How to insulate the garage doors with polystyrene foam

Very often car owners take care of their favorite four-wheeled friend much more anxiously than about their own health. To do this, they build and equip garages to preserve the "health" of their car. And one of the main issues in the construction of the garage is its insulation. A step-by-step instruction on how to insulate the garage doors with polystyrene foam will allow you to do it yourself, and thus close one of the main ways of leakage of precious heat.

Justification for the need for insulation of garage doors

The garage canused as for its intended purpose - parking and car storage, and so be the workshop, storage warehouse of the necessary and of unnecessary things, 's place of pastime in a pleasant male company. In any case, every garage owner wanted the to have an so that in this room in winter it was warm, and in the summer it was cool.

Laws of thermodynamics state that heat from a hotter body will always be transmitted in colder three ways:

• Thermal conductivity of solid bodies, and garage doors are more warm body and are.
• Convection, that is, together with heated air. When opening garage doors in winter, a huge amount of energy is released into the atmosphere. Heat leakage also occurs in places where the gate is not securely connected to the opening of the and through the ventilation system.
• Radiation. It is known that all bodies with a temperature above absolute zero emit infrared rays. And even an absolute vacuum is not a hindrance.

To reduce the rate of transfer of heat energy from one body to another( from the garage to the atmosphere), between them, must be supplied with a certain barrier - a heater, which will help to maintain the desired temperature in the garage together with any heat source. Building regulations SNiP 21-02-99 recommend to keep the temperature in the heated car parking places at + 5 ° C in winter. In this case, the car will always be ready to start the engine, and moisture in its hidden cavities will not condense, leading to corrosion of the body.

Heating in houses with a built-in garage is usually included in the overall system of the house, so the insulation of the gate is necessary, as it will affect the heat loss of the house as a whole, which will result in a "pretty penny".Separate standing garages are rooms with a periodic appearance of a person in them, therefore, they do not always require permanent heating. Heating of such premises is done by furnaces of various designs, heat guns or more progressive infrared electric heaters. Without the warming of the garage and, in particular, the gate the car owner will contribute to account in global warming, heating air .

It is best to plan activities for the insulation of the garage still before the construction. This greatly simplifies the process and avoids the typical mistakes.

Typical and Dangerous Errors in the Insulation of the Garage Gate

When the garage and its gate are insulated, typical mistakes are very common, some of which will make the insulation less effective, and others may be life threatening. Let us point to them.

• When equipping the garage, it is best not to use porous mineral wool insulation, especially for the insulation of the gate. The fact is that usually the walls of the garage have a smaller thickness than residential houses or, in general, are made of metal sheet. In the winter, the dew point is likely to be in the layer of insulation, it will get wet, its density and thermal conductivity will increase. As a result, , the effectiveness of measures for insulation will decrease.

• At the stage of building a garage, some car owners, trying to save money, order a conventional gate without a wicket, although its availability makes it possible to greatly save heat in the winter. The best solution is to order immediately the gate with the wicket and with the insulation.
• Any garage should be equipped with ventilation: supply and exhaust. And quite often the inflow hole is made at the gate. In some cases, garage owners think that closing the ventilation holes can achieve better insulation. Partially they are right, but it is not necessary, because the garage must have effective ventilation. Its absence is life-threatening! Therefore, when warming the garage, you need to take this into account, leaving the ventilation ducts in the layer of insulation.

Why foam is a good insulation for the garage gate

For the insulation of building structures, including garage doors, completely different materials can be used. The main characteristic of all heaters is the coefficient of the thermal conductivity, denoted by the letter of the Greek alphabet λ( lambda).The physical meaning of the thermal conductivity coefficient in construction science is the amount of thermal energy that passes through a specific material, the having an area of ​​1 square meter and a thickness of 1 meter ( conditional cubic meter ) for 1 hour if opposite faceshave a temperature difference of 1 degree Kelvin( or Celsius).The unit of measurement for the thermal conductivity is W / m 2 * ° To ( Watt divided by per product of square meter per degree Kelvin or Celsius).

This coefficient is a conditional and constant value for a particular material. With , the heating calculations use reference data.

Obviously, the lower the coefficient of the in any material, the less heat transfer from the warmer body to the cooler will take place, and the more likely this material will become a heater. Of all the available insulation for the garage, the best foam is the foam, called still polystyrene foam, due to its advantages:

• The foam has a low density, so the insulation with it will not exert almost any additional load on the garage door.
• Polyfoam has one of the lowest values ​​of the coefficient of thermal conductivity among all building materials.
• Does not release into the ambient air harmful to human health substance tv pr and normal operating conditions.
• Do not react with water and air.
• Thermal insulation of foam has a service life of 50 years or more.
• Easily processed by the usual and affordable tool .
• The water absorption coefficient of the foam is very low - is not more than 3%, and in extruded polystyrene - no more than 0,4%.

