How to Insulate and Soundproof Garage Doors | DIY

[@katabrontes]

Hi Tomas, Many years ago when we converted a bungalow to a doctor's surgery we were advised that most sound transmission through doors is through the gaps and not the door itself. Draughtproofing was the answer. I wondered why you didn't use a single sheet of the multi foil over all the door panels. This would have closes the gaps between the panels and should be flexible enough to allow the door to open and close easily. The foam panels should be a bit mor effective if they fitted tightly against each other to ensure any gaps were closed. It might be worth easing the foam back so you can tape over the gaps in the multi foil panels with either the aluminium tape sold for this purpose or duct tape. Even 6dBA reduction is worthwhile. It might have been more useful to measure the sound levels at the boundary with the road so the effect on passing pedestrians would be shown better. The workshop is looking great and the projects so far are interesting and ingenious. Mike

[@CasualDIY]

To be fair I was fully aware that the whole project would be hindered by the gaps. This is still better then nothing thought. Now when I emailed those guys that made and fitted the doors they actually said to leave gaps between the panels and not to cover any of the metal rails and parts. So this is where I have ended up with. If I didn't need the ability to open the doors like in my garage in UK, I would have gone for more substantial solution. I wonder how the winter will go. So far we had days where in the morning it was 0 degrees and in the workshop I had about 16 -17 degrees so quite good. I think the noise absorption will improve as I start to add some cabinets, workbenches etc.

[@alfrose9831]

I insulated mine with 3cm polystyrene slabs which have little weight. I'm now working on the track and edges, if only to stop the draught! Great work mate.

[@CasualDIY]

Thank you kindly. I'm still thinking of how potentially I could improve this, so time will tell what else I will come up with.

Hello Thomas, Sound is a problem for work garages. Sound problem in my Workshop too. Neighbors should not be too loud. garage door insulation job is good. You showed and explained the details well. There are also different insulation materials. But I like this idea. Thank you for sharing. See you. I wish you have a nice weekend. Big greetings.

[@CasualDIY]

Thank you kindly. to be fair later on I have checked the noise level from the boarder of my land ( car gate) and you could only hear a slight humm so this shouldn't be an issue anymore. But I will add something similar to the window I got in the garage opposite the garage doors.

@@CasualDIY It's nice that the insulation works. Yes, it's a good idea to add windows. See you in our new projects. all the best.

[@adwol48]

Did a very similar thing over the last year with my garage mainly due to watcing your original garage door video, used the aluminium foil and Jablite premium polystyrene boards on the double doors , since I'm going to be living here for a while i did fill any gaps between the boards with expanding foam. Also then plasterboarded the ceiling rafters and finally added 170mm of insulation above them. I went from an average temp in winter of like 4-5c upto about 16c which made a huge difference in useability for me and also then takes less energy to heat upto 20c and it will maintain that for longer.

[@CasualDIY]

So far (thanks to insulation of my garage roof) it's nice and warm in my garage. Even with temperatures around 0 degrees outside. I just wanted to further improve that 😁👍

[@DriveShaftDrew]

i was surprized as well thought it would have been better forsure thumbs up shared im sure the insulation valve is much better so still a win

[@CasualDIY]

It's still an improvement either way. I was just expecting a better one 🤣

[@barryroberts6470]

I have Polystyrene Sheets in my shed on the ceiling and the walls in places, it's mainly to keep the cold out in the Winter as i have Breeze Block and Brick walls. Well done on your Insulation and testing. Stay Safe, Barry (ENG)

[@CasualDIY]

My garage has the same insulation as the house so the walls are like 50 cm thick. As we bought the house the garage roof wasn't insulated so got that done properly and I have to say that added a tone of difference. So structurally the whole garage insulation if really good. hence with no direct heating source its still warm in the garage (in current temperatures around 0 degrease) and fairly cool in the summer. All the best mate.

[@kanedNunable]

the foam should also cut down on noise and echo in your garage too. great idea.

[@CasualDIY]

Yes that I have noticed the echo now is completely gone which is a massive bonus for my recordings 👍

[@normanboyes4983]

I would not beat yourself up. If you must retain the functioning garage door then you have done as much as you can. A reduction of 6 to 7 DB (bearing in mind it is a logarithmic scale) is very worthwhile indeed. To really deaden sound you need mass and the foam has no mass in this context - you cannot add sufficient mass to an operable domestic garage door.

