Whether you’re middle-aged getting home from work after a stressful day or a young adult sneaking in after a night out – a noisy garage door is always a pain. So, the question must be asked, how can I make my garage door less noisy, and does insulating my garage door help make it quieter.
Insulating your garage door can help both with keeping noise in or out of the building itself or by reducing the noise of its opening or closing. By insulating the door, you are adding both mass and stability, causing less vibration and rattling. More stability and mass means less noise.
There are, of course, different types of insulation. All of which serve different purposes, and some of which will help reduce the mechanical noise more than others. It is essential to look into the types of insulation before starting your garage insulation journey to make sure you use the insulation best suited to your circumstances.
3 Types Of Insulation and Their Noise Reduction Effects
Insulating your garage door is usually done to keep the temperature inside the garage more stable. Insulating your garage door is very useful when the garage is being used as a living space or home office instead of a place to store your car.
This also means that certain types of insulation will focus on the temperature aspect and not allow you to open your door at all. While not being able to open your garage door will undoubtedly reduce the noise output, that is not the kind of insulation we are looking to use for this project.
The following are three types of insulation you might commonly see people use as well as an explanation on how well they would help in keeping your garage door quiet –
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1. Reflective insulation
While this is quite a common kind of insulation to see on garage doors, it is generally used as a temperature regulator if the garage is being used as a living or workspace.
While this is one of the least expensive options to insulate your garage door, costing between 0.35 to 0.75 US Dollars per square foot, it is also the least likely to help you reduce the noise while opening the garage door.
The fact that this type of insulation provides only minor stability factors means that your opening or closing garage door will sound very similar to before.
2. Fiberglass or Batt Insulation
Another relatively affordable option for garage door insulation, costing between 0.30 to 0.85 US Dollars per square foot, is fiberglass or Batt insulation. This insulation usually comes in rolls and isn’t too tricky to install yourself.
Again, this type of insulation is used mainly as a temperature regulator. This form of insulation also comes with fire-resistant or less flammable variants. It is probably something to investigate when looking at insulation for any purpose.
Using fiberglass or Batt insulation on your garage door, depending on the kind, can help you reduce the noise output quite a bit. And if noise reduction is your main reason for insulating your garage door, this is not a bad option.
3. Foam Board Insulation
Another commonly used insulator for a garage door is foam board. This kind of insulation is generally relatively easy to install. This form of insulation can vary in price but is generally slightly higher, costing between 0.75 to 1.45 US Dollars per square foot.
The higher price is especially true if you are looking to get foam board that is also a lot less flammable. The foam board insulation is the most likely to reduce garage door noise as it is the most structurally sound of these insulation types.
A Quick Comparison of Insulation Types
When comparing insulation types, for the use of dampening your garage door and providing more mass, stability, and less vibration, there are three significant factors to consider.
The price of the insulation material is important to know as well as the cost of the labor if you choose to employ someone to do it for you and then, for our purposes, the effectiveness of the noise reduction.
| Type of insolation | Price in USD (per Sq. Foot) | Price of Labor in USD (per Sq. Foot) | Noise Reduction |
| Reflective Insolation | 0.35 – 0.75 $ | 0.65 – 1.00 $ | Very Limited |
| Batt Insolation | 0.30 – 0.85 $ | 0.60 – 0.90 $ | Decent Amount |
| Foam Board | 0.75 – 1.45 $ | 0.90 – 1.30 $ | Very Good |
As seen in the table above, prices can vary quite a lot depending on your preferred type of insulation. There are also other costs not mentioned in the table above, such as brackets or fasteners. It is crucial to do some research on the criteria mentioned above before committing to a project such as this.
Why Does Insulating Your Garage Door Make It Quieter
The most common materials used in constructing a garage door are vinyl, wood, and lightweight metal. The fact that these materials are usually relatively light means that the motor doesn’t have to overwork to open the door for you, but it also means that the garage door can be very noisy.
Since garage doors are so light, they vibrate easily, and the materials used are generally not very good at stopping noise from outside and typically make good sound conductors.
By adding mass to your garage door, you give it stability and lessen the vibration, reducing the noise produced when it opens. It is also very important to make sure that you’re not making the door too heavy for the motor to do its job.
That is why insulating your garage door is generally a widely used way to add mass and stability to your garage door, which in turn reduces the noise made by an opening or closing garage door.
Not only does the insulation help regulate the temperature in the garage, which is useful when the garage is being used as a work or living space, but it also helps with noise reduction due to extra mass and stability added.
