Converting garage door


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Old 04-16-12, 05:28 AM
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Converting garage door

Good morning,

We have an odd situation,we want to do the opposite of what I have seen on other sites and posts.

We have a 20x20 2 car garage with one double garage door,we would like to convert it to a single bay door and install a pedestrian door on the other half.

My father in law has moved in with us and his only access is through the garage,the steps and sidewalk from the front and back are to much for him to handle.

We looked into a man-door to be inserted into the existing double door and it just seem like to much maintenance and worry it will buckle in a short amount of time.

I guess my question is,what would we really need to do?
Obviously buy both doors and close up the opening,but would there be a way to close it up with the possibility of reverting it back easily once it no longer needed?Could we even just roll up the existing door and leave it there somehow and just close in the opening with something else?

We don't park in the garage,all that is really in there are some tools and a riding mower.

Open to any suggestions anyone might have,thank you.

Jennifer
 
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Old 04-16-12, 07:05 AM
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Welcome to the forums Jennifer!

It shouldn't be too difficult to remove the existing overhead door and frame it up for a single garage door on one side and siding and an entrance door on the other. I can't see how leaving the existing garage door in place would be feasible.
 
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Old 04-21-12, 07:17 AM
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Thank you for the response,we are rethinking what we had planned due to cost.We are thinking of getting a garden shed for the mower and tools,sheds are really cheap around here for some reason,lots of competition I suppose.And then framing out the entire opening and putting in a regular door.If this were to happen do you think leaving the garage door secured in the "up" position would be dangerous?Just trying to think ahead for converting back someday if we chose to.
 
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Old 04-21-12, 07:53 AM
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Actually....I've seen that done. Thought it was a bit strange but it worked for that specific home. There was a good driveway slope away from the door so water ran right off. It was a brick facing all over the front, with siding on the other 3 sides, so they just built and sheathed a wall then used a close match to the existing siding to cover it. They put a door in the center and 2 small windows to each side. 12 or 14 ft as I remember.

How they sealed it I'm not really sure...but they said they'd had no moisture issues.

One issue......garage doors are not designed to be in the up position for years at a time. Unless it it the thick panels with steel skins inside and out and filled with the polyurethane foam...the panels will eventually sag. No way a wood door would handle it, and the cheaper single skin doors will bow as well. Unless you have a premium door...you'll need to remove the panels...even if you leave the track and hardware in place.
 
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Old 04-21-12, 08:18 AM
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My thought was to replace one of the existing garage doors with with a pair of side hinged doors. Might be a little odd but easy to do with little added framing. The doors can be as simple as a 2X4 frame covered with a smooth plywood or T-111 skin onside of the door and insulated with glued foam on the other. You could just use one of the doors for people access but both if you ever wanted to get a car in.

On my own garage when the old door had to be replace I went that route because it was what I could afford. I just trimmed the opening with 2x6s and lag screwed the strap hinges to the 2X6 trim.
 
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Old 04-21-12, 08:51 AM
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Ray....the OP said they currently only have single door.
 
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Old 04-21-12, 11:53 AM
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Ray....the OP said they currently only have single door.
Read too quick. OOps, just ignore my post
 
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Old 04-22-12, 05:45 AM
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Zoning..whee

OK.. well back to the original plan we go,zoning here states to block up the wall completely we need a permit and inspection,but to simply downgrade the double door to a single bay we can do that no problem...weird.

To make the opening ready for the single track..any recommendation on the process to add the middle partition? Facing the house we are going to be adding the garage door on the left and adding a wheelchair accessible man-door on the right.

The garage is 19.8x19.8,there is a 16x7 door in there now.
We found a 9x7 at Home Depot we can get.We would like to have them install it,but we need to have the opening ready for them.
 
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Old 04-22-12, 06:07 AM
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Not sure what you are asking. You'd frame up half of the opening including an opening for the 36" door. You'll need to match the depth on the overhead door side so they can mount the track for the new overhead door.
 
 

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