How to weld garage doors correctly: advice from professionals

When building a garage, its protective functions, strength of materials and mechanisms always come first.

It must be burglar-resistant to keep uninvited guests out.

Garage doors are a key element in protecting your car from theft or damage. Even the slightest error in installation can play a cruel joke on the owner over time. Therefore, their installation must be treated with maximum responsibility and care.

Users often search for:

• Gate frame made of profile pipe
• DIY gates in a private house

Types of garage doors

Before proceeding with design and welding, it is necessary to decide on the type of future structure. Types of garage doors may vary depending on the size of the original premises and the budget capabilities of the contractor. The most popular types of designs are the following:

1. Swing . They consist of sashes of the same size, mounted on a stable frame.
2. Sectional . This type of gate consists of several parts, which, when opened, fold towards the ceiling using a spring mechanism. They save space, but require a high opening.
3. Roller shutters . When opened, they fold into a special compartment under the ceiling, saving space. The most expensive type of gate. Does not guarantee security due to the impossibility of installing powerful locks.
4. Lift-and-swivel . The hinge mechanism lifts the entire canvas towards the ceiling. Significantly saves space in front of and inside the garage.
5. Recoil . The mechanism of this design is similar to wardrobe doors. Additional space is required to mount the frame with slides.

Swing gates are the most common and budget option Source okidoker.com
Since even not the most experienced welder can weld gates for a swing garage, this type of construction has become the most popular. Approximately 9 out of 10 premises of garage cooperatives are closed with this type of gate. Ease of installation and low cost explain their great popularity.

Calculation

You can make the calculation manually, using formulas, or using a special calculator

Professional calculation of the strength characteristics and geometric parameters of materials for the manufacture of garage doors is carried out using a set of complex mathematical formulas. The following factors are taken into account:

• opening rigidity;
• deplaning deformations for given dimensions of the valves and the use of a certain material;
• bending strength;
• twisting forces (from wind pressure, weight load, mechanical influences).

Specialized calculators have been developed to perform accurate calculations. If necessary, you can use them.

Requirements for swing garage doors

Regardless of the chosen type of metal structure, there are a number of requirements that must be met during its design and installation. The gate must be wide enough so as not to impede the passage of a car. The minimum door width is very easy to calculate - it must be at least 30 cm greater than the width of the vehicle.

Important! It is best to make the doors as wide as possible, even for a small car. It is worth considering the possibility of purchasing a large SUV in the future.

Garage doors are designed to be quite wide. Source svarka-sibir.ru
The second most important requirement for a door group is to protect the room from precipitation. The sheathing is welded to the frame. For better tightness, the edges of the valves are covered with sealing tape.

Garage doors must reliably protect the contents of the building from unlawful actions of third parties. A powerful lock with a complex mechanism is installed on the frame structure. The sash casing is made of steel from 3 to 5 mm thick.

Recoil

They consist of several or one leaf; when opened, the gate moves to the side parallel to the fence or garage wall. Installed in large garages, hangars, at the entrance to the site.

Space is needed for free movement. The mechanism is complex, has many nuances, and installation of such gates will require the help of a specialist.

Necessary tools for metal structures

Before welding a garage door, you should make sure you have the necessary equipment. Considering the large dimensions of the future structure, it is best to manufacture it on a flat welding table, and then deliver it to the installation site. To create a gate you will need:

• welding machine;
• building level;
• square;
• welding electrodes;
• Bulgarian;
• cutting and grinding wheels;
• roulette;
• marking tool.

A welding machine is the most important tool for creating metal structures. Source ad-cd.net
The main tool for work is a welding machine. It can be either electric or gas. The most important requirement is sufficient power for comfortable work with electrodes with a thickness of 3.5-4 mm.

See also: Catalog of companies that specialize in the design and installation of metal structures

Materials for swing garage doors

Having collected the necessary tools, you can proceed to purchasing iron for the manufacture of the final structure. The basis of the frame is metal profile pipes. The minimum possible size is considered to be 20x40 mm with a metal thickness of at least 2 mm. Massive pipes will provide greater stability, but will require a powerful frame and experience with a welding machine.

The frame will require facing material. The most popular option is metal sheets 3-4 mm thick. They are decorated with forged elements and spray painted. The cladding can be corrugated board, wood or PVC panels.

Metal garage doors Source dostup-zabor.ru

Finished sashes are hung on open or hidden hinges attached to the supporting frame. It is made from a corner measuring at least 75 mm and 3 mm thick. The gate kit also includes a latch and a lock for closing the room.

Frame

The frame should be slightly smaller in size than the gate frame; metal doors are attached to it, for which you can use a 60*20 mm rectangular profile or a steel corner.

