Insulation of garage doors from the inside: polystyrene foam, polyurethane foam, simpler methods of insulation. Types of garage door insulation

Not all car owners have a garage, but most of them dream of one. Not all happy owners of a garage have it insulated, but most of them, who have at least once felt the beauty of insulation, dream about it. And behind the apparent complexity of the insulation process there is a sequence of simple actions that any normal man can reproduce. In this article, car owners are invited to learn how to insulate garage doors from the inside, since they are the main source of overall heat loss.

Car enthusiasts may ask a completely reasonable question: “Why, in general, insulate the gates and the garage itself? After all, this is a room where a person periodically appears in it, and the car is under the roof and protected from natural influences.” In words, everything seems to be so, but it is necessary to understand it in order. What are the arguments for insulating garage doors?

  • The gate is the largest part of the garage by area, which connects it with external, not always favorable, natural conditions. It is through the gate that maximum heat transfer occurs: in winter, the necessary heat tends to escape, and in the hot summer, unnecessary heat penetrates inside the garage.

How does heat leak out? garage doors clearly visible on the thermogram

  • Very often, garage owners organize workshops in them so as not to do the necessary carpentry or plumbing work at home; many car repair operations can be done in the garage, and this requires a long stay in it. Therefore, insulating the gates is simply necessary.
  • Insulating a garage does temperature regime softer, without sharp fluctuations, and this saves from moisture condensation both in the garage and on the car and, especially in its hidden cavities. In properly insulated garages, car bodies are less susceptible to corrosion.

Another fundamental question: should the gate be insulated from the outside or from the inside? Construction science recommends insulating solid walls from the outside and covering the insulation layer with plaster. Gates are a completely different design. Firstly, they need to be movable to open and close, and, secondly, they perform a protective and anti-vandal function, which they do best a metal sheet. Therefore, it is advisable to insulate them from the inside.

What types of garage doors need to be insulated?

Most garage doors have a swing design, which, of course, simply needs to be insulated. The basis of such gates is a frame made of profile pipes and steel sheet as exterior finishing. The very high thermal conductivity of steel is known, so we can assume that such non-insulated gates do not pose any barrier to heat leakage. In swing gates, it is important to have a wicket gate, which greatly reduces heat loss when people move frequently. Therefore, if the garage is still at the construction stage, then you need to order the gate immediately insulated and with a gate.

Very fashionable nowadays are up-and-over and sectional doors, the vast majority of which are factory-made. Their canvas or sections are a sandwich panel made of sheet steel on the outside and polyurethane foam on the inside. This design already has the necessary thermal insulation properties and does not require additional insulation measures. These types of gates, at the request of the customer, can also be equipped with a wicket door, which must be done.

There are home-made up-and-over gates, but in this case their insulation will not differ fundamentally from swing gates, since they are based on the same frame and steel sheet.

It is impossible to insulate roller gates due to the peculiarities of their design. Yes, and they can be called garage doors with a very big stretch, since in terms of thermal insulation and anti-vandal properties they are inferior to all others.

Choice of insulation

Insulation is a material that has minimal thermal conductivity. In construction science, thermal conductivity is assessed with a special indicator - the thermal conductivity coefficient. And the smaller it is, the greater the chance of this material becoming insulation.

In the presented table, its upper part is insulation materials, and the lower part (from No. 16 onwards) is building materials that need to be insulated. The insulation layer greatly slows down the transfer of thermal energy and the thicker this layer is, the better, but at the same time the principle of reasonable sufficiency is observed. For garage doors, a layer of insulation of 5 cm will be quite enough.

In today's wide selection of different building materials There are a huge number of insulation materials different names. It is very difficult to navigate them, especially for an inexperienced person, but in fact there are only a few main classes, some of which are suitable for insulating garage doors, and some of which are not.

Mineral wool

Mineral wool- a wonderful heat-insulating material that has proven itself very well in construction. Under this name there are actually three subtypes of insulation:

  • Glass wool, consisting of the finest glass fibers (5-15 microns) with a length of 15 to 50 mm. It has the required low thermal conductivity coefficient of 0.03-0.05 W/m*°K, a wide range permissible temperatures from -60 to +450 °C, good elasticity and strength. When working with it, always wear protective equipment, since the smallest fibers easily break, dig into the skin and enter the respiratory tract. The hygroscopicity of glass wool is moderate.

  • Slag obtained from metallurgical production waste - blast furnace slag. The fibers are thin - 4-12 microns, and the length is shorter than that of glass wool - approximately 15-16 mm. The thermal conductivity of this material is slightly higher than that of glass wool 0.040-0.050 W/m*°K, but quite acceptable. It is better not to use it for insulating a garage, since it is very hygroscopic and at the same time has acidity, which negatively affects the metal.
  • Stone wool obtained by melting rocks of volcanic origin. Its structure is very similar to slag wool, but it has better heat resistance and lacks acid aggressiveness. The thermal conductivity of stone wool is 0.03–0.04 W/m*°K. Some types of this insulation use phenol-formaldehyde resins as a binder, so when heated, it can release phenols into the surrounding air, which are extremely harmful to humans. The hygroscopicity of this material is high.

