The garage can be used direct purpose- as a parking lot for a car, as well as as a workshop or warehouse where you can store inventory and various things. If you often repair your car, then it is best to insulate the building. This work will be most effective in the gate area. However, before carrying out such manipulations, it is necessary to familiarize yourself with the rules, which state that for thermal insulation of a garage it is better not to use porous insulation materials such as mineral wool. This is explained by the fact that it will shift towards the insulation, it will get wet, its density and thermal conductivity will increase.

Material selection

You should not try to save money by ordering gates without a wicket. Its presence allows you to retain heat inside the garage. It is better to immediately make gates not only with a separate door, but also with insulation. Among other things, the building must be equipped with a ventilation system, which can be exhaust or supply. The inlet opening can be made in the gate. Insufficient ventilation may create life-threatening conditions.

Insulation of garage doors can be carried out different materials, however, one of the most effective is polystyrene foam. This material has a low density, so insulation will not put additional stress on the structure. Polystyrene foam has a low thermal conductivity coefficient; it does not emit substances harmful to human health, which is true when normal conditions operation. This thermal insulation does not interact with air and water, and the formed layer will last more than 50 years. Processing the canvas is quite simple; for this you can use available tools. It should also be noted that the water absorption of polystyrene foam is quite low and does not exceed 3%, but if we're talking about about extruded polystyrene foam, this figure is even less, it is equal to 0.4%.

Thermal insulation of gates: preparation of tools

If you decide to insulate your garage door with foam, then at the first stage you need to prepare the tools. You will need:

• electric drill;
• Screwdriver Set;
• metal brush;
• screwdriver;
• wood hacksaw;
• roller;
• core;
• clamps;
• square;
• sandpaper;
• hammer;
• meter tape measure;
• metal ruler;
• construction knife.

Preparation of materials

To make the gate look attractive from the inside, you can use facing material, which is sometimes used as corrugated sheeting, wooden lining, or OSB. As practice shows, it is best to prefer oriented strand boards, since they have many advantages, namely: the material is quite strong and reliable, easy to process, has low vapor permeability and eliminates the need to use vapor barrier membranes to cover thermal insulation. Oriented strand boards can be purchased at a low cost, and after completion of the work the gate will have an attractive appearance. For cladding, it is recommended to use OSB-3 or OSB-4 boards, the thickness of which should be 10 mm. This material is intended for premises where conditions differ increased level humidity.

After you determine the dimensions of the gate, you should calculate the number of slabs. Each of them has standard sizes 1250x2500 mm. As a rule, the master makes do with two canvases, and after the work is completed, there are scraps left that can be used for other purposes. The insulation of garage doors is accompanied by the installation of sheathing on which the facing materials will be attached. For the frame system, it is recommended to use a square section with a side of 4 cm. They are fixed to the load-bearing part of the gate, which serves as metal corners, sometimes - a profile pipe. Be that as it may, the sheathing must be installed around the perimeter and on the area of ​​the canvas. The distance between the sheathing elements should be 40 cm.

Additional information about preparation

If the insulation of garage doors with polystyrene foam or polystyrene foam will be accompanied further installation finishing, then before starting installation of the frame system wooden blocks must be treated with an antiseptic. Depending on what composition will be used, one or two coats may be required. This work must be done using a regular brush. While drying the bars, you can start preparing inner surface gate, for this purpose the rust is stripped down to the metal; it is more convenient to do this with a brush attachment on a drill. It is important to clean off all loose paint; in hard-to-reach places it is more convenient to use a brush with metal bristles. Sometimes experts advise using sandpaper, which the master must walk over the entire surface, this will improve the quality of adhesion of the primer to the metal.

At the next stage, the surface is treated with an anti-corrosion primer, it is applied in 2 layers. The direction of the second should be perpendicular to the first. As soon as you have waited for the surface to dry completely, you should take care of waterproofing, which is important in tandem with regular polystyrene foam. If applicable then this operation is not produced. Waterproofing can be done using bitumen mastic, sometimes vapor barrier membranes are glued to the surface.