For the manufacture of garage doors, 2-3 mm sheet steel is almost always used, which has a coefficient t t of conductivity of 2174 times greater than that of PSB-C 25, judging by referencedata from the table. With such a huge difference one can say that steel steel does not have any resistance to heat leakage from the garage, but in combination with a foam that is thicker than a sheet dozens of times( 4-5 cm), the heat loss through the garage door decreasesmuch.

Types of garage doors and the feasibility of their insulation

By its design, the garage doors can be of various types, respectively, and the methods of insulation are different. Consider on the row all of them.

Lifting and swinging garage doors

In the garage door , the whole leaf( flap) when opening rises and simultaneously rotates by 90 °.Such gates are made as well-known manufacturers, and can be made by craftsmen.

In industrial doors, the door leaf is a sandwich panel made of sheet steel and a polyurethane foam insulation. The thickness of such a panel can reach 45 mm, which is already a sufficient barrier to prevent heat leakage from the garage, even for the conditions of the North. Industrial doors are equipped with with all with a set of necessary seals, which ensure a good fit of the gate to the garage door .Additional insulation such gates do not require.

Gates, manufactured independently in any case should be insulated. The technology of their warming is the same as that of the swing gates and will be described below.

Sectional garage doors

The door leaf of such a gate is divided into several sections, hinged together with loops. By special guide sections at the opening of the gate "leave" upwards under the ceiling of the garage. Such gates can be installed in any opening with any ceiling height. Manufactured in this way, the doors of these gates, as well as those of lifting and turning, are sandwich panels up to 45 mm thick with foamed polyurethane as a filler and a heater.

All joints between sections are equipped with with reliable seals, which minimize the leakage of warm air from the garage. Additional insulation is not required for such gates, but our households all equally find a way to improve them by gluing the foam onto the inner surface of each section.

Rolled garage doors

roller shutter garage door consists of narrow lamellas made of aluminum with a width of 55-77 mm and a thickness of 8-19 mm. The internal cavity of lamellas can be filled with a heater - foamed polyurethane, and also be without it. The cloth is wound on a special shaft, located on top of the garage door .

Outstanding thermal insulation properties of roller shutters do not have gates, additional measures for insulation are not possible due to design features. Therefore, for warm garages in cold Russian winters, such a gate is completely unsuitable.

Sliding gates

All know the simple and reliable design of sliding gates, when the canvas moves on a special rail and simply shifts to the side. However, in garages such gates are extremely rare, as they take up a lot of space. Even if such a design of the gate and will be in some kind of garage, they must be insulated in the same way as the swing gates.

Swing gates

Swing gates are the most common in our garages, because they combine reliability , simplicity, durability, high vandal-proof durability. Two door leafs are suspended on the loop opening welded to the structure. The leaflets are a three-dimensional frame from a profile steel pipe or corner, to which a metal fox t t is welded with 2-3 mm thick. Recently, due to the high price for the meta bar , ali widely use corrugated board, but we should agree that the is much stronger and is more reliable than the steel sheet.

It is best when the insulation of swing gates is is still in the stage of their manufacture. This will avoid some technological operations. But if this did not happen, then it does not matter - everything can be done on the spot and independently.

How to insulate garage doors with polystyrene foam

It is better not to save the insulation of garage doors at the moment when winter suddenly comes, and make it in the a warm time of year. Conditionally it can be divided into several stages.

Required tools

For the warmth of garage doors, there is no need for a rare and specialized tool, the basic kit is almost every household master. So, what tool will be needed:

• Electrodrill.
• drill bit for metal and wood.
• screwdriver set or screwdriver .
• Hacksaw for wood or electric jigsaw.
• Brush for metal with metal bristles or crust-nozzle for a drill.

• Brush or roller.
• Hammer.
• Core.
• Roulette.
• Clamps.
• Metric metal ruler.
• Angle.
• Knife for construction.
• Sandpaper.

Calculation of the number of required materials

Before than to begin the installation of a heater, it is necessary to carefully measure the gate and calculate how much and of which the will need to be purchased. For the facing of the gate over the insulation can be used different materials:

• Plastic or wooden lining.
• Profiled sheeting.
• Panels Fiberboard or MDF .
• Waterproof plywood.
• Oriented particle boards( OSB boards, OSB).

