Insulating a garage door using foil-sided yellow foam board

[Dewey Torres]

Dave and Joe...
Thanks for this post.

I plan on doing mine. Sounds like a cheap as it is it will pay for itself immediately.

Dewey

[Paul Fitzgerald]

The Home Depot near me as nominal 1", 1,5", and 2" thick sheets with shiny silver foil/plastic on both sides. The 1.5" was actually slightly under 1 3/8" and I was able squeeze it into the opening with some patience (maybe 10 min per panel). I chose to go this way to maximize the R value. I think I ended up with R 12. I too used spray foam to seal the sides and top and bottom...joe

You guys out in AZ seem to have a much better selection of rigid foam insulation than we do here in Memphis. I do have one more place to check though.

Did you happen to measure the temperature difference before and after installing the insulation?

Paul

[Don Abele]

When I lived in Virginia last, I insulated my doors using two layers of the pink 1/2" stuff. I used hot-melt glue to hold them to the doors and to each other. Worked like a charm.

Earlier this year I replaced my old wooden garage doors (when one of them froze to the sill and door opener ripped it apart) with new steel doors. I was surprised at the cost to add insulation to the doors:

Without any insulation what so ever: $750 each
With 1" foam insulation, no interior protection: $800 each
With 1" foam + interior steel protection: $1300 each

For the extra $100 I got the insulated doors. What a difference it made, not only in temperature control, but noise (both in and out of the shop). I'm just careful not to hit them with anything so as to not damage the insulation.

Be well,

Doc

[Paul Fitzgerald]

Well, I've checked a number of other places around town and the thickest I can get (besides the 2", which is too thick) is the 1" Dow STYROFOAM. Nobody seems to carry 1-1/2" in any brand. That leads to a few questions...

1) Would I be better off using the 1" Dow STYROFOAM with 1/2" airspace behind the panel or use 1" Dow STYROFOAM + 1/2" Owens Corning FOAMULAR without any airspace behind the panels?

2) Does the combination allow for summing the R-values? 1" R5 + 1/2" R3 = 1-1/2" R8?

3) Finally, can I paint the interior side with latex paint?

Thanks!

Paul

[Joe Jensen]

Well, I've checked a number of other places around town and the thickest I can get (besides the 2", which is too thick) is the 1" Dow STYROFOAM. Nobody seems to carry 1-1/2" in any brand. That leads to a few questions...

1) Would I be better off using the 1" Dow STYROFOAM with 1/2" airspace behind the panel or use 1" Dow STYROFOAM + 1/2" Owens Corning FOAMULAR without any airspace behind the panels?

2) Does the combination allow for summing the R-values? 1" R5 + 1/2" R3 = 1-1/2" R8?

3) Finally, can I paint the interior side with latex paint?

Thanks!

Paul

Paul, an option I considered was using 2" and rabbiting around the edge so that it would fit. Alos, I actually have very little of each panel under the lip, just enough to hold the panel in place. You could use 2" and just cut it to fit insides the opening. Then use spray foam to fill the gaps. The downside is that the foam will sit proud of the door and be pretty open to damage. I would not use the styrofoam. It has much lower insulation value. Id say keep looking, some contractor supply yard must carry the 1.5" stuff, but as each door would vary, you should measure to see what will really fit.

When it was 110 F before the insulation, my garage with south facing doors would be over 100F inside. With the insulation it's 87-88F...joe

[John Minnick]

Paul, you can get the white vinyl rigid foam at the Overhead Door company on 2080 Elvis Presley Blvd. You give them the size of the door panels and they will tell you the size of the foam panels. You will have to cut them down a little bit to fit in the door panels but they work really well.

You guys out in AZ seem to have a much better selection of rigid foam insulation than we do here in Memphis. I do have one more place to check though.

Did you happen to measure the temperature difference before and after installing the insulation?

Paul

[Paul Fitzgerald]

Paul, you can get the white vinyl rigid foam at the Overhead Door company on 2080 Elvis Presley Blvd. You give them the size of the door panels and they will tell you the size of the foam panels. You will have to cut them down a little bit to fit in the door panels but they work really well.

Thanks for the tip John. I'll give them a call.

Paul