[@CasualDIY]

Thank is true, thank you. When I insulate the window it should be even better 👍

[@DeafMaker]

Looks really good, just a couple of comments if I may, I am no way am expert but this is what I have learnt from wanting to insulate my roller doors. 1 the insulation and sound insulation is only as good as the whole area, so if there is a gap then the insulation will only be as good as the gap. 2. If the insulation is meet sealed to the door 100% then any air gap will have the risk of condensation. So if I were doing it I would use the spray to avoid any air gaps between the door and insulation. 3 you need draft excluders, or silicon to seal on the gaps around the metal work, without impleading the mechanical movement. Hope these suggestions help, not sure how accurate they are, just what I have learnt over the years and the theory send to hold. Otherwise it a good job, and I am envious 😃😃

[@CasualDIY]

Yes I knew from the start that this solution will not be perfect. As the gaps that need to stay clear for the door mechanism to operate will hinder the whole project. But what I got is better then nothing. With regards the sealing. I have heard that the best way to insulate anything is to have air gaps in the insulation, which is what the silver foil ( it has air bubbles in it ) will provide. As the foils is not flat and will have air gaps when attached to anything. It's the air that mainly keeps rooms warm. But hey I may be wrong. Time will tell how all of this will perform. Thank you👍

[@DeafMaker]

@@CasualDIY aye every solution has s, different schools of thoughts and so on. But like you said something is better than nothing, fingers crossed you have a good solution

[@CasualDIY]

@@DeafMaker the best solution I think is held by Keith Brown. He just build a wall in front of his garage doors. But I still want to use the garage doors as intended so unfortunately it is what it is.

[@johnvodopija]

Good job on the insulation and foam. Any reduction is an improvement. Thanks for sharing the process. Cheers 👍😎🇦🇺

[@CasualDIY]

Thank you kindly

[@yossiyaari3760]

Did you measure the noise level inside the shop, before and after? Your addition stopped the sound reflecting off the door. That explains the difference outside the wall. Also note that the Decibel scale logarithmic. so the reduction of 6+ dB should represent cutting the noise by 1/3 aprox

[@CasualDIY]

Yes. With tools on it was about 92 decibels and after insulation it came down to 88. The foam supposed to have sound absorption capabilities. I will co er the window with it as well. Wonder how that will improve the noise reduction.

[@ChrisTaylor-wh6ei]

I believe that’s sound conditioning you put in which will stop the sound waves reflecting on the door. It’s used in recording studio to stop unwanted sound reflections. This is probably why there is less noise at the other walls because there is not sound waves reflecting off that wall towards the others. It isn’t sound proofing sorry. I’m a drummer so have had some experience in this. You need an air gap for effective sound proofing. Love your channel (:

[@ChrisTaylor-wh6ei]

You’ll need two wall for it to work and the air gap in between. Check out how to make a drum booth and that will give you a good idea of what is needed.

[@CasualDIY]

Yes, I knew the limitations of this solutions. Keith Brown's idea with building a wall in front of the doors would be far better. But unfortunately I need to be able to use the doors in an unchanged way. So in a way 6-7 dB reduction is not bad in this scenario. I will add similar thing on the opposite wall where the window is, so hopefully this will help a bit as well.

[@ChrisTaylor-wh6ei]

Looking forward to seeing the video 👍

[@paulrowley71]

What Yossi says below is right. Because of the dB scale, only a few dB can be a significant noise reduction so don’t be too disappointed.

[@CasualDIY]

Yes I think that's right, and I'm planning to add something similar to the large window I got in the workshop that's on the opposite wall to the doors. I hope this will improve the overall performance even more.

[@johnfithian-franks8276]

Hi, on one of the videos I have seen the person built a false wall about 12 “away from the garage door and insulated that wall. The space between the wall and door he used to store wood on shelfs that he could access from outside. This did mean that he could not use the door to get his car in, but it made a hell of a difference in sound transition and heat.

[@CasualDIY]

Yes it was Keith Brown, he suggested that to me as well, but I still need to be able to use my garage doors. Its something to do with building regs and all that.

[@stevehough8528]

Hi Tom, I'm not that surprised that your upgrades didn't help to cut down escaping noise. The ones you have implemented will certainly help with keeping the warmth in. You need dense materials to stop sound escaping such as mobile 18mm MDF panels you can place over doors and windows. If you cover them with acoustic foam like on your garage door so much the better. hope this helps.

