Garage door insulation

[Paul T]

After a damp and somewhat mouldy winter, I've decided to seal & insulate my garage door to keep me busy while I'm off.

 

Anyone done anything similar?

 

It's a traditional single garage, Hormann up-and-over type. It's totally unsealed in that it's made from a load of pressed panels riveted together with large gaps (see light coming through in pic).

 

I'm thinking plastic sheet (probably Foamex or Correx for minimum additional weight), silicone at the edges and pop riveted in place to completely seal it, then stick some adhesive backed insulation roll on top.

 

Should cost around £50 all in which seems like good value if it keeps the draft/damp out and a bit of heat in.

 

Any opinion/tips/tricks?

 

 

 

[aeg]

Hi Paul, I just hardboarded my doors, I should have put some insulation behind but it’s a corrugated steel roof so it’s draughty / condensation anyway 🙄 I just run a dehumidifier in the winter, but the good thing it gives me somewhere to put posters and memorabilia.

cheers Andy

[neptune]

58 minutes ago, Paul T said:

After a damp and somewhat mouldy winter, I've decided to insulate my garage door to keep me busy while I'm off.

 

Anyone done anything similar?

 

It's a traditional single garage, Hormann up-and-over type. It's totally unsealed in that it's made from a load of pressed panels riveted together with large gaps (see light coming through in pic).

 

I'm thinking plastic sheet (probably Foamex or Correx for minimum additional weight), silicone at the edges and pop riveted in place to completely seal it, then stick some adhesive backed insulation roll on top.

 

Should cost around £50 all in which seems like good value if it keeps the draft/damp out and a bit of heat in.

 

Any opinion/tips/tricks?

 

 

 

Paul 

I used to fit those Hormann doors. Hormann sold an insulation kit and honestly it was hopeless if you still want the door to open because the gap around and under the door allows so much air flow.

 

Be careful with additional weight as you will need to re-tension the springs and on those cassette types there's limited adjustment. 

[Peter Robinson]

Me

I would buy 25mm Celotex sheets or similar and ct1 it to the door, it would give you almost double to glass wool and silver tape the edges.

 

 https://www.travisperkins.co.uk/floor-insulation/recticel-eurothane-general-purpose-rigid-pir-insulation-board-2400mm-x-1200mm-x-25mm/p/254049

[tex]

A good cheap tip is hang a cheap curtain from side to side making sure it's on the deck to catch any missed draughts. 

2 inch polystyrene sheets are cheap enough 

[Paul T]

Thanks guys, I’ve sealed the sides and bottom with rubber draft strips, the issue with the thicker Celo type board or polystyrene is that it would interfere with the mechanism as there is only probably 20mm or so behind it. Agree it would be better for insulation though.

[Lyonspride]

You need ventilation, not sealing.
You will never remove the humidity in there without a dehumidifier or heating. If you just heat the garage you'll get mould on the cold walls/door.
By sealing it, you're just trapping the humid air inside the garage, and as the temperature gets closer to dew point, all that moisture will just condense on any cold surface (usually metal first). It's highly unlikely that the air coming in is more humid than the air already in there (unless it's raining or foggy outside).

My garage is partly inside my house, I had to insulate the door because the cold in there (although it never drops below 10 C) was causing a temp drop in my kids bedroom, but on the flip side because there's always heat leaking into the garage, I don't get humidity issues, I have a dehumidifier but it hardly ever kicks in.
My shed on the other hand, no end of troubles, brand new shed, quite well sealed, damp all over the inside of the roof, black mould everywhere, I had to lift the roof slightly at the sides and fit extraction fans (3x 12v high speed fans, with a humidity sensor/controller).

[Paul T]

The issue is if I run a dehumidifier with gaping holes in the garage door I'm just fighting a losing battle (trying to dehumidify the world!), I don't expect it to be perfect as it is an external, single skin garage but if I can at least get the draft away and stop the rain splashing through the door (which it does when it rains heavily) I have hope to have a fighting chance of drying the air in there?

 

Plus the insulation will help keep it warm when I'm working in there with the heater on