In the door industry just about
everyone has an insulated door. The most common being a
metal pan style door with polystyrene insulation inside
and some sort of cover, metal or vinyl over the inside,
depending on the grade of door offered.
This is "the insulated"
door. It usually does not have a thermal break to keep the
outer face from connecting with inner face, called thermal
bridging, which allows the inner face to become the same
temperature as the outer face. In other words it conducts
the cold or the heat to the inner surface of the door and
really doesn't do much for insulating your building.
There is usually no weather-stripping
between the sections, or some manufacturers will put one
piece at each joint which will help to keep some of the
air leakage down. The air leakage on an insulated door is
as important, if not more important then the R-value. If
the door leaks air it is like leaving a window open. Most
companies do not list the air infiltration on a residential
and some not even on the commercial.
As you can see from the above
information, the "normal" insulated door that
is made with polystyrene does a lot more for "sound
dreading" than it does for keeping the cold or hot
out of your building. And if you are planning on heating
the area or you have living space above, this could be a
major concern prior to making your final choice.
A "Thermal Insulated Door" is what most people
are really looking for, but rarely know it (because of the
marketing used in the industry), if they will heat the building,
have a special usage, or if there is living space above
the area behind the door.
The "Thermal Door"
is constructed with polyurethane type insulation, which
is much more dense than styrene and it fills all voids in
the door. There is a "full" thermal break around
the entire section perimeter. This means that the outer
surface can maintain different temperatures and do the job
that this insulated thermal door was designed to do.
Also, this type of door will
definitely have weather-stripping at each section joint
and the ones with the least air infiltration will have a
strip at the top of each section and at the bottom also,
so that when the sections come together it is seal to seal
at every joint in the door (Garaga). This is the tightest
door possible for keeping the cold or heat out or in.
The Garaga products have the
lowest air infiltration ratings in the industry. It comes
out at less than 2/10ths of a cubic foot of infiltration
per minute with an outside wind against the door of 24mph.
The next best rating that is available is 8/10ths @ 15mph
(4 times the leakage at only about 2/3 of the wind). This
shows you what the dual seal at the joint does vs. the single
seal.
As many home robberies occur
either in the garage or through the garage, a broken garage
door can be a big welcome sign to crime. This is why it
is so important to keep your garage door in good working
condition, which includes attending to all repairs as soon
as possible. Below are some common garage door problems
and repair solutions:
Problem:
The garage door won't open or close.
Solution: If your garage
door won't open or close and you've got an electric opener,
check your keypad first and find out if your opener is functioning.
You might need to have the opener reprogrammed.
Problem:
The garage door sticks when opening or closing.
Solution: If the garage door
sticks, the metal rollers and hinges probably need lubricating.
The tracks may also be dirty, clogged or out of alignment.
Problem:
When the garage door is released, it falls.
Solution: When a garage door
is released it should remain in position if it's in good
shape. If it falls, odds are the extension springs are worn
and should be replaced.
Problem:
The garage door opens on its own.
Solution: If a garage door
opens entirely on its own, the extension springs are too
strong and should be replaced with lighter ones.
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