[@CasualDIY]

Hi, I know unfortunately making such contraptions is just not gonna work for me. But hey that's still better than nothing

[@kstewart3657]

Neat job and a reasonable reduction on noise to the outside. It would have been interesting to have before and after sound levels for inside the garage. I would expect some benefit. The foam insulation design looks to be great for collecting dust so hopefully your dust extraction system is better than mine. 👍😉

[@CasualDIY]

That's my worry, I think the foam will be giant dust magnet 🤣

[@nickg1380]

Adding any insulation to a garage door will require the springs to be adjusted if not replaced to properly balance door. Otherwise will become heavy and unsafe.

[@CasualDIY]

I have raised this concern with the manufacturer/ fitter and they say up to 15kg of additional weigh no adjustment is required.

[@kevinwillis6707]

Sound reduces by half every 10 decibels, so it's def having an effect. You are probably leaking noise around the edges and top and bottom

[@CasualDIY]

Yes the sound must be leaking through the parts that were not insulated but for the doors to work correctly they need to remain as that. Well as I said it better than nothing👍

[@Brian_Crow]

Add a 1/4" x 1/16" foam insulation strip where the panels interlock. Make sure your weather stripping on all sides is snug up against the door. Check the bottom seal. Midday, turn off the lights and see how much light is getting in through cracks. Eliminate the cracks. This will reduce the sound transmission.

[@CasualDIY]

Good tip with the foam strip. Yes I've checked the weather seals at the bottom and at the top👍

[@Brian_Crow]

@CasualDIY I actually just insulated my own garage door. I used 1" R6 foam board. Foam board is tricky... The boards I used are rigid enough that certain sound frequencies can cause it to vibrate against the metal door panel, which transmits sound. To lesson this vibration, I glued felt onto the edges, and used 3/16" foam rubber weather strips in the center of the panels to prevent direct contact between the foam boards and the garage door. Once in place, I sprayed poly foam around the edges to remove any air gaps. It works quite well.

[@TheBluealan2000]

As others have said Db is not a linear scale, 6db is a significant reduction. Good job mate.

[@CasualDIY]

I realise that now 😀 when I went to the boarder of my land ( car gate) you could hardly hear anything just a slight humming noise, so all in all its not too bad. I will also do something similar for the window opposite the garage doors. So hopefully this will improve things even more.

[@johnallen8680]

Hi Tomas, as Kevin mentioned earlier, a reduction of 6 or 7db is quite a lot as dB is a logarithmic unit not linear, so don't be disappointed.. Its a good start. Dense uneven surfaces kill sound by breaking up and dispersing soundwaves so their energy is absorbed..Strips or panels of differing and random thicknesses of timber on the ceiling and /or walls will 'deaden' the acoustics of the workshop and will stop the sound of machinery reflecting ,resonating and rattling other objects.. More comfortable for the woodworker.

[@CasualDIY]

Yes I think overall is not too bad. I'm planning to do something similar on the large window I got in my workshop that's opposite the garage doors. Hopefully that will improve the noise reduction even more

[@Dingbat217]

The change in sound levels generally is because of the dampening effect of that foam on the garage door, it stops a lot of the standing waves so will lower the sound level too. If you added it to one of the perpendicular walls as well the effect should be even better. You can try making some panels of say 1m x 2m and clad those with the foam and stand then on the floor at an odd angle and they should absorb some of the sound levels too. You want to control reflections so ideally no 90° corners and no parallel walls. :-)

[@CasualDIY]

Hehe that would be hard to achieve in a workshop so that the panels would not be in a way. I'll be adding something similar to the wall where the window is. So that should give a good result.

[@uncleted3961]

Fresh-hold

[@simonr6793]

Tomaz at least you have tried to reduce the noise of your machines but just a thought, now you've done the garage door maybe you could put some around the door runners and around the whole area around the door and frames. You know where you can see daylight still coming in your workshop! This will not only help with keeping the cold winds out but also hopefully help you achieve what you're trying to do!!! As always buddy 💯% 👍 🇬🇧.

[@CasualDIY]

To be fair these doors are quite high quality and they were not cheap. There are no gaps, they got a special rubber curtain that goes around the whole frame. So no wind etc is coming from outside. The manufacturer and fitter I have emailed said I can't cover the joints and any metal parts, rails etc. So what I have done is the maximum I could have covered.