When insulation is carried out, it is recommended to consider photos before starting work, which will allow you to eliminate many mistakes. At the next stage, the sheathing is installed; bars of the required length are cut according to the size of the gate; they must be solid. In those places where locks and bolts are located, as well as ventilation grilles, it is necessary to make a frame from bars, installing them around the perimeter. To fix these elements, several holes are drilled with an electric drill, the distance between which should be 25 cm. For this, a 4 mm drill is used. In those places where the bars will be installed at the end, the holes should be 5 mm. Before drilling, it is recommended to mark and mark the areas so that the drill does not heat up.

For reference

When insulating garage doors with your own hands, lathing is sometimes required without installing facing material. At the same time, the installation of the lower row of horizontal bars may be accompanied by some difficulties, which consist in the fact that it is not possible to reach hard-to-reach places with a tool. If you remove the gate, then this work can be carried out without problems; if not, then you need to attach the block to the end, because the rest of the sheathing will take on most of the load from the facing material.

Nuances of installing insulation

Insulation of metal garage doors is usually carried out with polystyrene foam; it should be cut only after measuring the space between the bars. Approximately 3 mm of material is left on each side so that the foam fits tightly between the bars. When cutting, you must ensure that the blade enters the thermal insulation vertically; if the blade is flexible, it can be pulled to the side, which will certainly disrupt the cutting line.

Sometimes insulating garage doors with foam plastic is not at all accompanied by mechanical fixation of the material, because it will be pressed to the base by the cladding. You can use liquid nails; sometimes polyurethane foam is used, which will be useful later when sealing joints.

When insulating garage doors with polystyrene foam, it is recommended to use 40 mm slabs, which may have different sizes. When purchasing material, it is necessary to take into account the location of the sheathing so that cutting the foam is not accompanied by the formation of a large number of scraps. If possible, try to strengthen solid sheets of material. Experts recommend purchasing extruded polystyrene foam, since its water absorption rate is minimal; there is almost no need to protect such material from moisture, but such thermal insulation is more expensive. As practice shows, working with extruded polystyrene foam is much easier; it does not crumble when cutting.

for insulation

To install the bars, you should use galvanized screws for working with wood, their size should be 3.5x30 mm; as for fastening the side surfaces, they are fixed using self-tapping screws with dimensions 4.5x70 mm, they are installed at the end. If the gate frame is made of a profile pipe, then the length of the screws must be increased by adding the cross-section of the pipe. The fastener must fit into the block to a depth of 1/2 of the section; when installing the facing material, it is better to use screws with a press washer with dimensions of 4.2x32 mm.

Padding

Insulation of garage doors is usually carried out only after applying a primer to the metal surface. To do this, you should use an anti-corrosion agent that prevents the formation of rust when high humidity. The primer can be any, based on alkyd or synthetic resins. It must be designed for use over a wide temperature range. In order to degrease the surface, you must purchase a solvent along with the primer.

Insulation with polyurethane foam

Insulation of garage doors polyurethane foam accompanied by the use of polystyrene foam or polystyrene foam. As soon as the insulation boards are installed to the metal surface, all joints must be filled with foam. It is better to purchase a professional version, which involves the use of a pistol. This composition expands less in volume, and the gun allows you to conveniently apply the mixture into Right place and in any quantity. In order to prevent rotting of the bars, you should use an antiseptic; it can be made in oil or water based, sometimes such mixtures are paint with antiseptic properties. If you decide to use regular foam, it should be protected from moisture. This can be done using a vapor barrier membrane, self-adhesive Izolon insulation or bitumen mastic.

Insulation of sectional works

Insulation of sectional garage doors is carried out using almost the same technology as described above. Before you begin, you need to select a material, which can be polystyrene foam; its installation is carried out using plastic dowels. This material is resistant to mold and mildew. If you want to provide fire safety, then you should choose foam plastic that was made using fire retardants; if a fire occurs, the material will exhibit self-extinguishing properties.

