Installing Rigid Foam Insulation on a garage door

[pierhogunn]

okay, same post, new questions...

Now that I am going with the Reflectix brand bubble-wrap insulation

1. How do I adhere that to that garage door? ( Double-sided foam tape perhaps)
2. Being that this is in a dirty garage, what sort of surface prep should I do?
a. Denatured and a bunch of paper towels ( and fresh air?)
b. MEK and a bunch of paper towels ( and fresh air)

[balzac.thegreat]

You can hot glue them to the door or use double sided tape or even velcro. Hot glue small magnets to the insulation panels and attach to your door? Your door is metal right?

You can also wrap the panels in fabric if you don't want to look at the insulation. Just spray the fabric with a flame retardant if you go that route.

[Schleeper]

T&G is the answer

You're going to love this.

I went through this same exercise 4 years ago, after moving into our present home. Everyplace else we'd lived had the masonite panel garage doors, so that first winter with aluminum doors was a bit of a shock. Not only was it cold in the garage, but it was also noisy. It seemed like I could hear everything that was going on in the neeighborhood, with the doors closed! I searched everywhere for garage door insulation, but no mainstream product was available. Out of frustration, I decided to fabricate my own.

I started out with 4x8 sheets of blue tongue and groove syrofoam insulation, with thickness that matched the depth of the door panels. (Actually, it's a little bit thicker.) I figured I would just trim the tongue off the one edge when I cut the sheet into pieces that fit the door panels. Somewhere along the line, the plan changed. I think it was when it dawned on me that no matter how I cut the pieces, there was no way I'd be able to tuck them into both the top and bottom "pocket" of each door panel. (Thick styrofoam doesn't bend!)

To make a long story shorter, I ended up using two pieces of insulation in each door panel so I could tuck one into the top of the panel, and the other into the bottom. As mentioned previously, the insulation was a little too thick, so I had to rabbet the top edge of one, and the bottom edge of the other, so they would fit. But what about the joint where the two pieces of insulation in each door panel come together? That's easy; I used the tongue and groove edges! I applied some glue to the joint, applied some pressure until the two pieces popped into place, and stuck some duct tape on the joint to hold it in place until the glue dried. I didn't have to glue anything to the door; the styrofoam is imbedded in the door panels. I left the duct tape on the joints, and I had to use a little more tape on the panels around the latch (because I had to use 4 pieces per panel instead of just two,) but otherwise, the exact fit is what keeps it in place. I just duct taped the ends to further retard air infiltration. (See the attached pictures.)

It's warmer and quieter in the garage, and the lightweight styrofoam has never caused any problems for the doors or the automatic openers.

[tlt]

reflectix...

for those of you that have used reflectix, how well does it work in keeping heat *out*? here in the desert the garage gets up to 110 without blushing...if i could keep it under 100, it might be possible to get something done on a summer morning without changing my shirt 3 times in the process...

[ironhat]

okay, same post, new questions...

Now that I am going with the Reflectix brand bubble-wrap insulation

1. How do I adhere that to that garage door? ( Double-sided foam tape perhaps)
2. Being that this is in a dirty garage, what sort of surface prep should I do?
a. Denatured and a bunch of paper towels ( and fresh air?)
b. MEK and a bunch of paper towels ( and fresh air)

Personall, I would go wth the 3M spray adhesive for a couple of reasons;
1. It's less expensive, although I hesitate to quote a can price since it was yeas ago that I bought my existing stash.

2. The stuff doesn't seem finiky about cleanliness. Get the area reasonabley clean by wiping down and allowing it to dry comletely. I ave been less clean than that and had good success in the past althouhg, it was for short lived projects that were disposed of in a week or three.

Be sure to post back. We all learn from successes as well as, well, less successful outcomes.

[SwingKing]

To tell the truth, I didn't actually fasten mine to the door. I had planned on using duct tape as I had read others had done, but mine fit so snug that I didn't see the need. The sheets are rigid enough horizontally that I just tucked mine in at the top and bottom of each segment and that is holding just fine.

If (or when) I start having problems with the fit, my preference would be the 3M spray. One thing, at least down here in Texas the doors get pretty hot, so make sure you get the 3M spray that will handle a high temp environment. I used the wrong kind to glue up the overhead cloth in my car a few years back and about a month later it started coming down around my ears.

FYI, I don't know yet how it will work in the summer heat. According to what I read, it is designed more for hot weather use so I'm hopeful. Normally, I give up WWing in July/Aug because its just too **** hot!

-- Ken