Basalt wool is the most popular among all porous insulation materials

All types of mineral wool are highly hygroscopic, so their use for insulating garage doors is limited, since moisture will condense in the insulation layer, reducing thermal insulation properties this material. Glass wool is dangerous to work with; slag wool has residual acidity, so only stone basalt wool is applicable, provided that vapor barrier films are used.

Styrofoam

Foam plastics are a fairly wide class of synthetic materials, the common thing of which is their foamed gas-filled structure, and the base is some kind of polymer. It is by the type of this polymer that foams can be classified.

  • Polystyrene foam is the most famous and looks like sintered gas-filled balls. This type of foam is an excellent insulator and is used most often. Designated as PSB or PSB-S. In this class, the most interesting is extruded polystyrene foam (EPS), which has better strength, negligible hygroscopicity and fire resistance. For insulating garage doors, EPS is one of the best choices. In retail chains it may be called: Stirex, TechnoNIKOL, Penoplex, URSA XPS, etc.

  • Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) foams are used in construction for heat and sound insulation. Panels made from it can be rigid or elastic. This excellent material, similar to EPS, which has increased fire resistance. According to international standards, it is labeled as PVC. In retail chains it is less common than PSB or EPPS.
  • Urea-formaldehyde polystyrene foam (FPP) – widely used for thermal insulation. Its advantage is that it does not expand in volume when it dries, so on construction sites it is used in liquid form to fill cavities. Known in retail chains under the names: Mattamplast, Poroplast cf, Unipor, Omiflex, Penoizol, Pentyl. It can be used for thermal insulation of garage doors.
  • Polyurethane foam (PPU) foam is known to us in two forms. Elastic polyurethane foam is nothing more than foam rubber, and hard polyurethane foam is polyurethane foam. For thermal insulation purposes, rigid polyurethane foam is suitable, as it has excellent adhesion to all surfaces, has excellent thermal insulation properties and is waterproofing agent. Can be applied directly to construction site by spraying method. Perhaps this the best choice for thermal insulation of garage doors. The only drawback is that applying the coating requires special equipment, which slightly increases the cost of thermal insulation.

Judging by the types of garage door designs described earlier, insulation is required, first of all, by swing gates, as well as up-and-over gates manufactured independently. Before you start insulating, you should check the ventilation system in the garage. Why is this being done?

  • Any garage must be provided with a ventilation system: supply and exhaust. Often inlet This is done at the gate, so this must be taken into account when insulating. The insulation should not block the ventilation hole.
  • It happens that forced ventilation“organized” due to the loose fit of the garage door leaves. It is unacceptable! If the garage does not have an air supply hole, then it should be organized at the bottom of the door.

Preparing the gate surface

Before starting work on thermal insulation of the gate, it is necessary to prepare the inner surface of the gate, which may have pockets of corrosion, old peeling paint, various contaminants, etc. To do this, you need to:

  • Large pockets of corrosion, where there are peeling layers of rust, are cleaned with a brush with metal bristles.
  • Next, it is better to resort to mechanized processing of the gate surface using brush attachments to the drill.

  • The best results are obtained by cleaning rust using polymer-abrasive“Piranha” brushes, which work together with the grinder. Working with it is absolutely safe, but you should not forget about protective equipment. When working, you can water the surface; the polymer fluff penetrates into the most inaccessible places. Considering that angle grinders The machines (grinders) operate at high speeds, the cleaning process goes very quickly.

  • After complete cleaning and degreasing, an anti-corrosion primer is applied in two layers. You can use any suitable one. If the primer is applied with a brush, then the second layer is applied perpendicular to the first. It is best to use aerosol cans - the quality of the coating will be better.

Making lathing for insulating gates

With any method of thermal insulation, using any materials, the design of the gate leaf will require a lath, which, firstly, will help secure the insulation, and, secondly, the gate lining will be attached to it in the future. To make the lathing, you will need wooden blocks with a cross-section of 4*4 cm or 5*5 cm, depending on the design of the gate. The lathing must be attached to the load-bearing frame of the gate leaf: profile steel pipe or corner. To make a wooden sheathing you need:

  • Prepare the required number of wooden blocks. When purchasing, you need to choose only dry wood.
  • The bars are treated twice with an antiseptic composition to prevent them from rotting under difficult conditions of temperature changes and high humidity.

  • The bars are attached to the gate's strength elements using screws. To do this, after marking, you need to mark the locations of future holes, and then use a drill with a diameter corresponding to the screw to make through holes. When attaching the bars, do not forget to first make holes in them with a thin drill so that the screw being screwed in does not split them.

  • If there is a ventilation hole on the door leaf, it must be surrounded by lathing around the perimeter. This also applies to locks and deadbolts.
  • If there are no steel strength elements on the central part of the door leaf, then the bars can be fastened to each other in any convenient way: at the end, using corners, etc.