If it is possible to use special equipment, then polyurethane foam can be used for insulation. The work will cost more if it is carried out by a team professional builders, but the efficiency will be at its best. At the first stage, the gates, as well as individual sections, are measured. This will allow you to cut the material according to the parameters. The insulation is glued to the surface, and polyurethane foam is applied to the joints.

When the insulation of the garage door joints has been completed, you can move on to waterproofing. To do this, you should use Izolon, which sometimes becomes additional means thermal insulation. In some cases, this material is used as the main layer of insulation.

Conclusion

The insulation of garage door cracks is no less important than the thermal insulation of the door leaf itself. To do this, you should use polyurethane foam, which has excellent adhesion to a huge number of materials. However, before installation, the surface is moistened, because hardening occurs upon contact with moisture.

Motorists traditionally spend a lot of time in the garage, caring for their “iron horses.” However, in winter it is extremely uncomfortable to do usual work, and sooner or later the owners are faced with the issue of insulation. This measure allows you to solve the problem radically, since heat evaporates very quickly through the door leaf (usually sheets of steel). Insulating a garage not only creates comfortable conditions for its owner, but also allows:

• start the car faster in severe frosts;
• extend the service life of rubber parts;
• prevent the appearance of condensation in the internal cavities of the machine;
• create the required temperature regime in vegetable storage, which are often combined with garages.

The possibility of insulating garage doors depends on their design.

Which gates can be insulated?

Most gates have swing doors, which are steel sheets welded to metal frame. Insulation of such gates is mandatory, since they practically do not retain heat. It's easy to do simple design swing gates allows the use of materials of any thickness.

Lifting and sectional doors for the garage. As a rule, they are factory-made. The door leaf or individual sections are sandwich panels. On the outside they are covered with sheet steel, and on the inside they are already insulated with foamed polyurethane and in special measures for additional insulation dont need. Do-it-yourself lifting gates are insulated in the same way as swing gates. The thickness of the insulation for them should not exceed the dimensions of the frame. The same rule applies to rollbacks.

Rolling gates are not subject to insulation, since their design is designed for a certain thickness.

When choosing a material for insulation, it is necessary to take into account its weight. Weighting the gates can lead to the fact that the mechanism by which the gate moves will begin to work worse over time and gradually fail.

The most popular materials for insulation

A good insulation should have low thermal conductivity, then a sufficiently thin layer can significantly reduce heat loss. The following materials are most often used to insulate garage doors:

All foam plastics have qualities that are indispensable for insulating garage doors - low thermal conductivity and hygroscopicity, fire safety, chemical inertness.

How to insulate garage doors

Before starting insulation work, it is necessary to check the functionality of the ventilation in the garage. The process should not be blocked ventilation holes insulation. Normal operation ventilation helps reduce humidity and timely remove gasoline vapors and exhaust gases.

Let's look in detail at how to insulate Garage Doors on their most common design - swing.

Surface preparation

Carefully inspect the inner surface of the door leaf. Large areas affected by corrosion are cleaned with an iron bristle brush. If rust has covered most of the steel sheet, it is more convenient and faster to work with a drill or grinder with a special round attachment.

After thorough cleaning of rust and degreasing, an anti-corrosion primer is applied.

Manufacturing and installation of sheathing

Wooden bars or aluminum profiles are used as lathing. Attach the sheathing to the gate frame. The material for the sheathing is cut to size. Wooden blocks are impregnated with a dual-action compound - against fire and rot. The sheathing elements are attached to the frame of the sashes with screws of suitable length. All accessories on door leaf– locks, ventilation holes, trimmed with lathing around the perimeter.

Waterproofing and laying insulation

Before insulating the garage door, you need to observe some subtleties in handling this material. Of all its varieties, it is better to choose basalt wool from a well-known manufacturer. Before laying the wool, care should be taken to waterproof it so that the material does not absorb moisture. Coating gives good results inside the gate with bitumen-polymer mastic or finishing with self-adhesive material such as “Izolon”.

