Fabricating Garage Doors

red vette mike · May 9, 2006

My 1770' garage addition is framed up now. It will have 4 swing open doors (9'3"x10'. The ceiling height is 12'. I have it in my feeble mind that I will fabricate these swing open doors. I would like to put some windows in them and insulate them. Do any of you folks have some ideas along these lines? Could I buy some frames from a vendor/mfg somewhere? Could I have the frames fabricated out of steel and then finish with wood? Any thoughts/ideas would be appreciated.
Mike

ddjjeep · May 9, 2006

I have been thinking about making something similar for a pair of double entry doors on my shop. My plan is to use some 2" C channel to form an outer perimeter frame with the open part of the "C" facing in, and then slide 2" thick oak planks that have been tounge and grooved to fit each other into the frame and bolt the top piece of C channel on to make a full box around the wood. Could also add a window in there too.
another idea might be to build the perimeter box frame out of 2x2" square tubing and then weld a tab/flange arount the interior of it to bolt/screw some wood panels to. It might be a little harder to seal the wood to the metal for weather proofing though.
If you are concernrd about insulating it, you could always sandwich foam insulation between two wood panels before assembling it.
If you dont have the abbility to weld it up your self, any decent local fab/welding shop could build the frame to your specs, and you could add the wood afterwards.

atch · May 9, 2006

if i were doing this i'd prolly do exactly what ddjjeep said. i've seen similar doors made using 2x4s for the frame and skinned with plywood or 4x8 siding. put in "studs" on 16" or 24 centers and you can use standard batt insulation in these.

either way you might want to install some castors to keep the weight from making them sag.

i'm thinking of doing this on the inside of my shop to seperate the woodworking and metalworking portions. that way i can heat only the side i'm working in.

3/4tonYJ · May 9, 2006

i also have about 12' ceilings and wanted to a have a door as large as possible. I made this 12'x 12' door with a standard door in it.
these are a couple pictures from the build,
i now have windows in the 4' x 8' doors and the standard door has a window with a small overhang above it.
It works great, only drawback is birds and bees like the sliding track area............

nova65ss · May 10, 2006

red vette mike said:
My 1770' garage addition is framed up now. It will have 4 swing open doors (9'3"x10'. The ceiling height is 12'. I have it in my feeble mind that I will fabricate these swing open doors. I would like to put some windows in them and insulate them. Do any of you folks have some ideas along these lines? Could I buy some frames from a vendor/mfg somewhere? Could I have the frames fabricated out of steel and then finish with wood? Any thoughts/ideas would be appreciated.
Mike

Steel frames would be good to keep them from sagging over the years. Especially the size your looking at making them. If you use good hinges and the right amount of them it should be fine to build.

Here are some swing doors to look at.

http://www.realcarriagedoors.com/gallery.htm

Jimmy

red vette mike · May 10, 2006

nova65ss said:
Steel frames would be good to keep them from sagging over the years. Especially the size your looking at making them. If you use good hinges and the right amount of them it should be fine to build.

Here are some swing doors to look at.

http://www.realcarriagedoors.com/gallery.htm

Jimmy

Jimmy: Those are some beautiful doors. I bet they are pretty proud ($) of them?
Mike

joecaver · May 10, 2006

Jimmy, Thanks for a great link that I just sent to mrs. joecaver. We've been talking about changing the look of the front of our house and that could be just the thing.

Joe

nova65ss · May 10, 2006

red vette mike said:
Jimmy: Those are some beautiful doors. I bet they are pretty proud ($) of them?
Mike

Nothing that you couldn't build yourself maybe not as extravagant as those. Paint grade wood wouldn't be too expensive. The link was just to give you an idea of what's being done out there.

Jimmy

Tman · May 17, 2006

Find mypost in the intros. I built 2 Barn doors out of steel tubing, sheathed with OSB on either side and rigid foam in the middle. I am getting ready to skin them with copper or something similar now. The barn hardware, track, rollers etc I bought at the lumber yard.

red vette mike · May 17, 2006

I appreciate all the replys. One question I have is as regards to the insulating properties of a thick piece of wood. If you somehow used wooden boards-say 1 1/2"-2" thick to make the doors-would just the thick wood be a good (decent) insulator?

HoosierBuddy · May 17, 2006

red vette mike said:
I appreciate all the replys. One question I have is as regards to the insulating properties of a thick piece of wood. If you somehow used wooden boards-say 1 1/2"-2" thick to make the doors-would just the thick wood be a good (decent) insulator?

IIRC the R-value system is based on an equivilant number of inches of wood. So, a 1 1/2" solid wood door would be R 1.5. Not really what you are looking for.

Phil

Fabricating Garage Doors

red vette mike

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ddjjeep

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atch

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3/4tonYJ

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nova65ss

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red vette mike

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nova65ss

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Tman

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