From any suitable material, make four pieces 10-15mm smaller than the height of the frame. Thanks to this, the movement of the valves will not be difficult. If there are two leaves, cut four sections corresponding to the width of the gate, divided in half and reduced by 30-35mm.

On a flat surface, preferably inside the finished frame, check the right angles and weld the frame.

Making a supporting frame for a garage

Before you weld a garage door with your own hands, you need to make a reliable foundation for it. Creating a supporting frame requires the builder to be accurate in calculations and comply with the required dimensions when cutting metal. If there is no level table for welding, a structure is assembled on the ground from two identical beams or pipes and leveled. The frame creation process consists of the following steps:

• Measuring the width and height of the garage opening. Inaccuracy at this stage may result in the frame simply not fitting into it.
• The corner is marked according to the size of the opening. Using a grinder, cut out blanks of the required length. A distance equal to the width of the corner is retreated from the edges and a cut of 45 degrees is made.
• The cut pieces are laid out on a prepared surface or welding table and adjusted to each other, checking the level and angles.
• Using a welding machine, all structural elements are connected. Finished seams are carefully sanded.
• The finished version is tried on in the garage doorway. If the result is satisfactory, the frame is painted from the inside.

Supporting frame of the garage Source proizvodstvo-metallokonstrukcij.ru
Using a similar algorithm, a duplicate frame is assembled. It is convenient to check the dimensions of the structures by placing them next to each other. Only if there is a complete match can you begin to install them in the doorway.

Preparatory work

Preparing the opening

Preparing the opening involves performing several steps:

1. Make sure that the walls on both sides of the opening do not have cracks or deformations.
2. Dismantle the old structure, if any.
3. Align the opening (if necessary).
4. Clean surfaces from dirt, cement and plaster deposits.

Manufacturing and installation of sashes

There is only one way to properly weld a garage door - you need to clearly calculate the future dimensions of the structure and the spare gaps necessary for the doors to close and open smoothly. Experienced builders recommend 2-3 cm from the floor, 1-2 cm from the ceiling and 5 cm from the side walls for attaching hinges. Based on the calculations obtained, the profile pipes are cut and a cut is made at their edges at an angle of 45 degrees.

Important! To simplify the task as much as possible, you can weld the frame from one solid sash, and after installation, separate it using a grinder.

Metal pipes are laid out on a welding table or prepared surface, adjusted to length and the corners are checked. Using a welding machine, a monolithic rectangle of a suitable shape is created. Before starting to clean the seams, the finished structure of the future doors is applied to the frame with hinges welded onto it.

Garage door installation Source tildacdn.com

If the dimensions match, you can begin installing the finished structure. The places where the fittings are attached are marked on the pipes and welded. The gate frame is checked by putting it on the frame hinges - if it fits like a glove, you can proceed to the next stage. Using a tape measure, set the middle of the horizontal crossbars. They retreat 1 cm from it and weld vertical crossbars so that there is 2 cm between them.

The canvas is cut into 2 equal parts, and the protruding pieces of pipe are removed using a grinder. To strengthen the sashes, you can install additional horizontal or diagonal cross members. All welds are cleaned, the structure is painted and installed on the hinges. To prevent the doors from opening inward, a control profile pipe is welded to the top of the frame, which will limit their movement.

Covering the doors with metal sheets

It is not enough to know how to weld a garage door from a profile pipe with your own hands; it is important to sheathe them beautifully so that the final result is pleasing to the eye. Most often, galvanized iron plates 2-3 mm thick are used for cladding. They are marked and cut with a grinder, the edges are polished, removing metal burrs and shavings. Small slits for hinges are also made on the sides of the sheets.

Garage covered with metal sheets Source nick-stroy.ru

Installation

First, you need to attach the outer and inner parts of the frame to the slopes of the garage opening with metal pins. The ends of the pins are cut off, sanded with a grinder and painted over.

Using metal plates (jumpers) at a distance of 60 cm, the outer and inner frames are fastened together.

Finally, the doors are hung and the free movement of the gate is checked.

To prevent the gate from skewing and protect it from the harmful effects of wind and precipitation, vertical locks should be installed; they will ensure reliable fastening. It is also necessary to glue a seal to ensure maximum adherence of the sashes to the frame.

To protect the canvas from adverse conditions and destruction, the finished gates are primed and covered with several layers of oil paint.

Video description

Installing a lock on a garage door
If your budget does not allow the use of reliable mortise mechanisms, you can use a proven option. A small loop is welded to the edges of each of the doors. They are used to install a barn lock. Despite the fact that this option is cheaper, it is seriously inferior to mortise mechanisms for safety reasons.