After all the metal parts of the gate are covered with waterproofing, the insulation is cut into pieces of such a size that it is several centimeters greater than the distance between the sheathing bars. This is done so that cracks do not appear, since mineral wool Cakes over time.

The most convenient way to cut the insulation is as follows: lay a sheet of fiberboard on the floor, roll out mineral wool on it, measure it and draw it with force with a sharp utility knife.

Stretched over mineral wool vapor barrier film and is attached to the bars with a construction stapler. After vapor barrier, the already insulated swing gates are ready for final finishing. The lining is made of plastic or wooden clapboard, corrugated sheets, OSB sheets. The facing material is attached to the bars with screws and a press washer.

Laying insulation around the perimeter of the gate

Gate leaves very rarely fit closely to each other. Usually a gap is formed between them, allowing the gate to be closed freely. To prevent heat from escaping through these gaps, use various seals. As a rule, they are a self-adhesive strip with a rubber or foam seal. This seal is not suitable for insulating the bottom of the gate. There are special brush strips for these purposes. They are attached to the bottom of the gate with self-tapping screws.

Once all the cracks are closed, the insulation of the garage door can be considered complete.

Do-it-yourself insulation of garage doors - video

Everyone knows that metal garage doors winter period freeze and become covered with a whole coat of frost. You've probably heard that you can use grease or another product to lubricate the inside of a garage door. Then supposedly there will be no ice. Much fewer people understand why this happens and how it relates to the need to insulate their garage doors.

Each of us studied thermal conductivity at school. If the garage is made entirely of metal, then the garage doors are not afraid of frost. The entire perimeter of the garage will freeze evenly. And in permanent garages (where only the gates are metal), it is the gates that freeze, because they are the most heat-conducting element.

Even though the garage door will be frozen, the walls will be fine. In this case, the gate acts as a cooled coil in the winter. moonshine still. They condense moisture from inside the room and turn it into ice.

The temperature in the garage affects the condition of your vehicle. And first of all - on its rubber technical elements. The higher the room temperature, the more comfortable it will be for you to use your car inside in winter. Temperature also sets the microclimatic conditions inside basement(if there is one) under the garage. To retain heat inside the garage, you need to insulate it very carefully. This article will talk about how to insulate.

To determine whether you need to insulate your garage door yourself, you need to understand one thing: important point. Even without taking into account the winter cold, the usual thermal fluctuations during daylight and warm hours can cause condensation to form inside the garage. Constantly increased humidity has a bad effect not only on the condition of objects, but also on the car body: metal surface may rust, electrical wiring may rot. Fungus and mold often appear in the corners of the garage.

After condensation freezes, excess moisture will cause the finishing material to crack. But there is great news - such a seemingly serious problem can be solved. Just choose the right insulation material, and then insulate the doors and garage gates. Upon completion of work, the temperature will not drop below 5 °C.

So, insulating the gate will solve the problem with:

• corrosion of metal (metal garage doors, metal products located in the garage itself);
• “rotting” of a car in the garage, which drives there while still “warm”. And if in indoors There is a considerable amount of cold ice, then condensation will form on every metal item. That’s why cars “rot” in garages;
• ice, which appears even with a sharp drop outside temperature(not necessarily negative). It makes it impossible to open the gate.

How to insulate garage doors? Let's look at this.

Preparing for insulation work

There are several ways to insulate your garage door. You can initially buy and install high-quality garage doors that already have insulation material. You can also insulate existing gates with your own hands. The last option will cost you less. By the way, the process itself will not take much time. And for insulation you do not need to have special skills in construction.

Before installing the insulation, measurements are taken of the area of ​​the gate structure so that the total volume of the insulation surface can be determined. Where does insulation of garage doors begin? Since the metal surface is cleaned of dust, dirt and other contaminants. Wash your garage door and dry it. Next, all holes and cracks are sealed using polyurethane foam. When it has completely hardened, its protruding remains are removed using a knife.

How to mark insulation material?

