A cold garage gym is a barely used garage gym. Insulating your garage door is a simple and efficient way to help keep your garage gym warm – even in the harshest of environments. We’ll walk through the process we used to insulate our garage door so that our gym can handle the coldest weather that a Canadian winter can throw at it. The best part is that this process can be done in an afternoon, so you can be on the way to a warmer garage gym soon.
The method of insulating your garage door that follows is a much more budget-friendly step than investing in a proper insulated garage door. An insulated door from Home Depot is about $600+ for a single, and $1100-1200 for a double garage door.
You can DIY your garage door insulation with the equipment below for about $300 (for a double door), depending on where you purchase your materials form (Home Depot and Amazon are your best bets).
What You'll Need to Insulate Your Garage Door
- Serrated knife (we used a bread knife from our kitchen) – Amazon option –
- Acoustic insulation panelling – SilveRboard R5 Insulation Kit
- Garage door insulation kit – NASA TECH Garage Door Insulation Kit
- Alien Tape – Amazon
- Shop vac or similar vacuum – we have this DeWalt one
You may also want to wear protective gloves and eyewear to protect yourself from the insulation. The SilveRboard panelling is similar to Styrofoam so it goes flying as you cut the boards. You probably don’t want that ending up in your eyes.
Mounting Acoustic Insulation – The First Layer
The first layer of garage door insulation is the SilveRboard radiant acoustic insulation. It provides an R-value of 5. You can learn more about R-value in our garage gym insulation guide.
You’ll want to make sure your garage door is clean and dry before trying to mount the silveRboard. A quick wipe with a damp cloth, or Lysol wipes will make sure it’s clean. Then either re-wipe it with a dry cloth or let it air dry.
While cleaning the garage door you should put your Alien tape in a warm area. We placed ours under the infrared heater we use to heat our garage. However, you could just keep it inside your house. The key here is that it’s much stickier when it’s warm vs. cold.
Then you will measure out where the hinges are on your door, and cut the corresponding sections out of the panelling. We eyeballed this then used the serrated knife to cut the panels.
Next, cut multiple strips of Alien tape and take the protective covering off one side (ONLY) and stick the tape on the panel. You’ll want a significant amount of tape on each panel, so use more than you think you need.
Then peel off the other side of the protective covering of the Alien tape and stick the panel to the garage door. The panel will need to be held against the door for a minute or two so that the tape has a chance to adhere to the door.
Repeat these steps until the whole door is covered.
Be sure to leave small gaps between the silveRboard panels so that the garage door is still able to hinge as it rolls up.
Installing Garage Door Insulation Kit – Step Two
The garage door insulation kit is then mounted on top of the silveRboard, adding an R-8 level of insulation. The insulation kit that we used came with its own adhesive tape, so we didn’t need to use Alien tape on this layer. Some people cut out areas around their door panel hinges, but we chose not to.
You will likely need a second set of hands for this step because the roll of insulation is quite long.
Safety Precaution!
Insulating your garage door adds weight to it. The springs that assist your garage door motor are set at a tension that corresponds to the weight of your door. Therefore, this process CAN impact the motor and the springs. You want to monitor if your garage door opener sounds like it’s labouring at all when opening and closing.
You may need to adjust the tension on the springs if the motor starts sounding different. However, over tightening the springs can be super dangerous so make sure you get a professional to do the work.
Concluding Thoughts on DIY Garage Door Insulations
Insulating your garage door is one step towards prepping your home gym to handle cold weather. Ensuring that all garage walls and the ceiling are insulated will be the most efficient way to keep heat in during the winter (and cool air in during the summer!). Investing in good heating options is also a key component of prepping your garage gym for winter.
A comprehensive winter-proofing will allow you to enjoy your home gym, no matter how frigid it gets outside.
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