[@simonr6793]

@@CasualDIY hey Tomaz you don't know the answers unless you ask the questions! Hence why I mentioned the possibility to seal around your frame etc! As always buddy 💯% 👍 🇬🇧.

[@CasualDIY]

@@simonr6793 exactly, I have learned this from the last time I was insulating the garage doors from my workshop in the UK

[@theswime945]

An electric kitchen carving knife makes a perfect flat cut throgh foam, up to approx. 20cm depth. I didn't believe it until I tried it. Hope this helps, Cheers.

[@CasualDIY]

Hmm that's actually very helpful, never thought of that

[@TheAmazinMrBear]

How about adding curtains by the door. Some under where the door goes when it's open and then some from the roof down to the top of the lower ones. The upper curtains should move out of the way when the door opens and you slide the lower ones aside to get in and out. That should help with the insulation and you just need some beams that you can put the material over and then that would give you double thickness as well. Might need to clean the upper curtains occasionally with it dragging against the front of the garage door. Then for the other walls, I'm sure you'll put shelves up at some point which will help, but putting up boards or frames with decorative material on will help with reducing some of the noise and echo.

[@CasualDIY]

I'm hoping that the noise will reduce after I'll install some cabinets etc. as you say. With the curtain my biggest worry would be that they will act as dust magnet. To be fair I got a feeling that the foam will be like that. I will report on this in few weeks time.

[@torpemonguz]

Congratulation. May You know but 3 decible degree is 50% of the noise because noise level is logaritmic. Great Job. I follow You!

[@CasualDIY]

Thank you kindly 👍

[@wilbearworks]

How can the window and wall readings reduce if you did not do anything to them?

[@CasualDIY]

The foam I used has got sound absorption capabilities. Some foam bounce sound off other absorb it and so on... there are few types with different specs and capabilities.

[@wilbearworks]

@@CasualDIY Thanks for that.

[@chrissnowden7078]

How have you found it a few years down the line? And temperature wise?

[@CasualDIY]

It's quite good actually. I thought the spray glue would give but it's still holding strong. Still reduces the noise and keeps the warmth inside. The temperature never drops below 14 degrees Celsius.

[@TheLemartes]

A bit off topic here but any chance you start selling those zero clearance rage 5s plates again :) ?

[@CasualDIY]

Hi, sorry not yet.

[@5084204]

I think the main issue and the culprits are smooth walls and the ceiling. It would be a bad idea to put this sort of insulation on the walls due to harbouring the dust, but I would consider adding foam onto the ceiling (just watch the fire regulations) The walls soon will be covered with some tool racks, spare wood, that should help a little. If you are super concerned about the noise on the door side, consider some clever curtain. But yet again, it is a fire risk, so you would have to be careful with steel, welding and grinders.

[@CasualDIY]

I will be installing the window, which is quite large and adding foam to that. I'm hoping that will reduce the amount of sound that is bouncing around the walls. We will see how that will work 👍

[@jmanpig]

this was helpful cheers bro

[@CasualDIY]

Glad to hear it

[@rorymakesstuff]

You need to add mass and close any air gaps. With 15kg to play with, what you’ve done is probably the best you could hope for. To get 40dB reduction on my garage door I built a partition wall with two layers of 15mm acoustic plasterboard, 18mm MDF, and 50mm dense rockwool. Must weigh around 250kg!

[@CasualDIY]

Yes I think the 6 -7 dB reduction is not too bad overall. I will do something similar on the other side where the window is, so I'm hoping the overall performance will be even better.

[@Dr.Stacker]

Have you though about creating a rockwool box for your hoover to go into?

[@CasualDIY]

No not really don't see a need for it and if you insulate it like that you may overheat the motor.

[@kanedNunable]

house looks nice mate. i again repeat how wise your decision to leave plague island, sorry, england, was ;) what job do you do? im going to guess engineer or something

[@CasualDIY]

Thank you kindly. Well I wish I was an engineer 😕 I got a degree in Sociology as that was my biggest interest. Studied at Leicester University. But work wise I was a transport manager and logistics for 15 years. For now, at least for the next 2 years KZbin will be my full time job. Gave myself 2 years as for that long my business has lower taxes. If I will be able to reach a decent salary by the end of two years then that will stay as my job. But if not then I will find something, more then likely in logistics. Got two small kids, where my youngest is just 2 years and until she will be full time in the nursery this flexible work of mind seems to be perfect for us. I wish I was earning more but hey its a bit of a give and take scenario.