How Else Can I Make My Garage Door Quieter?
There are always more ways to make your garage door less noisy. Anything from replacing the motor or opening mechanism to replacing the rollers can help make your door quieter.
Make Sure Everything Is Tight
One of the easiest things to forget is also one of the most helpful and essential when it comes to making your garage door less noisy.
Ensuring that all the nuts, bolts, screws, and washers are correctly attached and tightened is something that should be done regularly when is garage door is in use. Not only does this help prevent breakages, but it also helps reduce noise.
As with most other mechanical systems, parts tend to loosen by themselves over time due to prolonged use. Untightened nuts and bolts can also create a serious spike in noise production as they rattle around while the garage door opens and closes.
Make Sure Everything That Needs to Be Lubricated Is Lubricated
Another important aspect of mechanical systems is lubrication. You need to check on grease, oil, and other lubrications quite regularly. Sometimes you need to lubricate your door hinges to make them quieter, and the same goes for your garage door.
Not only does a garage door, like a rollup door, have hinges to check on, but it also has a motor or opening mechanism that requires lubrication from time to time. If your front door is squeaking from two or three hinges, imagine what your garage door can sound like if you don’t keep everything in good shape and lubricated.
Don’t Use a Chain
When it comes to the opening mechanism of your garage door, there are quite a few things you can do to reduce noise. One of the best options is using a belt-driven garage door opener.
It should be evident that steel makes quite a lot of noise when moving or rubbing against more steel. A chain is no different.
If your garage door is quite noisy, replacing your garage door opening mechanism with one that uses a belt instead of a chain is one of the most effective changes you can make.
Decouple Your Garage Door Opening Mechanism
Motors of garage door openers and other motors generally give off quite a lot of vibration. This vibration is going to cause more noise if your motor is attached directly to your roof.
To help keep your garage door quieter, you might want to decouple your motor from the roof and attach it to brackets instead.
Putting space between the motor and the roof can help reduce noise quite drastically. Putting up brackets or fittings that can absorb much of the vibration before it gets to your roof is definitely a good idea.
Replace the Rollers on Your Garage Door With Nylon-covered Rollers
Replacing the rollers on your garage door is a relatively cheap and effective way to reduce the noise your door makes.
Most garage doors allow you to change your rollers yourself, and replacing your rollers with Nylon covered rollers is a sure way to reduce the noise made when opening or closing your garage door.
Does Insulating Your Garage Door Help with Soundproofing
Since people use their garage for a workspace or living area, there are plenty of reasons to want to soundproof your garage completely.
Creating a recording studio in your garage is an idea that has grown popular over the last couple of years. But for an effective recording area, you need a soundproofed room.
Insulating your garage door is one of the essential steps on the way to soundproofing your garage for any such uses as mentioned above. But just insulating your garage door is not enough to completely soundproof your garage. Below are some other options to consider as well.
- Acoustic Sound Panels
Installing acoustic sound panels or something similar is always a good way to start the soundproofing process. Acoustic soundproofing panels like these from Amazon are made for precisely this job.
The way these panels are made is done to ensure that any sound waves that come into contact with them will be absorbed into the acoustic foam, thereby minimizing the vibrations and keeping sound from traveling any further. This also helps to improve the acoustics of the space.
Acoustic sound panels are relatively easy to put up. All you need is glue or adhesive spray and the panels themselves. Putting glue on the wall and board and lining them up with each other for maximum coverage is the way to go. - Replacing the rubber edges of your garage door
Replacing the rubber edges or rims on your garage door is another way to help soundproof your garage. It is a relatively straightforward process as you will see strips that are usually made out of rubber around certain parts of your garage door.
By removing these strips and replacing them with new or undamaged rubber strips, you are effectively helping to seal off any sounds from both inside or outside of the garage. - Plugging any other holes
During the process of soundproofing your garage, you are sure to come across other little holes or gaps either in the walls or between your door and the wall.
By making sure you fill any holes you find or seal off these gaps with something like insulation foam, you are also keeping noise from escaping through those holes or cracks. This is another sure way to improve how soundproof your garage is.
Conclusion
There are many ways to help reduce the noise made by your garage door or to soundproof your garage completely.
Insulating is definitely a widely used method of reducing noise, but there are also many other ways that might not take as much time, money, or effort.
It is also good to research the different forms of insulation to make sure you make the right choice for your situation.