The marking of the selected type of insulation is done depending on the structure and area of ​​the garage door structure. Perfect option markings are when all the insulation sheets are fully used, except for the seams and joints between the plates. But how to proceed to insulating garage doors from the inside without leaving any excess material? To achieve this goal, entire sheets of insulation are immediately used. And the space that remains is sealed with pieces of foam plastic.

When cutting the insulation, the stiffening ribs of the door are taken into account, because it happens that the corners of the insulation material protrude greatly above the door leaf. The selected insulation is cut at an angle to the required thickness.

How is the insulation attached?

Polyurethane adhesive foam is used as fastening material. If you have never used such foam before, then working with it will bring you delight, since installation with it is reliable, quick and easy. The main advantage of this glue is the quality of the polyurethane foam.

Adhesive foam is applied to the insulation. After five minutes, the sheet with the material applied to it must be glued to the cleaned surface of the gate.

Experts recommend starting installation of sheets from the bottom of the gate. The first sheet is glued without pressing firmly to the surface, otherwise the foam structure may be destroyed. After the first sheet has been installed, subsequent ones must be glued with a standard gap of about a centimeter.

Sealant or polyurethane foam is used to fill the seams that appear between the sheets of insulation. After an hour, when the adhesive foam has completely dried, the joints and seams between the insulation sheets can be sealed with foam. Excess foam can be removed with a knife. To ensure that the insulation of metal garage doors has an attractive appearance, the installed insulation is finished with clapboard.

Selection of insulating material

Before you insulate your garage door, you should understand the following. The insulation process directly depends on whether you managed to choose the right insulation material. When choosing, consider its quality and properties. Among the choice of insulation (and there are many varieties), pay attention to the three most popular options:

• on mineral wool;
• polyurethane foam;
• extruded polystyrene foam (foam).

Each of them has a lot of advantages, but one cannot ignore the disadvantages. For example, the fire resistance of polystyrene foam leaves much to be desired. But at the same time it has high moisture resistance and low thermal conductivity. Mineral wool, on the contrary, has a high level of fire resistance, but minimal moisture resistance.

Polyurethane foam is the latest technology concerning the insulation of the garage from the inside. Spraying is quite effective and completely fulfills the task. It is different:

1. seamless installation;
2. low weight of insulation;
3. low thermal conductivity;
4. high fire resistance;
5. resistance to temperature changes, chemical and biological aggressors;
6. durability;
7. strength;
8. the ability to use any finish for the sprayed surface.

Mineral wool is a material in the form of fibers, which is made by processing a special rock. The material has low thermal insulation, but thanks to it the room is well insulated. Cotton wool is produced in rolls and slabs.

Extruded polystyrene foam is considered a more expensive finishing option. It differs from other materials in the method of installation and gluing. Installation begins with the construction of a sheathing and stretching of a film designed to protect against moisture and vapor barrier. You can see how all this is done here:

Note! When insulating garage doors, you need to understand that their surface should heat up quickly, allow heat to pass in well, and also slowly release it out. Do not forget to measure the area you are going to insulate in advance in order to purchase required quantity materials and other important elements(glue or fasteners).

When choosing insulation, pay attention not only to thermal conductivity, but also to the presence of thermal inertia.

Lathing for insulating garage doors

Thermal insulation using any materials involves the use of lathing for the construction of the gate leaf, which will secure the insulation. The gate lining will then be attached to it. To make the lathing, use wooden blocks with a cross-section of 4 x 4 cm or 5 x 5 cm (depending on the design of the gate). The lathing must be attached to the load-bearing frame of the gate leaf: to a corner or profile steel pipe.