Insulation of garage doors with mineral wool

If you have already decided to insulate the gate with mineral wool, then it is better to choose basalt wool from well-known manufacturers. But before laying insulation, you need to take care of waterproofing, since mineral wool is a very hygroscopic material. For these purposes the following can be used:

  • The inside of the gate can be covered with waterproofing mastic, for example, bitumen-polymer.
  • Self-adhesive materials Isolon or any other give very good results.

After waterproofing the surface of the gate, you can cut the insulation into pieces of such a size that they fit very tightly between the sheathing bars. Mineral wool can cake over time, so the denser the better. After laying all the insulation, a vapor barrier film is stretched on top and attached to the sheathing bars with a construction stapler. After this operation, we can say that the gate is ready for final cladding.

Insulating gates with foam plastic

If regular PSB foam is used to insulate the gate, then the use of waterproofing is also desirable. This material is capable, although not in the same way as mineral wool, of absorbing moisture, which reduces its thermal insulation properties. It is advisable to use EPS, which is not hygroscopic. Extruded polystyrene foam, although more expensive, does not require waterproofing. To install polystyrene foam on the gate surface you must:

  • After measuring the space between the sheathing bars, a cutting plan for the foam sheets is drawn up. The main rule is a minimum of joints. It is necessary to take into account that the size of the cut sheets should be 2-3 mm larger than the cell size - the foam should fit into place very tightly. You can cut foam plastic with a construction knife using a ruler.
Video: How to properly cut foam with a knife

  • Foam sheets can be glued to the surface of the gate polyurethane foam. It is better to use professional foam supplied by a gun, since its volumetric expansion is small. For gluing, foam is continuously applied to the back of the sheet along all edges of the sheet and one line in the center parallel to the long side. Next, the sheet is installed in its place and pressed firmly with a block or rule. By tapping you can adjust the position of the sheet. After a few minutes the position is checked and adjusted if necessary.
Video: How to glue polystyrene foam with polyurethane foam

  • After installing all the sheets, all joints and cavities are treated with polyurethane foam. After the foam has dried, the excess is cut off and the surface can be lightly floated. The gate is ready for cladding.

Insulation of gates with polyurethane foam

When insulating gates using this method, it is no longer possible to do without the involvement of qualified work force and special equipment. Polyurethane foam is applied using a special spraying machine in several layers. Wooden sheathing is still needed, since it is convenient to attach the finishing cladding of the gate to it.

Insulating gates by spraying polyurethane foam has clear advantages:

  • Polyurethane foam (PPU) has excellent adhesion to almost all surfaces, and its properties do not change over time.
  • The thermal insulation properties of polyurethane foam are very high - its thermal conductivity coefficient is 0.019-0.035 W/m*°K.
  • When applying polyurethane foam by spraying, no cavities remain and no “cold bridges” are formed.
  • Polyurethane foam is an excellent water and vapor barrier, so additional waterproofing is not required.
  • According to manufacturers, the service life of thermal insulation made of polyurethane foam is at least 70 years.
Video: Applying polyurethane foam coating to a garage door

Before applying the coating, you should cover the gate hinges, locks, bolts and ventilation holes with film, covering the edges with masking tape. Coating is applied only in protective clothing, goggles and a respirator. After applying the calculated layer of insulation and its complete drying, the excess on the sheathing can be trimmed with a construction knife. After this, the gate is ready for cladding.

Lining the inner surface of the gate

The main thing has already been done! Garage doors are already equipped with thermal insulation, but aesthetics and practicality have not yet been canceled, so it is best to line them with some kind of material. What can serve as cladding?

  • Cladding with corrugated sheets – practical solution, but based on the experience of people who have done this, moisture may condense on the surface.
  • Cladding with plastic lining - looks good, easy installation, but the surface is very easy to damage.

  • Cladding with wooden lining is one of the most practical and beautiful solutions, but the wood needs to be treated with antiseptics and fire retardants.
  • Cladding with OSB sheets (oriented strand boards). This option is perhaps the best, since OSB sheets are not subject to rotting, have the required strength and have a beautiful appearance. If desired, you can paint the surface in any preferred color.

The cladding is fastened to the sheathing bars using screws with a press washer.

Additional measures for insulating garage doors

Gate leaf seals

One of the main ways that precious heat is lost from the garage is through loose fitting of the gate leaves. Very rarely do they fit so tightly together that they exclude any air movement. Therefore, it is always necessary to use seals, which come in different profiles and sizes.

For a tight fit of gate leaves and wickets, a round rubber seal with a diameter of 20 mm has proven itself best. Due to the rubber tail, this seal can be easily attached to any door. To do this, take a perforated steel strip and press the tail of the seal in a predetermined place and screw it with self-tapping screws in increments of 15-20 cm to the gate leaf. It is advisable to coat the tail of the tape with glue No. 88 before installation.