[@kanedNunable]

@@CasualDIY oh cool, well all the best in your endevours mate. always nice to see someone doing stuff without 10 grands worth of festool tools ;) flexible parenting is great, i can do woodwork proje4cts (which i sell) at all kids of hours. ah, so when you left the logistics in this country collapsed :D as you can see when you leave it to the english it all goes wrong :D

[@CasualDIY]

@@kanedNunable haha 🤣👍

[@theswime945]

@@CasualDIY Hmm yeah, I'm seeing a timing correlation there- Tomasz leaves UK, transport logistics go to shit...

[@hardlines5472]

What about a removable cover/board for outside the garage door? Attach to the wall and remove when access required. Don't know how it will fit with your planning regulations.

[@CasualDIY]

That would be fairly problematic for storage when not in use and I don't think my wife would allow anything outside to ruin the overall house look 😂 If I were to do something like that inside then again storage problem plus it would be difficult with the rails of the doors. I think for now this will do, I'll be adding similar thing to the window, which is opposite the garage doors. hopefully that will improve things even more.

[@paul-fk7de]

Hi Thomas would this work in a wooden shed

[@CasualDIY]

Hmm I think you would have to install some breathable membrane between the walls and the insulation just to make sure you wont have any moisture problems.

[@hawk4117]

Would kilmat 80 mill work as weii?

[@WoodworkJourney]

Sorry it didn’t work out. The thing is though the acoustic tiles you used are to control reverberation and disrupt sound waves moving around in the room, it won’t do much for sound insulation. To stop noise going outside there are other techniques from movers blankets to making panels from Rockwool insulation (could be a fun video to make?) that would be more effective in sound absorbing. I hope that helps 👍

[@CasualDIY]

Well in theory this foam has got some sound absorption capability. By the looks of it not much. I think the more clutter, I mean workshop things 🤣 I gather in the garage that will also help a bit with the sound.

[@eyuptony]

Hi Tomasz, you could add another layer of foam over the whole doors reversed, pointed side to pointed side. This would also eliminate the ledges for dust to settle on. Enjoying the transformation Tony

[@CasualDIY]

I actually thought about that but in the end I don't want to add more weight to the doors. Don't want to break them.

[@JohnJones-oy3md]

Next week on Casual DIY, 'How to make your power tools quieter'. ;)

[@CasualDIY]

Hehe you never know 😂

[@annacraft]

Hehe - for me the garage door is the problem itself as when opening or closing it it squeaks as hell. Not yet found out how to fix that 😂🙋🏻‍♀️

[@CasualDIY]

Lubrication of the mechanism 😀👍 but not just WD40. Try to get something that is designed for it.

[@EclaWood]

Menahan panas dari luar rumah dan meredam suara

[@davidstevensasidewayslook8831]

The problem you have is resonance, the hard walls/floors/floor bounce the sound around. The garage door covering has solved 20% of the problem. I'd only go the whole hog if you are getting complaints from neighbours. In the summer you'll want to open the shutter so its a Catch 22 scenario…… I have a similar garage workshop, I just dont use noisy machinery in the evenings but as I'm retired thats not a problem. TBH I cannot understand why these sort of shutters have no insulation at all (like mine) and are just either thin plastic or aluminium.

[@CasualDIY]

I still got some of that foam left. I'm planning to use it on the window which is opposite the door. I wonder if that will help with the noise reduction. At the moment I've not had any noise complaints and I want to keep it that way.

[@davidstevensasidewayslook8831]

@@CasualDIY having what is primarily a concrete shell the sound bounces off the hard walls/ceiling and in resonance terms is amplified, i shouldn't worry too much as long as you keep the wood working to reasonable hours and not do stuff at 10 o'clock at night!

[@thegrimmer]

Use rock wool

[@CasualDIY]

Wood be difficult to attach it to the doors and it would add way too much weight.

[@thegrimmer]

@@CasualDIY Apparently not kzbin.info/www/bejne/jYKQfpZ9q9ukrLM

[@davidstevensasidewayslook8831]

put the tape on the doors!