Sealant kits are an easy way for improving the garage door insulation with very little money and with a bit of work. If you aren’t a technically challenged individual, installing the sealant can be a DIY project. Some twenty years ago, when windows and doors weren’t weatherproof, people had to find ways of insulating them against bad weather such as storms, heavy rains of strong winds. This is how the simplest and cheapest weather seal appeared.
Felt
Cheap and easy to find, good insulator, felt became quickly very popular. It’s cut in long strips which are then glued to the door frame, thus eliminating the gaps, if any. The main drawbacks of this solution are that it’s ugly and it’s not durable, so it needs to be done again each year or every couple of years.
Adhesive backing foam tapes
Soon, manufacturers realized the opportunity and made people’s insulating job even easier, by producing those foam tapes with adhesive backing all of us probably know from our childhood. This time, even a child could have insulated his door and windows with no hassle, just by cutting the tape to the desired length and press it against the door frame. However, this type of sealant is also fragile and needs replacement every two years or so. In the case of garage doors, which are frequently operated, such foam stripes may not work at all, because they’d need replacement several times per winter, which makes them a less ideal solution.
Special Garage Door Insulation Kits
When it comes to garage doors, heat losses occur not only through the door bottom, but through the entire door surface, because it’s made of metal and not properly insulated. This is valid for older door models. Modern ones are excellent from the start and don’t need such additional kits. However, this is a discussion about insulating older doors, so this is what we have:
- Reflective foil garage door insulation kits: the reflected foils are already cut to the door standard sizes: 8′, 9′, 16′ and 18′ width by 7′ height. Reflective kits can provide an R-value of up to 6, which is a good protection factor.
- Threshold and door bottom seals: these can be installed as they come or as an addition to reflective foils or fiberglass panels. Very energy-efficient, these seals are used to offer good protection to strong winds.
- Foam panels: made of expanded polystyrene, these panels provide an excellent thermal insulation and an efficient sound barrier, which makes them a great choice if you live in a very noisy area.
- Fiberglass insulation: thin and featuring outstanding thermal insulating properties, fiberglass is perhaps one of the most modern materials used to preserve the temperature inside the garage at a constant level with as little energy costs as possible.
Insulation kits are usually delivered with detailed installation instruction, but most manufacturers and stores offer the installation service at affordable prices, so if you don’t feel like doing it yourself, you can have professionals do it for you.