Another area where heat can escape from the garage is the bottom of the door. Naturally, you cannot do without a gap in this place. Rubber seals are not suitable for this purpose, but there are special brush profiles specifically designed to seal the bottom of the gate. Installation of this profile is quite simple - it must be screwed to the bottom of the gate with self-tapping screws in increments of 15-20 cm. Wherein, when fully closed, the brushes should bend by about a third of their length.

Garage curtain

A significant plus in saving heat in the garage in winter time brings in a garage curtain, which is hung directly behind the gate. The curtain material must meet certain requirements:

  • The material must be dense, since lightweight materials do little to prevent heat loss.
  • Resistance to high humidity and mold.
  • Fire resistance.
  • Strength and elasticity.

All these requirements are perfectly met by an ordinary tarpaulin, however, with a small caveat - it must have a water-repellent impregnation. They also make curtains from heavy PVC fabric, but tarpaulin Sun it is equally out of competition.

The best material for a garage curtain is tarpaulin. It is worth purchasing along with eyelets

Along with the tarpaulin, you should also purchase eyelets, which are inserted into the fabric at a distance of 20 cm. The panel is suspended on a cable or (which is better) a metal curtain rod using rings inserted into the eyelets of the curtain. Opposite the gate, a cut must be made in the curtain fabric to allow free movement without moving the entire panel.

Conclusion

  • Insulating your garage and garage doors is not overkill. These measures will allow you to better preserve the car, which is comfortable in the garage both in cold winter and hot summer.
  • Garage doors are only insulated from the inside.
  • The best method of insulation is spraying a polyurethane foam layer of thermal insulation.

Video: Garage door insulation option

Video: Another insulation option

Every car enthusiast has repeatedly asked himself the question of how to insulate garage walls and doors so that the problem is solved efficiently and for a long time. This is felt especially acutely by owners whose garages are made entirely of metal. Corrosion here spares nothing, including the car. Since gates are often the main source of cold and dampness, they need to be insulated first.

The construction industry has a large number of types of thermal protection that can reliably retain heat in the garage. In our case, the following four materials will be of interest:

  1. Polyurethane foam (PPU);
  2. Expanded polystyrene or foam boards;
  3. Mineral or stone wool;
  4. Foamed polyethylene.

Very often, the main criterion for choosing a heat insulator is its cost and quality. This approach is correct and completely justified from an economic point of view. However, you should not neglect the basic characteristics of insulation. If one of them is cheaper, this does not mean that it is bad. It just has its own individual properties, which must be taken into account during installation.

Styrofoam

Insulating garage doors with polystyrene panels is the most common and widespread method. In addition to the fact that the material is inexpensive and lightweight, it has the following advantages:

  • easy to cut;
  • moisture resistant;
  • not susceptible to mold and fungi;
  • has a long service life.

Recently, fire retardant has been added to many brands of polystyrene foam, which has given it a high degree of fire safety.

Polyurethane foam

The technological qualities of this material allow for quick insulation. Working with it does not require vocational training and special handling skills. It is enough to strictly follow the rules written on the aerosol can so that everything works out the first time. The advantages of this substance include:

  • fire resistance;
  • low weight with high strength;
  • low thermal conductivity and resistance to temperature fluctuations;
  • chemical and biological immunity to various reagents, mold and fungi.

All that remains is to add a long service life (up to 70 years), safety for health and the ability to form a monolithic layer that fills all the cracks and cavities on the surface. Polyurethane foam is the most effective material. It has one drawback: the high price. But the insulation is excellent.

Mineral wool

Cotton wool is a fibrous material. Produced by processing basalt rocks or glass production waste. It is produced in the form of slabs and rolls. The material has absolute fire resistance, is inert to aggressive environments, retains heat well, is non-toxic and is an environmentally friendly product.

Mineral wool is cheaper than polyurethane foam, but its heat-insulating properties are no lower. The only negative is its ability to condense moisture. Therefore, you should always insulate garage doors with cotton wool using steam and waterproofing films.

After you have made a choice in favor of one or another insulation, you need to calculate how much material will be used for insulation work. To do this, take measurements of the gate and determine its area, and also purchase related Consumables, which are used in the installation technology of a specific heat insulator.

Foamed polyethylene

This material is an elastic polyethylene sheet with many voids. Available in different thicknesses, there are brands covered with aluminum foil on one side. Foamed polyethylene is more expensive than polystyrene foam, but has almost the same thermal conductivity. In addition, it is difficult to glue and requires special glue, so it is not practical for insulating garage doors.

Thermal insulation using polyurethane foam

Thermal insulation with polyurethane foam is carried out by spraying. In order for the layer to be of high quality, it is necessary to adhere to a clear sequence in work:

  1. Pay due attention to the surface. It should be degreased and cleaned of dirt and traces of corrosion.
  2. Before applying polyurethane foam, make sure that the door surface temperature is not lower than +10 degrees.
  3. To make the process of adhesion and polymerization go faster, the surface is slightly moistened.
  4. Using an aerosol can, the material is sprayed in a layer of about 60 mm thickness.
  5. Excess and uneven insulation is carefully cut off with a knife.
  6. For final finishing plaster, paint and other facing materials are used.

