Garage Door Insulation Keeps Cash in and Cold Out
When it comes to Saturday morning projects, few rival garage door repair in its combination of simplicity and importance. Many have attached garages, and those that have unattached garages often find use in them beyond storing cars. As a workspace or extra barrier between the living room and harsh winter weather, every garage should be insulated just as the rest of the house. Thankfully, garage door insulation is a quick, easy and cost-effective project.
Garage door insulation comes in several types, sizes and kits, so there should be no problem matching the products available to the uninsulated door. But, whether a door is insulated with the foil-type rolls or the foam/fiberglass sheets, a shopper should look for the difference in R-values per material. The R-value is a measure of a material's resistance to change in temperatures. The greater an R-value, the better job done keeping hot on one side and cold on the other (as a bonus, this often translates into stopping noise as well). Some of the highest R-values can be found in the foam/fiberglass sheets, but some of the highest prices can be found there as well. Insulating a garage door will save on heating and cooling costs, but a keen shopper will consider how much those costs currently are and compare them to the cost of insulation. Bear in mind that an R-value between 4 and 5 is already significantly better than the layer of sheet metal making up an uninsulated door. Insulation kits typically come with enough material to cover a standard 9-foot garage door.
Before leaving the hardware store, however, it would pay to look at weather stripping. The sheet metal currently protecting the garage from the elements is not the only thing that needs insulation: the edges around it allow air to pass through. Garage doors often have stripping along the sides and even top of the sliding door, but rarely along the bottom. Special garage weather stripping is available in two parts: one U-shaped rubber strip for the floor and another strip that fits along the bottom of a garage door and into the U-strip. This not only keeps air from passing through the space but also dirt and water.
Once the Atlanta insulation has been purchased, Saturday-morning's project manager will be happy that it requires little more than a measure, straightedge and utility knife to install. Both types mentioned come with complete instructions informing the garage door repair crew that the material simply fits in the grooves and channels already found on most doors. Whatever material is chosen, however, ensure that it fits snugly in place by measuring and cutting it to fit the space as perfectly as possible. This not only removes a need for adhesives, it also means the insulation is so tightly assembled that air can not easily pass through.
Once this is done, all that is left to do is measure and cut the weather stripping for the bottom of the door, open and close the door to ensure everything fits, apply a little colored tape to the seams between Atlanta insulation strips/panels (if looks are important), and enjoy the majority of this fine Saturday.