To make a wooden sheathing, you need:

• prepare in advance required amount wooden blocks. When purchasing, give preference exclusively to dry wood;
• treat the bars twice with an antiseptic composition (to prevent them from rotting under difficult conditions of temperature changes and high humidity);
• A block is attached to each power element of the gate. Use a screw for this. To do this, mark the places where the holes will be, and then use a drill to make through holes. The diameter of the drill must match the screw. When you attach the bars, do not forget to make holes in them in advance using a thin drill. Then the screws being screwed in will not split them;
• If there is a ventilation hole on the gate, it is surrounded around the perimeter with lathing. This also applies to locks;
• if there are no steel strength elements on the central part of the gate, then the bars can be attached to one another in any way: using corners, at the end, etc.

What types of garage doors can and should be insulated? About swing gates

Most garage doors have a swing design, which undoubtedly needs to be insulated. The base of the gate is a frame made of profile pipes and a sheet of steel that plays the role exterior finishing. It is known that steel has high thermal conductivity, so many people know that uninsulated gates made of of this material are not a barrier to heat leakage from the room. It is important that swing gates have a wicket, which significantly reduces heat loss during frequent movements of people. Therefore, if you are still building a garage, then you should order gates that are already insulated and have a wicket.

Nowadays, sectional and up-and-over doors are considered very fashionable. The sections or web of this product are a sandwich of panels made of sheet steel on the outside and polyurethane foam on the inside. This design already has the necessary thermal insulation properties. And additional measures for insulation in in this case not required. These types of gates, if you want, can also be equipped with a wicket. This is something that absolutely needs to be done.

Up and over gates are also for sale. handicraft. However, the insulation of garage doors of such models has no fundamental differences from swing gates, because they are based on the same frame and sheet of steel.

Rolling gates are not insulated at all due to their special design. And they cannot always be called garage doors, since in terms of thermal insulation and anti-vandal characteristics they are much worse than all other types.

If the garage for your car is located in a garage cooperative, then its arrangement consists of insulating the gates. As mentioned earlier, this will significantly reduce heat loss. Accordingly, holding this event is mandatory. The question is which materials to choose. We have already discussed what is best suited for what.

To prevent the gate material from suffering from corrosion due to condensation accumulating between the insulation layer and the metal, swing metal gates are waterproofed. Self-adhesive isolon can cope with this function. It can be used as additional or basic thermal insulation. In this case, its thickness decides everything.

If the isolon is not thick enough, then polystyrene foam in sheets is glued to it. At the same time they use tile adhesive or polyurethane foam.

Additional methods of insulation

In addition to installing insulation, there are other garage door insulation options that reduce the amount of warm air out. Thanks to this action, it is possible to create comfortable conditions in the room.

• The use of ordinary curtains, but not those used in apartments, but made of dense materials that perfectly hold back the cold and do not let it immediately into the room. They are done without unnecessary hassle: first, a steel thread or thin rope is pulled. You can attach a canvas to it using rings that are well attached to a dense material (for example, to a tarpaulin). This method insulation is suitable for those who are forced to often open the gate or, due to certain circumstances, one gate leaf always remains open.
• In the first stages of garage construction, many car owners forget to take into account the fact that less heat can escape through a small hole than when the gate is fully or partially opened. It turns out that it is better to make a small one doorway at the gate. Then there is no need to open the entire garage to simply take tools such as, for example, hammers for hammering nails. Therefore, when ordering gates, ask them to make separate doors for you.
• The joints between the wall and the gate, too, as you already know, are subject to additional insulation. You can also install thresholds to reduce the waste of heat that will escape through the cracks. To ensure the insulation function, vinyl material with appropriate dimensions and thickness is used. Vinyl tape is attached along the edges of the joints where there are gaps. To fasten the tape use nails or assembly adhesive. This is an additional barrier to heat loss.

Why is it important to insulate your garage door?

First of all, insulating your garage door is taking care of your “iron horse.” If you can really create good conditions for your car, it will serve you well for a long time. After all, it turns out that cars can also “catch a cold” and “get sick” in an overly damp or cold room. And, like every patient, such a car needs special “treatment”, which, believe me, will cost you a lot of money. For this reason, as they say, prevention is always cheaper than cure.

