If you’re considering replacing your existing wood garage door or steel non-insulated overhead door with an insulated garage door, I have some information to aid you in making a great decision for your new garage door.
Determine what overall thickness of garage door that you’d like to have; depending upon manufacturer you can find ¾’, 1”, 1 ¼”, 1 3/8”, 1 ½’ and 2” thick residential garage doors. These doors in my opinion can be separated into two groups, generally speaking any overhead garage door 1 ¼” thick or less is builder grade and 1 ½” thick or more is a professional grade garage door.
There are essentially 3 type of insulated doors and they are 2” hollow doors with add in or pop in insulation, sandwich style doors that are steel interior and exterior with insulation sandwiched in between or a foam back type garage door.
The hollow overhead garage doors tend to be noisy and tin can sounding when they open and close. When the pop in insulation panels are added the door becomes quieter and loses its hollow sound. This type of insulated garage door will provide some insulation quality and noise reduction and I would consider this product an entry level insulated garage door.
Sandwich type insulated overhead garage doors are the strongest and quietest of all garage doors as well as the best insulated and most durable. Sandwich garage doors will normally be 1 3/8” or 2”, constructed with a steel interior and exterior and either polystyrene or polyurethane insulation.
Foam back overhead garage doors are really a builder grade insulated garage door disguised to look better than it really is. The foam back insulated garage door is basically a 2” hollow door with 9/16” polyurethane foamed in place and a poly vinyl backer. The gauge of the steel is decreased making the skin thinner and weaker and the polyurethane adds rigidity.
To sum things up if you are seeking a quality steel insulated overhead garage door pick the 2” sandwich door and you’ll be thoroughly pleased.
Blog provided by Sandy Springs Garage Door Company