Polyurethane foam after hardening is a harmless substance, but still, spraying work is recommended to be carried out in protective clothing, a respirator and goggles.

Foam-based thermal insulation

Although there are several garage door designs, circuit diagram Their insulation with expanded polystyrene sheets is the same for everyone. That's why step-by-step instruction installation is general and acceptable for swing, sliding and overhead gates.

First of all, it is necessary to clean the insulated surface from rust and old paint. Then the metal is primed. Then everything is done in the following sequence:

  1. First, the sheathing is attached. It is made from wooden slats so that the distances between them correspond to the dimensions of the foam sheet. The sheet should be trimmed and easily inserted between the slats, forming a gap of 1.5-2 cm with them.
  2. After this, the insulation is smeared with glue, inserted into a cell of the wooden frame and pressed, and the gaps between the slats and the end of the sheet are filled with foam. As it expands, it expands the structure and gives it additional strength.
  3. To protect the insulating layer from mechanical damage, use oriented strand board, boards, and plywood. They are attached with self-tapping screws to the sheathing, primed and painted.

When insulating garage doors, you can use various brands of glue. The main requirement for them is moisture resistance and high adhesion. Liquid nails are better suited for fastening the sheathing. As for the thickness of the foam, its recommended value of 60 cm can be obtained from thinner sheets, having previously glued them together.

Some citizens glue foam plastic to metal without sheathing. At first glance, this significantly speeds up the process, but the surface of the foam is very fragile and will quickly crumble without protection. Without sheathing, there is nothing to attach clapboard, plywood or other facing material to.

Mineral wool insulation

As in the case of insulation with polystyrene foam, when sheathing with mineral wool, a sheathing is installed. The surface of the gate is prepared in a similar way. Then proceed as follows:

  1. A layer of basalt wool is pre-wrapped in a vapor barrier material, which is covered on both sides with aluminum film. This prevents the formation of condensation and reliably protects the metal from corrosion.
  2. The finished block or roll is then processed antifungal drug, is inserted between the slats of the wooden frame, pressed against the gate leaf and secured with dowel nails.
  3. After covering the entire surface with cotton wool, the remaining gaps, joints and cracks are blown in with polyurethane foam.

Gate finishing

You can give an aesthetic appearance to the insulated surface using any finishing material. In this case, plastic siding, galvanized iron, lining, plywood, OSB, laminate (pictured), etc. are suitable. It is attached to the sheathing slats. Then the joints are sealed with silicone-based sealant. If necessary, apply primer and paint.

To all the recommendations on how to make a garage door resistant to the penetration of cold and moisture, it is necessary to add one significant point. It often happens that the joints between the gate and the wall are left without insulation, and the mutual contact of the leaves has a gap. In this case, rubber tape with heat-shielding properties is used, and the joints are insulated with a self-adhesive rubber seal of optimal thickness.

Through the gate, the garage room loses the lion's share of heat. In the vast majority of cases, opening doors are made of metal, which has zero thermal insulation ability. In this guide, we will tell you how to insulate your garage door and significantly reduce heat energy losses.

What is the best way to sheathe door panels?

At the end of the last century, it was customary to insulate garage doors from the inside with thick plywood, boards and similar timber. Fastening was carried out in the simplest way: bolts were welded to a metal panel, a plywood sheet was placed on them and screwed with nuts.

Sheathing with regular plywood

Gates insulated in this way did not retain heat well, but they gained a lot of weight - it became harder to open the doors. Often the canvases sagged and became jammed in the lower porch. Now instead of ineffective wood paneling Modern thermal insulation materials are used:

  • mineral wool based on basalt or glass fibers;
  • polymer products in the form of plates - polystyrene foam, extruded polystyrene foam;
  • foamed polyethylene with a layer of foil, produced in rolls;
  • polyurethane foam.

Note. We deliberately do not mention other modern insulators, for example, ecowool. Insulating a garage with these materials is too expensive and not economically feasible.

Any mineral wool is unsuitable for thermal insulation of garage doors for the following reasons:


Polymers that work best with metal are polystyrene foam and extruded polystyrene foam (aka Penoplex). The insulators are lightweight, practically do not allow steam to pass through and are easily attached to the gate. Foam plastic is the cheapest insulation; the price of Penoplex is comparable to the cost of slab basalt wool.

Foil polyethylene foam is too thin (up to 12 mm thick) to serve as thermal insulation for iron gates. It is recommended to use the building material as an additional layer to the main insulation. Let's give an example of such a combination: foam plastic 25 kg/m³ 40 mm thick plus rolled Penofol 6-8 mm.

