I am getting a 58'x14' bifold door installed on my new hangar. The rest of the hangar is nicely insulated. What have people used to insulate your hangar door?
In previous threads, I saw suggestions for spray foam. My contractor says fire code requires a 15 minute fire barrier over any foam insulation. What did you use to cover the spray foam?
Other ideas for lightweight insulation?
Emilie
Airplanes: Blue RV-4, Bearhawk 4-place
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I used two layers of 1" foil faced urethane cut to fit in the frame. Sealed the edges with spray foam and covered it with tin.
My door is 12' X 40' and it added about 150 lbs. Not perfect as you can easily spot the frame with an infrared camera, but the door faces south.
It would help to cover the outside of the frame with 1/2" foam and then the tin, but, maybe some other day.
Wayne
Never heard of a 15 minute fire rating over foam, and I'm in the fire door business. I'd check with an insulation contractor on that one. My hydraulic door has sprayed foam and white paint on that. Works great.
Last edited by stewartb; 11-21-2019 at 10:57 AM.
Did you use the urethane because it was cheaper than filing the bays with spray foam, or some other reason?
Emilie
Airplanes: Blue RV-4, Bearhawk 4-place
Read about my flying adventures
Spray foam covers the door framing. Foaming the bays without a thermal barrier on the tubes wouldn't be ideal.
I used the board foam with foil mostly because it was cheaper, spray is $1.00/inch/sq ft. in my area.
The other reason is it has a slightly higher "R" value per inch than extruded polystyrene, at least initially.
Studies show that, over time, urethane loses some "R" because of outgassing. The spray does too, but, as Stewart says, it covers the frame and additionally, provides a better air seal with less labor.
That white paint looks better than I thought it would to paint over spray foam.Originally Posted by stewartb
Never heard of a 15 minute fire rating over foam, and I'm in the fire door business. I'd check with an insulation contractor on that one. My hydraulic door has sprayed foam and white paint on that. Works great.
I'll see if I can figure out more on what's required for fire code in a detached garage.
My door is a floating door that moves up and swings in one piece. We insulated it from the outside with standard metal building faced fiberglass insulation under the exterior R-Panel and originally just lined the inside up 8' but it is now covered full height with R-Panel. Around here with bi-folds we often see only the bottom section have the R-panel installed.
Remember, These are the Good old Days!
That likely comes from what the code official determines the occupancy of the hanger to be, if treated as a private detached garage = no rating required, if treated as commercial with adjoining structures - I've had them require a one-hour rating over the sheathing and two-hour over the structure...Never heard of a 15 minute fire rating over foam, and I'm in the fire door business. I'd check with an insulation contractor on that one. My hydraulic door has sprayed foam and white paint on that. Works great.
I modified some commercial warehouses awhile back with spray foam and painted it with intumescent paint vs having to drywall it in, wasn't exactly cheep but it looked good/functioned well. Only thing was since there wasn't a UL rating for that specific combination so we had to prove the paint would adhere and was compatible, think of it as a field approval for a building.
Last edited by OLDCROWE; 11-21-2019 at 06:57 PM.
Remember, These are the Good old Days!
Emilie
we spray a lot of foam in a lot of places. I can never get any of the local sprayers to be less than $1.00 a board ft Most of them are closer to 1.15 on a residential spray
so your door is going to cost a minimum of 812 per inch of thickness. You should have 2 at a minimum so 1624 ballpark, plus mob and set up usually
Board foam at the big box stores for foil face polyiso is usually around $25 for a 1" 4x8 sheet. thats about $.78 per board foot
by far the cheapest way out is to buy factory seconds. There is a place up here in central maine selling factory seconds for less than half of the full big box price. you can get 1"
4x8 polyiso for 9 bucks a sheet. I put in 1 1/2 because that was what the door is framed in. I really shoud put another inch over the whole thing for thermal barrier.
I have been buying gas and flying the cub to FL in the winter instead.
Jim
'
Heck if I could buy LP for what you pay I'de heat it with the door open.