Practice shows that it is best to use the last material, since OSB plates in garage conditions are just perfect for facing because of their advantages:

• This is a very reliable material with high strength.
• OSP slabs are very easy to process.
• Extremely low vapor permeability allows not to use vapor-barrier membranes to cover the insulation.
• Attractive appearance.
• Low price.

For OSB-3 or OSB-4 boards thickness of 10 mm, they are especially suitable for rooms with a high humidity level. Having measured the dimensions of the gate, it is necessary to calculate the number of plates having standard sizes of 1250 * 2500 mm. Usually two plates are enough, and still remains solid trim that can be used for other purposes.

For securing the cladding, you will need the crate , located on the door leaf. For its workmanship is best suited wooden bars measuring 4 to 4 cm, which are attached to the bearing part of the gate, which serve as metal corners or profile pipe. In any case, the lath should be mounted around the perimeter of the gate, as well as on the area of ​​the canvas, because it can also have steel load-bearing elements, to which it will be convenient to fasten the bridges .When calculates the of the structure of the , it is necessary to take into account the location and dimensions of the bearing elements of the gate, the dimensions of the foam plates, and the step of securing the liner, which must be at least 40 cm.

As a heater it is best to use polystyrene boards with a thickness of 40 mm. They can be of different sizes, when purchasing, it is necessary to take into account the location of the future crate , so that when cutting the foam, there are as few cuttings and on the door leaf between the bars as possible were only whole plates of foam.

Preference should be given to extruded polystyrene foam because it has low water absorption and does not need additional moisture protection that will inevitably be present in the multi-layered gate structure. Of course, such material is more expensive, but it is much easier to work with it, since it does not crumble when cutting.

For the installation of wooden blocks to the frame of the gates, zinc-coated wood screws 3.5 * 30 mm - for fastening side surfaces and 4.5 * 70 mm for fastening to the end. If the frame of the gate is not made of a corner, but of a profile pipe, the length of the screws increases by the pipe section. The main thing is that the self-cut was included in the bar to the depth of at least half its section, and screwed into the end not less than , than 30 mm. The required amount is calculated from the gate warming drawing, which every house worker must necessarily do. For fastening OSB boards to the , the crate is best suited for screws with a press sleeve of 4.2 * 32 mm.

To prepare the inner metal surface of the gate, an anti-corrosion primer may be needed, which will save the from rust in high humidity conditions. Primer can be used any - based on synthetic resins or alkyd. The main thing is that it should be designed for a wide range of temperatures. Also, a suitable solvent for the surface to be degreased is required.

To fix the foam plates to the metal surface of the gate and fill the joints, installation foam is required. The is best suited professional foam, which requires the use of a special gun. It expands less in the volume of and it is very convenient to spray foam in the desired quantity and in the desired place.

To prevent rotting of wooden blocks, you will need an antiseptic tool .It can be on aqueous or an oil base or simply be a paint with antiseptic properties.

If ordinary foam is used, it will be necessary to protect it from moisture penetration. This can be done in different ways: vapor barrier membrane, bituminous mastic, self-adhesive insulator Isolon and other suitable materials.

Preparatory work

First you need to treat all the wooden bars with an antiseptic compound. Depending on the particular used, may require one or two layers, each of which requires drying. Composition are applied with a normal brush. Do not forget about the means of protecting the hands, as in general impregnation for wood - rather aggressive chemicals.

While the bars are drying, you can do the preparation of the inner surface of the gate. For this, the surface is examined and, at the slightest hint , a rust is made to rust to the metal. It is most convenient to make a special crust-nozzle for a drill. Also, all flaking paint should be cleaned. In hard-to-reach places it is sometimes more convenient brush with metal bristles or sandpaper, which must be walked over the entire surface - for better adhesion of the primer. As a result, you should get a surface that does not have rust spots and various contaminants. After this, thoroughly degrease the solvent.

It's time to treat the gate with an anticorrosive primer, which should be applied in two layers: one along the door leaf, and the second after drying the first - across .To get a freshly painted surface with less dust, you can moisten the surface near the gate with water.

After complete drying of the surface, it is time to take care of the waterproofing, which should be applied with conventional foam. If extruded polystyrene is used, this operation can be omitted. Waterproofing can be done in several ways:

• Coating with bituminous mastic.
• By gluing the vapor barrier membrane.
• is - special foil foil with a thickness of 2 mm made of foamed polyethylene, which will be and reliable hydrobarrier, and an additional insulation.

The entire surface, which will subsequently be covered with a heater, must be covered with waterproofing.