Effective thermal insulation made of polyurethane foam – The best decision for insulation of walls, ceilings and gates iron garages. The material in the form of foam is applied by spraying using highly specialized equipment. If you are interested in this method, we recommend watching the introductory video:

Surface preparation

Brick and concrete walls capital buildings, including garages, should be insulated from the outside. Doors, pitched roofs and gates are sheathed with insulation from the inside; it is difficult to implement external insulation of these structures. Before starting thermal insulation work, protect steel sheets from corrosion by following the instructions:


Preliminary rust protection is required. Whatever material you use to insulate your garage door and no matter how carefully you seal the seams, condensation will form on the surface of the metal due to temperature changes. In addition, the foam itself will allow a small amount of moisture from inside the garage to pass through. Unpainted metal surfaces will rust under a layer of insulation.

We insulate the doors with foam plastic

If you subsequently plan to make decorative cladding for insulated garage doors, you will initially have to make wooden frame. Otherwise, there will be nothing to attach the finishing material to, except perhaps gluing it to foam plastic boards, but this is ugly and unreliable. The essence of the method is as follows: bars are attached to the elements of the metal frame, and the interior trim is attached to them.

Diagram of frame installation and insulation location

We offer a proven technology for insulating iron sashes, done by hand:


Important point. When cutting out wood and thermal insulation boards, provide space for free movement of lock bolts and gate latches. How such insulation is done correctly is shown in the video.

The second method of thermal insulation is simpler, since it does not involve interior decoration. IN in this case expanded polystyrene is glued to the gate with special polyurethane foam, which does not allow the material to fall off when the door is hit (for example, from a strong wind). Joints and cracks are sealed with ordinary polyurethane foam.

Interior cladding options

Decorative finishing of garage doors from the inside is made from the following materials to choose from:

  • moisture-resistant OSB plywood;
  • any plastic panels or siding;
  • wooden lining;
  • galvanized or painted corrugated sheeting;
  • upholstery with foamed polyethylene type "Penofol".

If the garage is used as a workshop, then it is not advisable to use plastic or corrugated sheet cladding - the material will be scratched and quickly become dirty. Typically, garage craftsmen sheathe canvases with OSB boards, screwing them to a wooden frame with self-tapping screws, as shown in the photo.

When using a garage only to store a car, the gate should be lined decorative panels or cover it with foil Penofol. The latter will play the role of additional thermal insulation and reflector infrared heat back to the room.

Most budget method interior decoration - painting foam plastic from a can. Then a wooden frame will not be needed. If, when insulating the gate with your own hands, you used extruded polystyrene foam, then lightweight plastic panels can be attached directly to the insulation using self-tapping screws.

How to seal cracks in porches

Thermal insulation of gates and gates will not produce the desired effect when wind-blown gaps remain between the doors and the frame. To seal them, you can use various sealants - self-adhesive tapes or automobile rubber. The problem is that the gaps can be quite large and vary along the entire length of the vestibule.

A layer of polyurethane foam follows the relief of the vestibule

There is a simple compaction technology used in practice:

  1. Wipe both surfaces of the porch with a rag – the gate frame and frame.
  2. Lubricate the corners of the frame where the frame element fits generously with grease or waste oil.
  3. Moisten the mating surfaces with water and apply a layer of polyurethane foam (preferably from a gun).
  4. Close the sash and wait 1-2 hours. Then trim off any excess hardened foam and open the gate.

Thanks to the lubricant, the polyurethane will not stick to the corners of the frame, but will remain on the frame of the sash. The gap will fill regardless of the width and thus close along its entire length. Details of sealing garage doors with polyurethane foam are shown in the next video:

Thermal insulation with curtains

A curtain in front of the gate is a controversial method of insulation and here's why:

  1. To sew curtains, you need a tarpaulin or thick rubberized fabric, comparable in cost to polystyrene foam.
  2. The curtain prevents entry through the gate, and making a special cutout means worsening the thermal insulation.
  3. The curtain promotes abundant condensation on internal metal surfaces during frosts. As a result, the locks become covered with ice inside and out, making it very difficult to warm them up.

The curtain is useful when the garage owner needs to constantly go outside by opening one gate leaf. Such insulation is realized by hanging a tarpaulin on a cable threaded through sewn steel rings. There is one way to prevent frosting of locks - do not leave the curtains closed at night.

Conclusion

Entrance gate trim thermal insulation material- the first measure for insulating a garage space. Walls, roofing and floors do not allow as much heat to pass out as it does through an opening covered with bare metal. Solving the problem is not particularly difficult and will take a maximum of half a day of your time.

Insulating garage doors is not used so often, but many car owners are faced with the fact that such measures are still necessary. It is better to spend money on a heat insulator once than to constantly have problems with your car in the future. Why is it so important to insulate your garage door and what is better to choose as insulation? The problem is that if a certain stable temperature is not maintained in the garage, this will have an extremely negative impact on the condition of the engine and body vehicle. It may appear indoors bad smell dampness, mold will form on the walls. There may be problems with engine operation in winter, and in severe frosts the car may not start at all. Not only the gates, but the entire building as a whole should be insulated.