To fix the valves in the open position, locks on metal springs are used. Even an inexperienced technician will have no problems installing them. The lock body is welded to the bottom of the sash closer to the middle of the garage opening.

Insulation and internal lining of garage doors

The final stage of creating a metal structure is covering it with insulation on the inside. This will allow you to maintain a positive temperature in the room even in winter. Glass wool, polystyrene foam or extruded polystyrene foam are used as insulation.

Insulation of garage doors Source vikbud.ua

A wooden sheathing made from edged boards is mounted to the frame of the doors. All cavities are carefully filled with insulation, avoiding air pockets. To retain a sufficient amount of heat, a 5 cm layer of mineral wool is sufficient. To give a finished look, the sheathing is lined with PVC panels, clapboard or other materials based on the individual preferences of the garage owner.

Recommendations

When considering the question of how to make a garage door, you need to know several basic aspects that can facilitate the process of creating and installing the structure.

Insulation:

• In cold regions, it is necessary to provide for the possibility of insulating gates, especially for casement models.
• To do this, corners are welded on the inside of the sashes, thus creating small borders on the inside.
• Several horizontal plates are welded inside these borders. This is necessary so that the insulation does not roll off inside the structure. Any type of insulation can be placed inside these compartments; the best option would be to use building types used for insulating rooms.

When considering the question of how to insulate a garage door, you need to pay attention to the following materials:

• Basalt cardboard;
• Foil insulation;
• Magnoflex;
• Liquid thermal insulation.

Equipment space:

• In case you plan to build overhead garage doors, you must first think about how to properly place the pencil case under the ceiling.
• To do this, you need to weld the frame inside which it will be located.
• And also guides on the sides of the arches, so that the canvas runs strictly along them, completely closing the room from penetration from the outside.
• If you do not install guides on the sides of the arch, the canvas attached to the bottom may bend, thus creating a free space on the side through which intruders can penetrate.

A relative disadvantage of this type is the difficulty of insulating the structure. It will be necessary to create a full-fledged canopy on the inside.

Locks

To secure a garage, use padlocks, mortise locks, or use pin stoppers and deadbolts. The stopper is a part of the pipe into the cavity with which a metal rod is immersed. It should go through the loop welded to the gate and stick into the floor or ceiling. Basically, with the help of a stopper (lock), one gate leaf is closed, and an internal lock is cut into the other.

From the outside, it is advisable to strengthen the protection with a padlock, which is threaded into loops welded to the edges of the two doors.

Locks require timely careful maintenance and protection from weather conditions and corrosion.

Lifting mechanisms

Lift-type gates use two types of opening mechanisms:

• Lever-spring. It is the most popular among garage owners with such doors. One of its main advantages is its simplicity of design, and, consequently, reliability. In the manufacture of metal structures of the lifting type, which are equipped with such a mechanism, the accuracy of the adjustment of the springs is of great importance. Along with this, the accuracy of installation of the guides along which the rollers will move after completion of all work is extremely important.
• If the sashes are quite significant in weight, then in this case it is optimal to use a mechanism equipped with a counterweight when constructing lifting structures. In such cases, the choice is usually made in favor of a winch. The counterweight is fixed on one side, and with the help of a cable it is connected to the other edge of the sash. The selection of a suitable gate mechanism is made in each specific case individually.

Creating a Project

Initially, the owner needs to decide whether the product will be swinging or sliding. Swing gates are easier and faster to make. Sliding models are more difficult to build: the work is complicated by rollers that must be correctly installed in the profile.

The product cannot be installed blindly; for this purpose, a competent drawing must be created. There are several options: ask for help from a familiar specialist who will quickly deal with the matter, use a sheet of paper and draw diagrams, or make them using a graphics editor. If the owner does not have the skills to use the program, then it is not worth doing the project on a computer, because this will take a lot of time.

Step-by-step design:

1. If a car enthusiast has no desire to engage in drawing, then he can use ready-made diagrams on the Internet. It is enough to adjust the dimensions of the opening to the option of interest.
2. In addition to the drawing, a design sketch is made. No artistic skills are needed here, just a simple image is enough.
3. After drawing, the owner creates a list of materials, dimensions, dimensions of the opening, and parameters of the sashes on a separate sheet of paper. For example, 4 profile pipes with a wall thickness of 3 mm, of which the first two are 200 cm long, the others are 300 cm long.
4. Experts advise making an estimate that indicates the financial costs for certain types of parts. This also includes the price for delivery of building materials.

In order not to walk around the market for a long time in order to find out the prices for this or that material, the owner just needs to ask his neighbors or friends who installed welded garage doors about the amount spent on purchasing metal.