From Genesis: "And God promised men that good and obedient wives would be
found in all corners of the earth."
Then he made the earth round... and He laughed and laughed and laughed!
Put 3-4” of fiberglass batt on the outside sandwiched by the siding, Infill the frame with whatever thickness foam matches your framing, finish of the inside with a light gauge skin for durability and if you are really worried about heat transfer in a hangar door, apply foam tape on the inside of the framing prior to installing your liner on the inside
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Or.... insulate it to be consistent with the rest of the building. My hangar door is 25% of my total wall space. It doesn't make sense to build a lid to R50 and walls to R23 and cheap out on the door.
My thoughts exactly.
Heating oil here is about $3.50/gallon. When it gets to 20 below, I can see the stud lines on the siding of our house with the frost. $3,000 in insulation pays for itself very quickly around here
If I had Kirby's money... Wait, he just had a fly-in and paid for a wedding- I probably do have his money now!
One often overlooked issue is the gaps in the bifold and around the door. Sealing the door is very important also. Amazing how much light I see around most doors.
I don't know where you've been me lad, but I see you won first Prize!
Did you look at Tiger Foam Kits, it’s a DIY spray foam deal that might work out for you.
Chris Trinkle thanked for this post
Definitely agreed on insulation paying for itself. Our door is the size of the wall, so it's a huge area.
How did you seal the gaps around the door? Just by installing it straight, or is there something else I need to do? As I recollect, the bottom is supposed to have a rubber gasket. I don't remember what the sides have.
I'm up for adoption.
Insulation doesn't cost, it pays! Urethane spray foam on my two HydroSwing doors, (and for sure, over the frame not just inside the frame, to preclude thermal wicking) AND on my hangar's concrete walls ( it's dug into a hill side, and instead of framing the last 2' of wall height it was simpler to just make it them all concrete), and THEN I framed out 2x4 interior walls with batts. Cool in the summer, never below mid 40's in the winter, even if no heat and single digits outside. OSB over the studs, it's nice to be able to staple/screw things to, unlike concrete or steel walls, more homey.
I have a pilot friend whose father started their spray foam biz over 40 years ago. Spraying the big potato cellars around here takes a lot of foam! I got a bit of deal as a result, but still expensive, but I didn't care as it is the best way to go. I sprayed white latex paint over my doors, I guess I could claim it's fire rated but it ain't and I don't care. It really brightened the hangar up. Since I knew I was going to live in the hangar for about a year before building the house, it was an easy justification to insulate as well as possible, same with my shop having a full bathroom with laundry facilities: pretty fancy for a shop but worth it as my other alternative was laundromats and not showering for a year!
He told me once that according to his father, the foam was invented by the Germans during WW2, as a method to raise sunken submarines. It worked, but was too impractical, as the cleanup was a bear, it's insulating properties only being discovered later. Good story if true.
And it’s a dang good thing I locked at a buck a gallon with the price of corn in the toilet
jim
Small orders for me but my last order filled at 1.34 and we grow it around here, likely 1.60 come Jan/Feb.
Remember, These are the Good old Days!
My door is one piece hydraulic. it has a rubber bottom seal and some fin seals on the side that reduce gap. I added self-stick foam (Lowes) approx 3/4” wide x 1/2” thick to the steel jamb that the door seals to. I live in a winter windy area and my door is draft free. Pay attention to the bottom corners where vertical seals meet the bottom seal. That’s always a difficult place to seal on any door. My heat source is a single gas fired unit heater and it doesn’t work hard keeping things comfortable. I do need to add ceiling fans.
Insulation values are always important in cold climates but air exchange is where you’ll waste heating dollars. Seal it up tight.
Believe it or not, there is an online seller for hangar door seals. First ran into them at OSH. They offer a discount during the show. http://www.hangardoorseal.com/products.html
On the topic of door insulation, I had considered adding a piece of twinwall polycarbonate across the top 2-3' of the door for solar insolation. Since the door faces due south, I think it would significantly reduce my heating bill. Might have to add a small shade to prevent overheating during the summer though.
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