Storage building door recommendations

[adlertom]

I'm at a loss on how to do this and not spend a fortune. I can't even figure out how you will frame it so it will be able to support a door that big!!!! Is this going on the gable end with a truss above it? Will the truss be engineered to support the weight of a door that big? or will you rely on the walls to support the weight of a door? Something like this is a lot of fun to think about, but in the end, it's just too big of an opening to attempt to put a door on and expect it to last without spending a fortune.

I think you should consider doing it in three doors. Then it becomes simple, affordable, secure and strong.

Constructing a building with that size opening isn't a big deal. There are all kinds of small aircraft hangars with 40 foot or even larger door openings. And yes, the door would be in the gable end with a properly sized truss above it.

For engineering the building, I think that the building weight, wind load, and snow load would be much larger factors than the door weight. The door(s) themselves are pretty light.

 

[EddieWalker]

I disagree. A regular garage with an 18 foot wide door has a )ot more issues then a 16 foot wide door. That extra 2 foot creates a lot more movement that has to be addressed. Every house that I've seen with a 18ft wide door has cracking at the corners. Its pretty much impossible to fix without rebuilding everything, and even then, I think cracking will still happen because of the amount of movement that big of an opening creates.

I worked in a hanger at the Oakland Airport in CA for quite awhile and the size of the metal for that opening was massive. Those where sliding doors that ran on a metal track. And they leaked like crazy and where constantly breaking from their weight.

There is a line where you make a massive jump in what it takes to create an opening in a building and not have issues. 16 feet is easy. 20 feet becomes challenging. 40 feet is beyond my experience. It's not something that I would attempt.

Just having the building open 40 feet without a door is creating a massive load on the walls. Trusses are easy. But keeping the walls from racking will require a significant ifican amount of engineering. If you make the opening the full width of the building, the building will fall over. I would guess tha for a 40 foot opening, you would need a significant amount of wall on each end to create a corner big enough to withstand movement. Again, this is way beyond my experience and only an engineer will be able to figure out.

 

[MossRoad]

Constructing a building with that size opening isn't a big deal. There are all kinds of small aircraft hangars with 40 foot or even larger door openings. And yes, the door would be in the gable end with a properly sized truss above it.

For engineering the building, I think that the building weight, wind load, and snow load would be much larger factors than the door weight. The door(s) themselves are pretty light.

From past experience, you need to get a building that's been checked by an engineer. Our hangars with single bi-fold horizontal doors were steel buildings with the huge steel I-beam type trusses and large concrete footings. The main concerns with them were wind when the door was moving. When closed, it would latch at the bottom corners, and there was large lever that you pulled to cable-operate several side latches to hook the edges of the door sections to the frame of the building. When open, there wasn't much sail area exposed to the wind. But when it wasn't latched, and moving up or down, the wind could catch it, and, as happened several times, the door would bow, then pop out of the building and flap around in the wind. It would definitely kill you if it hit you.

The hangars with the removable center posts for the 3 overhead doors were old wooden hangers, with huge wood arch trusses to support the roof and wall load.

We had one with probably a 100' X 16'high opening that had probably a dozen sliding doors that rolled on a rail at the bottom and a track at the top. Tracks at the bottom are a pain. They had to be swept of sand in the summer and scraped of snow and ice in the winter.

Then we had three rows of about 20-25 T-hangars. I think those were about 40' wide. They had sliding doors that were only suspended from above on tracks. I think there were 4-5 doors on each hangar as I remember. You had to slide them over your neighbor's doors to get your's open. The end rows had track suspended out past the end of the building.

 

[newbury]

I'd like it to be potentially usable as a hangar in the future.

<snip>

If he can afford an airplane he probably can afford a hangar

 

[adlertom]

While the debate on building construction and engineering is interesting, it's not the topic of my original post.

The airport down the road from me has about 100 hangars, all about the same size as my contemplated building, and all with clear-span door openings this wide or wider.

I will have a builder engineer and properly construct a building for me with a large clear-span opening. I don't foresee that being an issue.

I'm looking for information on DOOR options for this opening.

Thanks again for the earlier posts about what others have done or seen for wide DOORS.

 

[bigtiller]

Call some local garage door companies that also do commercial work. I don't know if anyone makes a 40 ft door. I have a 24ft wide door and I was told by their technician that bigger ones are available. Mine is 3" thick and closed cell foam insulated, the wind doesn't bother it.

My 24' door is mouse tight.

 

[EddieWalker]

Sorry, I misses the part about you having the building designed by an engineer. I would expect the engineer to tell you what your options are for the building based on what you are willing to spend.

From my experience at the airport, sliders will leak like crazy, require a lot of maintenance and ever keep anything out.

Swing type doors will be too cumbersome. I haven't seen any on homes that where not falling apart after a few years and that's for a 6 foot span. Bigger then that and you will have to support them with wheels.

The hydraulic folding doors are probably the best option to get a complete seal. It would be fun seeing what it takes to build it.

 

[Diggin It]

I'm looking for information on DOOR options for this opening.

Another thought. You've no doubt seen those roll up security doors on stores and commercial buildings? Instead of rolling up overhead, what about rolling to each side? The roller mechanism would be standing vertically at either side of the opening, each retracting a 20' section. Tracks at the top and bottom would keep it aligned. No snow issues.

No idea of cost, but that doesn't seem to be part of the question.

 

[MossRoad]

Another thought. You've no doubt seen those roll up security doors on stores and commercial buildings? Instead of rolling up overhead, what about rolling to each side? The roller mechanism would be standing vertically at either side of the opening, each retracting a 20' section. Tracks at the top and bottom would keep it aligned. No snow issues.

No idea of cost, but that doesn't seem to be part of the question.

You ever unroll too much toilet paper, then roll it back up. Fine. Now unroll too much toilet paper and then turn the roll on it's side and try and roll it up.

You'd need tracks at top and bottom, and some sort of tensioner to keep it on the roll since by putting it on its side, we've eliminated gravity to keep tension on it.

 

[civilian]

You ever unroll too much toilet paper, then roll it back up. Fine. Now unroll too much toilet paper and then turn the roll on it's side and try and roll it up.

You'd need tracks at top and bottom, and some sort of tensioner to keep it on the roll since by putting it on its side, we've eliminated gravity to keep tension on it.

I would think a cable tension system could be used in the track grooves. As the right door opens, cables at the top and ground levels keep tension on the lending edge from the left side. Then those cables could actually pull the door closed. Same for the other side. Just an idea. Not sure if any company makes them, though. Jon