Weatherproof garage doors?

[jymbee]

We plan to put up a multi-purpose building that will serve as a 2 bay garage as well as a working studio. Given it can get very cold here in the winter I'm wondering if there are any options for some type of garage door that might hold heat in better than others? Thought the swing out doors seemed pretty cool and it would be an advantage not to have the railings taking up the space inside-- until someone pointed out what a hassle that would be in the winter when it snows! Ah-- good point...

 

[300UGUY]

I am going to follow this, I am interested in the same thing.

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

There are various grades of overhead doors with different levels of insulation and weather stripping. The supplier I use has at least 4 levels. Also, if you have the option, consider orienting the building that the worst of the weather isn't beating on the doors.

Sliding are too hard to seal around
Roll-up (the kind that roll up like a window blind) don't have insulation
Hinged take up too much floor space (or snow problems as you mentioned)
Bifold (horizontal motion) have the same problem as sliding to seal and the floor space of hinged
Bifold (vertical motion) are a possibility but usually have some pretty high end hardware to support the weight.
Conventional overhead door is (as far as I'm aware) the best bang for the buck simply because that's what's most common.

 

[s219]

What about an insulated garage door? They work pretty good. When I replaced the standard door with an insulated one at our last house, the difference in summer was quite noticeable. I think they are only about R-13 or so, but it's better than nothing.

 

[zzvyb6]

I bought these sectional doors by Amarr through Costco's discount partner program. They are fully insulated with double glass. Good seam seals between panels and the floor and sides. The main benefit to me has been reduction of the intense heat buildup in the garage from the direct sun load. It's no longer an issue. Well sealed, no cracks or spaces for light to come through. They are about 3 inches thick. Nothing froze this year in the garage despite the very harsh wind and cold temperature. I hate burst frozen beer cans spewing suds all over. What remains tastes awful.

What we did was to take a picture of the old garage openings and superimposed several new door, window and color type options until we liked the look. What we got was exactly what we wanted. I was surprized to see that the style and windows I thought I wanted looked bad when compared to the rest of the house and garage style. So getting the right 'Look' was important for us. Its even better than imagined.

You can minimise the opener intrusion with the new types which mount a rollup drum just above the door.

 

[dave1949]

I agree. Buy the best insulated OHD you can find. I will make a huge difference. If you can, put the doors on the south or east side of the building.

 

[4570Man]

A garage door with no windows would hold heat better.

 

[byronlj]

I have 2 ten foot tall garage doors that are insulated. They are facing east which helps a lot. The rest of the garage/shop is insulated and stays toasty warm when I use heat. Very quiet also.
Dave

 

[nybirdman]

Raynor;overhead doors.Very nice doors well made and insulated.Cam shut and are fairly weather tight.

 

[jymbee]

Good summary of the options. I does seem that conventional is the way to go. Looking at some of the options others have mentioned here. Thanks for the input.

There are various grades of overhead doors with different levels of insulation and weather stripping. The supplier I use has at least 4 levels. Also, if you have the option, consider orienting the building that the worst of the weather isn't beating on the doors.

Sliding are too hard to seal around
Roll-up (the kind that roll up like a window blind) don't have insulation
Hinged take up too much floor space (or snow problems as you mentioned)
Bifold (horizontal motion) have the same problem as sliding to seal and the floor space of hinged
Bifold (vertical motion) are a possibility but usually have some pretty high end hardware to support the weight.
Conventional overhead door is (as far as I'm aware) the best bang for the buck simply because that's what's most common.

 

[jymbee]

... Nothing froze this year in the garage despite the very harsh wind and cold temperature. I hate burst frozen beer cans spewing suds all over. What remains tastes awful.

Hmmm... you're in Michigan and nothing froze? Great looking doors. The garage/studio we're building is unattached and I had assumed that when temps outside got down to around 20 below that any freezeable materials inside would freeze-- absent any supplemental heat source. I guess there's a lot of variables...

Know what you mean about frozen beer-- not a good thing!

 

[jymbee]

I have 2 ten foot tall garage doors that are insulated. They are facing east which helps a lot. The rest of the garage/shop is insulated and stays toasty warm when I use heat. Very quiet also.
Dave

What kind of heat are you using in the garage Dave?

 

[zzvyb6]

When you park a car and a truck fresh off the highway into a well insulated garage, the heat source and mass of the vehicles will provide a few hours of comfortable warmth in the building air (not necessarily the structure). This can be a problem if the slush from the vehicles then melts and tries to exit under the doors. There can then be a frozen door, so have a properly drained floor away from the door openings. If you have a refrigerator in the garage for that Summertime refreshment collection, the thing won't work properly and the defrost cycle will give you a headache.

I just put a cupola up on the garage roof, so now I have to plan on some type of seal to keep the heat from baling out in Winter. The cupola does a wonderful job of letting trapped heat escape. It has to be screened to keep bugs and birds out, too.

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

When you park a car and a truck fresh off the highway into a well insulated garage, the heat source and mass of the vehicles will provide a few hours of comfortable warmth in the building air (not necessarily the structure). This can be a problem if the slush from the vehicles then melts and tries to exit under the doors. There can then be a frozen door, so have a properly drained floor away from the door openings. .

Floor sloped away from the door? That's a new one to me. Floor slabs around here are typically either level or sloping towards the door. If you have in-floor drains, that changes things but opens up a whole other can of worms.

If the shop is heated, there should be no worry about frozen doors

 

[byronlj]

I have an office and game room elevated 2' above and to the side of the shop area. I use a wood burning stove for heat. My shop hasn't gone below 40 degrees even without the stove going.
Dave

 

[gsganzer]

I like using roll up doors, because they don't interfere with anything when you roll them up. I used TracRite doors on my shop. They come with options for insulation, draft seals and brush seals if you want them.

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

I like using roll up doors, because they don't interfere with anything when you roll them up. I used TracRite doors on my shop. They come with options for insulation, draft seals and brush seals if you want them.

I don't see any mention of insulation options on that website. Several different choices of weather/wind seals but that's it. I've never seen them up here on a heated building and can't even guess how one could be insulated. Even if you could, the roll would be 4' diameter when its all rolled up.

 

[gsganzer]

I don't see any mention of insulation options on that website. Several different choices of weather/wind seals but that's it. I've never seen them up here on a heated building and can't even guess how one could be insulated. Even if you could, the roll would be 4' diameter when its all rolled up.

It's part way down this page. TracRite Accessories It's just foil lined bubble wrap, glued to the inside. I have it on both of my shop doors. It actually works surprisingly well.

On my old metal doors, during the Texas heat, you felt like you were standing next to a radiant heater inside. With these, I don't feel any heat radiating through.

What's nice with the roll-ups is that they don't interfere with any of your inside shop lights. With the partition doors, when they raise up, they usually obscure the ceiling lights.

I think I paid $400/ea. for my 8' x 8' roll-ups with insulation, draft seals, brush seals and lock sets. You can install them in about an hour with 2 people.

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

Missed that page when I was looking. I can see bubble wrap working in Texas to keep heat out, that would be what, 40 deg F temp differential? We are often 100-110 deg F difference from outside winter temp to room temp. Bubble wrap ain't going to cut that. Not blocking lights is a positive I hadn't thought of for them.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I have clopay insulated garage doors on my garage and barn. Haven't insulated the barn yet, but went ahead and put in insulated doors when I built. I like them.