple of 3' walk doors to the barn, but then decided to put one of my walk doors in the slider to save additional wall space. So I still have 2 walk doors but one coexists with the slider.

I laid out the slider so that the walk door that is in it lines up with an exterior window that would be covered by the slider in the open position. So if the walk door is open and the slider is open, you still get natural light from the window - which was totally unnecessary - but I figured it was a novel enough 'detail' that I didn't want to miss the opportunity. Plus during the harsh south Georgia winters I can step outside without opening the slider...

As far as weather tightness - the jambs of the slider are captured with adjustable 'jamb latches' which pull the door as tightly as you like against the frame when in the closed postion. The rollers that the slider hangs from at the top have adjustable offset mounts so that you can have 1/8" gap or 1/2" gap or you can make it rub constantly. It can be battened down pretty snug.

I built my door uninsulated. It is a 2x frame laid flat with half laps at all joints. I faced the inside with 1/2" plywood and the outside is 3/4" v-groove T&G cypress (vertical). I could have put rigid insulation in the 1 1/2" void, but didn't. The walk door is 2 layers of 1/2" plywood faced with the same v-groove cypress. It had to be thinner than the slider so that the thumb latch of the dead bolt didn't protrude out and get sheared off when opening the slider.

In the attached pics you'll see a jamb latch from the inside (like a toggle clamp). Also I've included a picture that shows the slider from the outside before adding the siding to it. You can see that the jamb latches will actually grab a small steel angle that laps the 2x framing. So the jamb latch is not just grabbing plywood like the other picture may imply.

You can also see the rollers up top that are adjustable for height and offset. I've got little plywood doors that can be removed from the inside for access to the adjustment. I put blocking below them so I won't drop the nut down in the door cavity later .

And remember, once you hang the slider, it must sit out as far as the adjacent jambs (and anything in it's path). My offset was dictated by the 2 1/8" thick cypress board I used to mount my track...

Also, you can put a roller that'll kick the bottom out as soon as you start to open it if you need to clear a wall outlet or something. I'll be adding a little 'kicker' roller to keep my walk door opening from snagging on the jambs of the large opening and also to keep the slider from whacking the window trim once I have window trim... This kicker would also keep the door off of weatherstripping until just at the point of being fully closed - if you chose to add some weather stripping, that is.

I don't know how you'd deal with the gap at the floor in your situation (garage/driveway). You'll probably need to bolt down a PT plate for the slider to snug against since you can't hang it below slab.

I've got the slider hanging 1 1/2" below slab and am running a PT base jamb that it will snug up against. When I add concrete under my shelter later I'll leave a little trough for the slider to run in. I doubt you want to sawcut your drive to create such a situation...

In some ways a slider takes a bit more planning than conventional swing doors - at least if you are trying to achieve a fairly tight fit.

Regards,

Chaser

[Jeff Wright]

I also live in Florida and recently installed a W8 hurricane rated 16' garage door. It is insulated and has no windows. Due to its massive structure it has HUGE beams inside that are about 6 inches deep. I ended up using them as shelving for miscellaneous things like clamps, etc. I rarely open the garage door, especially since I also installed a mini-split cooling and heating system. It only gets opened when I get a load of lumber.