Assembling battens

According to the drawing of the insulation of the door leaf and the gate, the bars of the correct size are cut, but you must try to ensure that they are all intact. In the places where bolts, locks, ventilation arrays are placed, they are framed by their bars along the perimeter, since these places will not be covered with foam plastic. To fix the bars in the frame, it is necessary to drill an electric drill with a drill bit with a diameter of 4 mm in increments of 20-25 cm. In those places where horizontal bars will be attached to the butt, the holes should be 5 mm. Do not forget that before drilling it is necessary to make careful marking and nakernit places of future holes. When drilling, do not overheat the drill bit.

There may be a problem of fixing the lower horizontal bar to the frame of the gate or wicket because of the inability to reach the tool. If the gate can be removed, it's great, and if is not, then you can attach this bar only to the end, since the rest of the crate already takes the lion's share of the load from the cladding.

To ensure that the head of the screw is flush with the metal surface, a countersink or 8 mm drill should be used to make recesses under the countersunk heads. In this case the main does not overdo it and choose only the required amount of metal.

To fasten the bars to the gate frame, they must be pulled with clamps, and then drill holes in the bar with a thin 2-2.5 mm drill to the depth of the screw so that the bars do not split when screwing. After that, you can fix the block with the screwdriver and remove the clamps. This operation is performed with all the bars along the perimeter of the frame, and then later the horizontal bars are fastened to the butt by the screwdriver. In this case, do not forget about drill holes with a thin drill to prevent the splitting of the bars.

Mounting of the

insulation Now the foam between the laths and the battens needs to be laid. To do this, the dimensions of the cells are first carefully measured, and then cut with a construction knife on a metal ruler heater. At the same time, it is necessary to cut more by 2-3 mm from each side, so that the foam, having elasticity, is placed between the bars very tightly. When cutting, you must ensure that the blade of the knife enters the heater vertically, if excessive efforts, the flexible blade can lead to the side, which breaks the line cut .Naturally, we must strive to ensure that all pieces of foam are integral, and the inevitable joints had minimal gaps.

Video: Cutting of EPS boards with

knife To fix the foam in the cells between the brusks , different methods can be used:

• Do not fasten their at all , because the OSB paneling and so on will press the insulation to the base.
• Bonding of foam sheets with "Liquid nails" glue specially designed for this purpose.
• Bonding on mounting foam is one of the good ways, especially as it will be needed later.

Foam has excellent adhesion to most surfaces, but before mounting, it must be slightly moistened from the spray gun, since the foam hardens when it comes into contact with moisture. Foam is applied in small quantities around the perimeter of the foam sheet, and also zigzag in the center. You should wait 5 - for 10 minutes, so that the foam expands into volume , and then press the sheet in the intended place. After 10-20 minutes, it is necessary to press the polystyrene still once and make sure that it fits snugly to the base.

After all the heat insulation sheets are in place, the same mounting foam is useful, which should be "blown" joints and cavities, except for those where locks, bolts and ventilation grilles .After completely drying the foam - after 24 hours, you can cut off the excess with a knife and go to the final step of warming the garage door.

Garage door lining

After careful measurement of the tape measure, it becomes clear how the OSB slabs should be cut. They must completely close the insulation and crate and at the same time it is necessary to comply with the principle of maximum sheet integrity, and if there are even joints, they can be located only on the bars.

When cutting OSP sheets, you can use a wood hanger, an electric jigsaw with a sharp saw for natural wood, a circular saw. For , giving an ideal face, you can cut the sheets with a few millimeters of margin with a jigsaw, and then trim with a manual electric milling machine on an even pattern.

After the sheets are cut, they are tried on the spot and in them, if necessary, windows and cuts are made for locks, ventilation and bolts. Fasten the sheets to the crate best of all with screws with a press cradle - it turns out beautifully, and reliably .The fixing step on the perimeter of the perimeter bars is 10-15 cm, and on the horizontal in the center 20- 25 cm. . Before screwing the screws, drill the holes with a thin drill to prevent splitting of the blocks .

garage doors If there is a problem of tight fit of gate or wicket door leaflets, they can be glued in problem areas with a special sealing tape or tube, which can be selected from a wide range of required sizes and configurations. This will reduce the leakage of heated air from the garage to the street.

The door lining with OSB slabs looks beautiful enough, but if desired, you can paint the surface in any chosen color. This is already a matter of taste, but the main goal has already been achieved - the garage door will become a reliable barrier against heat leakage in winter or to prevent penetration into the summer heat.

Video: Warming of the garage door

Video: Another option for the insulation of garage doors