In addition, many people use the garage not only as a place to park their car, but also as a warehouse for old things or even a man’s personal space. Often it is in the garage that a small workshop is organized in which sets are stored different instruments, useful in the process of creating various things or carrying out repair “work”.

Note

You can also turn a garage into a recreation room for spending leisure time with friends. Therefore, pay close attention to the insulation of this type of room. Make sure your garage feels “warm” in winter and cool in summer. To do this, you “should” try to create comfortable conditions for being inside the garage.

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Insulating garage doors with simple and accessible ways

Most car owners who are lucky enough to acquire a cherished home for their four-wheeled friend quickly begin to understand that without decent insulation it is just a canopy protecting the car from the rain. Plus, a garage is not only a home for a car, for our man it is a workshop, a banquet hall and a club of interests all rolled into one. Insulating the garage door is the first and perhaps the most important thing that should be done to achieve comfort. Today we will talk about how to insulate a garage door with your own hands using affordable methods.

If you turn to regulatory documents, in this case it is SNiP 21.02-99, in order for the car body not to rust and the engine to start without warming up, a constant temperature of 5ºC is sufficient. Therefore, insulating garage doors does not require excessive effort and fancy materials.

What kind of gates are there?

It is no secret that it is better to take into account any nuances at the stage of building the premises. But most owners, when building or choosing a garage, are primarily interested in the reliability of the locks, leaving insulation for later. This is not entirely true.

For security, there are alarms and other similar systems. And, in the end, everyone knows that if they want to steal, they will steal. But having become acquainted with modern designs With a gate, you can solve the insulation problem before it even arises. Moreover, as a rule, there is no need to radically increase the budget.

Lift-and-swivel models

In our country, this design appeared in the nineties and immediately gained popularity. The entrance opening here is closed by one solid leaf, which, using a mechanical drive, rises up and gently slides into a horizontal plane parallel to the ceiling, that is, changes its position by 90º.

This model is produced both industrially and by many home craftsmen. Factory insulated overhead gates They are a solid sandwich panel made of sheet steel and filled with polyurethane foam. The thickness of such a sash usually fluctuates around 45 mm, which is quite sufficient even for the harsh conditions of the north.

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 find out how from the inside, since they are the main source of overall heat loss.

Why insulate your garage door?

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 with external, not always favorable, natural conditions. It is through the gate that maximum heat transfer occurs: in winter the right warmth strive to get out, and in the hot summer, unnecessary things penetrate inside the garage.

How heat “leaks” from the garage door is 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 the garage makes the temperature more mild, 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 swing structure, which, of course, simply needs to be insulated. The basis of such gates is a frame made of profile pipes and steel sheet as an external finish. 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 it with a gate.

Lift-and-swivel ones are very fashionable these days and the vast majority 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.

Meet up and over gates handmade, 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 under 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 is wonderful heat insulating material, which 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. Thermal conductivity stone wool 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 the thermal insulation properties of 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 is an 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.

Prices for thermal insulation materials

Thermal insulation materials

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. Very often the supply hole is made in the gate, so this must be taken into account when insulating. The insulation should not block the ventilation hole.
• It happens that the supply ventilation is “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 most top scores allows cleaning of 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 hard to reach 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: a profile steel pipe or angle. 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 in difficult conditions 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 do them first thin drill holes so that the screw being driven 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 on the central part of the door leaf power elements, then the bars can be attached to each other in any way in a 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 famous 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. For the surface of the gate you need:

• 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 using polyurethane foam. Better to use professional foam, supplied by a pistol, 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 It is still needed, since it is convenient to attach the finishing lining of the gate to it.

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, pasting it around the edges 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 sheeting is a practical solution, but based on the experience of people who have done this, moisture can 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 rubber seal has proven itself best round section with a diameter of 20 mm. 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 pre-designated 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 best met by an ordinary tarpaulin, however, with a small caveat - it must have water-repellent impregnation. They also make curtains from heavy PVC fabric, but tarpaulin Sun it is equally out of competition.

Best material for garage curtains - 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.

Video: Garage door insulation option

Video: Another insulation option