Insulation material

  1. Expanded polystyrene is a gas-filled material that is obtained from polystyrene and its derivatives. There is extruded, non-pressed, pressed polystyrene foam. The material is light and durable, easy to process.
  2. Penoizol contains carbide, phosphoric acid and resins. Refers to organic urea foams Differs highest quality, does not support combustion.
  3. Polyurethane foam is applied by spraying and belongs to the class of common gas-filled plastics. It has good heat saving performance.

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Why is it necessary to insulate gates?

Why is it so important to insulate your garage door? If the room is too cold, it will have a negative impact not only on the finish itself, but also on the car. An unpleasant smell of dampness and mold will appear in the garage, Decoration Materials will become damp. As for the car, its body will be susceptible to corrosion, the engine and other mechanisms will begin to fail faster. This also applies to all other equipment that is usually stored in garages.

Sudden changes in temperature and dampness also negatively affect health. Typically, not much time is spent in garages, but the dank cold in winter, dampness in spring and autumn period They definitely won’t bring health benefits, especially if it is necessary to carry out any repair work. Properly executed insulation can help in such a situation; you need to start not only with the doors, but also with the floor, walls, and ceiling.

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Self-insulation methods

How to insulate gates, which method to choose? The insulation technology may be different, but the main stages remain the same. Work can be carried out for general insulation of the gate frame and leaves and only for one or several leaves. It’s not that difficult to insulate a garage door with your own hands. It is important to immediately decide which material will be used for the job. Polystyrene foam works well, it is universal and optimal. Its cost is low, and the quality is quite high. It does not absorb moisture at all, is easy to process, and is light in weight.

Work on foam insulation should begin with a complete inspection of the doors and frames. If there are traces of rust or damage, they must be repaired immediately.. To insulate garage doors, it is necessary to treat all the cracks between the frame and the doors with polyurethane foam. This will prevent heat loss through such cavities; there will be no drafts in the room. If you leave gaps, it will be clearly visible in winter, when snow will blow into the garage through them and ice will form.

Next, you should install special rubber or polymer inserts on the floor. They are used for the same purpose as foam. They will prevent moisture from entering the garage during heavy rains. The gate leaves are inspected and, if necessary, the metal is cleaned. Garage doors are coated with a layer of primer or special paint with anti-corrosion properties. It is recommended to do this on both sides to ensure maximum protection. The paint must dry completely; while this is happening, the heat insulator is being prepared for work.

You can insulate garage doors with your own hands using polystyrene foam; it is laid directly on metal surface or between the sheathing joists. In the first case, the material is glued to the metal, and in the second, you first need to make a frame, after which the material is laid between the slats. Wooden or plastic lining. Both options are equally good, the most convenient one is chosen.

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Insulation of a separate sash

How to insulate garage doors? You can use foam plastic to cover the doors. This is not so difficult to do. Care must be taken to ensure that foam insulation is carried out with the same thickness and other characteristics as for the other leaf or part of the gate.

Before installation, it is necessary to prepare the metal sash. To do this, it is cleaned and its surface is inspected. If there are traces of corrosion, they must be cleaned. The metal is then coated with a layer of a special anti-corrosion compound or primer to provide excellent protection to the metal surface. Further, all work depends on how exactly the foam insulation will take place.

If the slabs will be glued to the surface, then maximum adhesion should be ensured.

If even the slightest air gap remains between the sash and the heat insulator, then condensation will certainly begin to accumulate, and this will negatively affect the metal and the quality of the insulation itself. In some cases, it is recommended to first install the sheathing, and then install insulation between its slats.

Today we will figure out how to insulate garage doors with your own hands with the least amount of time and money. I bet you will be surprised how easy the job is and how little money is needed to complete the project.

Methods of carrying out work

Thermal insulation of garage doors can be done using two methods:

  • Without surface finishing;
  • With subsequent surface finishing.

Explore ways to insulate garage doors and choose the one that suits your needs best.

Method No. 1 - insulation without surface finishing

This is a simple technique, but to get good result, need to be done whole line important conditions. Before you insulate your garage door, you should assemble necessary materials, a list of which is given in the table below.

Material Recommendations for selection
Styrofoam This option has good thermal insulation characteristics. The most commonly used sheets are 5 cm thick and 1000x600 mm in size; the unit price is 80-90 rubles.

As an option, you can consider extruded polystyrene foam; it is noticeably more expensive, but also higher in strength. Mineral wool is not suitable for such purposes, as it does not tolerate high humidity.

Adhesive for insulation It is best to use polyurethane-based compounds. They are sold in the same cans as polyurethane foam and are applied with a gun. Most often, one package is enough, the cost of a high-quality option is 300-350 rubles
Anti-corrosion primer To prepare a metal surface for insulation, you will need a primer. It is best to buy the composition in an aerosol package, it is very convenient to apply, and such a container costs 150-200 rubles. Usually you need 1-2 cylinders to work

To carry out the work you need the following set of tools:

  • A metal brush or drill attachment for cleaning a metal surface;
  • Solvent or gasoline for degreasing metal and a cloth;
  • If the primer is in a jar, then a brush is needed for application;
  • Cutting foam is done with a hacksaw for metal or wood;

  • The glue is applied using a foam gun.

