How to Insulate a Garage Door

Garage door insulation can help save energy and reduce the cost of your monthly utilities, especially for those who use their utilities often during the coldest and warmest times of the year. In addition, garage door insulation will ensure your belongings in the garage don’t get too hot or cold.

Our team of professional garage door technicians has years of experience providing garage door installation and insulation, so we thought we might be able to help get you started.

Here’s how to insulate a garage door.

How To Insulate A Garage Door

Insulating your garage door is a simple job for the most point, so it’s something that’s worth doing. If you’ve never done it before, don’t worry. Here’s every way you can insulate your door, so you can use your garage door all year round without worry.

Why Insulate Your Garage Door?

Many people don’t think about their garage doors, as they’re only in their garage to go get in their car. If you use your garage for anything else though, then you’ll soon notice it’s not as comfortable, temperature-wise, like the rest of your house. This is because that sheet of metal or wood that makes up the garage door is the only thing keeping out the elements. Because of this, once the weather gets very hot or very cold, you’ll soon know about it.

If you spend time in your garage, you need it to be comfortable. Insulating the door will help you keep it at a regular temperature, making it much more pleasant to be in.

Choosing The Best Insulation Material

You’ve got several options when it comes to your garage door. What you choose depends on the climate where you live, and how much you want to insulate your garage.

Cheaper options for insulation include foam board and reflective paneling. They aren’t as heavy-duty as other options, so they’re perfect if you live in an area that doesn’t have an extreme climate. They’re also very customizable, so you can make the board fit almost any garage door.

Your other option is a specially designed garage door insulation kit. These are more expensive than foam or reflective board, but they’re also heavy duty. If you live in an area with high or low temperatures, then this is the option you want to consider.

Heating Or Cooling Your Garage

When you buy a board or a garage insulation kit, you’ll sometimes find that it only has foil on one side. It’s very important that you place the foil on the right side of your garage door, as it will affect how the insulation works.

If you place foil against the garage door, you’ll find that it keeps your garage cooler. The foil will reflect the heat of the sun away from the door, reducing the temperature inside. If you place the foil facing inwards though, the garage will stay warmer as heat as heat is being reflected back into the garage. When installing your insulation, think carefully about whether you want the garage to be warmer or cooler throughout the year.

Installing Reflective Paneling Or Foam Board

If you’ve decided to go with either of these options, installing it is a simple process if you follow these steps.

Step 1

You’ll need to clean down the garage door, ready for paneling to be installed on it. It’s important that it’s cleaned thoroughly, or the adhesives used may not work as intended. To clean it, you have a few options. You can either clean it with a regular spray cleaner or hose it down as you would your car. You can even use a pressure washer if you have one. It’s important that you let the door dry thoroughly before you move onto the next step.

Step 2

Now you need to measure your door, to ensure you have the right measurements for the insulation you’ll put onto it. If the door is made of different sections, you’ll see them on the inside of the door. Measure the width, height, and depth to ensure you have the right amount of board to fill the space. If your garage door is one solid block, you’ll need to measure the whole door to get what you need. If the door rolls up when you open it, you won’t be able to insulate it as the foam will make it too bulky.

Step 3

You now need to cut your panels to size. When you buy your insulation, the hardware store may offer to cut them for you. Take the measurements to the store in case, so you can ask for the right dimensions. If not, use a craft knife to cut the panels down to the right size.

Step 4

You’ll need to fit your insulation into the panels on your garage door. If you have sections on your door, you can slide the insulation in as the panel railings will hold it in place. If your garage door is one panel, you’ll need to use an adhesive to hold it on. Use a strong adhesive like Liquid Nails in order to hold the panel onto the door.

Using A Garage Door Insulation Kit

These kits work in a similar way to insulation board, and you’ll find they’ll come with instructions to help you install them properly. These are often high quality, so will insulate your garage better. When you buy your kits, ensure you’ve measured your door properly to ensure you’re buying the right kit. In some cases, you’ll need to buy extra kits to cover the whole door.

These kits will come with pins, that are designed to hold your insulation onto the door. Once you’ve cut the insulation to size, you’ll need to install the pins onto the door. These will hold the insulation on. Then, you’ll need to make cross-shaped incisions over the pins, and use the fasteners provided to hold it all together.

Both methods are very similar, as you can see they’re both very simple to do. If you ensure you measure correctly, then you’ll find that you can easily insulate your own garage door. However, you can always get in touch with a garage door professional if you need some help with the process.

Conclusion

Now that you know how to insulate a garage door, you can get started.

If you prefer getting the job quickly and you’re in Southern California, consider making us Your Garage Door Guys. We provide professional service throughout Los Angeles County and Ventura County.

Take a look at our service areas to discover if we’re available in your area.