Now let's look at the workflow. It is described for swing gates - this is the most common option at the moment.

Insulation instructions look like this:

  • First of all, you need to clean the metal from dirt and dust. If there are pockets of corrosion on the surface of the gate, they are carefully removed with a wire brush. It is easier to work with a drill or grinder with a wire disk; with their help you will quickly remove rust from all areas;

  • After removing corrosion, the surface is cleaned of dust and then degreased. To do this, rags are soaked in solvent and gasoline, and all areas are thoroughly wiped. After drying, you can apply primer, it is best to do this in two layers to ensure good protection metal;

  • The foam is tried on the surface; most likely, you will have to cut individual pieces, but it is better to do this later. Once the entire elements are in place, you can take precise measurements and cut the sheets so that they perfectly cover the surface. The glue is applied around the perimeter and in the middle in some areas, do not apply the composition very close to the edge so that when gluing it does not come out from the side;

Before gluing the sheet, you need to leave it for 5-7 minutes. During this time, the composition will harden a little and will have the highest adhesive characteristics.

  • The element is carefully placed on the surface and pressed. Due to their light weight, the sheets immediately hold perfectly and do not need to be fixed;
  • Next, measurements are taken and the sheets are cut into pieces of the required size. The process is simple: a line is drawn on the surface along which the piece is cut with a hacksaw; you can use a level as a guide, then the cutting line will definitely be perfectly straight;

  • If it is necessary to cut a groove for the projection of the gate, this can be done with the same hacksaw or knife;

  • Gluing is carried out until the surface is completely covered. Do not pay attention to small cracks - we will eliminate them in the next step;

Don't forget to make cutouts for the top and bottom gate bolts. They should be of such a size that you can comfortably use the locks.

  • All cracks and joints are filled adhesive composition, which remained after fastening. It not only fixes the insulation, but also has excellent thermal insulation characteristics;

  • After the composition has hardened, all excess is cut off. You get a smooth, neat surface. The gate will provide excellent protection from the cold, and the garage will become much warmer.

Method No. 2 - insulation over a wooden frame

If we insulate garage doors with our own hands and then finish the surface, then the technology will differ from that described above.

First of all, let's figure out what materials are needed, in this case everything is used as in the case above, but a couple more items are added:

  • A wooden block, the thickness of which should be the same as the foam. Choose options made from dry wood. Most often, people use pine, but you can also use larch, it is much stronger and is not afraid of changes in temperature and humidity;

  • To attach the block to the gate, we will use self-tapping screws with a press washer 30-40 mm long. Select a specific option so that the fasteners fit into the block a little more than half the thickness.

We will additionally need a screwdriver with a PH2 attachment for tightening screws and a drill with a drill with a diameter of 4.5 mm for drilling holes in metal.

Insulation of the gate leaves in this case is carried out according to the following algorithm:

  • First you need to thoroughly clean the surface and prime it. Special attention pay attention to abutments and joints where corrosion is difficult to remove;
  • The frame is fastened around the perimeter through the side stiffening ribs; first, holes are drilled in increments of 30-35 cm, and then a block is placed and screwed.
    If you have ribs in the middle, then they must either be attached from the outside through a sheet, or glued with liquid nails. I have used the second option several times, and everything holds up perfectly, when buying glue, pay attention to whether it is suitable for;

  • The foam sheet is glued in exactly the same way as in the case above. The minimum thickness of the insulation layer is 5 cm; if you put thinner material, the effect will not be very good. It is necessary to fill all the openings in the frame, cutting out pieces according to the configuration of the structure;

  • All seams and joints are filled with polyurethane foam; it insulates voids and serves as an additional fastening of the foam to the frame. After about 2 hours, when the composition has hardened, you can cut off the excess and proceed to the next stage of work;
  • Surface covering can be done using any available material: wooden lining, chipboard, fibreboard or moisture resistant OSB boards. The latter option is best suited due to its strength, but moisture-resistant plywood can also become great solution. The material is attached with self-tapping screws to the block.

To keep your garage warm even more effectively, you can follow a few simple steps.

All of them allow you to insulate the garage door opening even better:

  • Along the perimeter of the gate frame, all voids must be filled with foam. Often, during installation, people simply attach anchors or weld the structure to the embedded elements, forgetting about the cracks through which a lot is lost;
  • The slope around the perimeter of the opening can also be covered with foam plastic; this is necessary if the doors do not fit very well to the frame;

  • Rubber strips can be secured along the perimeter of the sashes with self-tapping screws, and then all the cracks will be reliably protected. You can use both special elements and those cut from chambers;

  • A canopy can be attached to the inside of the opening. It is best to use an option made of tarpaulin or awning fabric. It is fixed above the gate and lowered if necessary.

Conclusion

From the article you learned that insulating gates is not difficult. Choose one of the proposed methods and follow all the recommendations from the corresponding section in order. To understand the topic even better, use the video in this article. If you have questions, write them in the comments, we will analyze them in the most detailed way.