Even if your garage is properly soundproofed, your garage door can still be a nuisance because most garage doors are built with little regard for noise reduction. There’s a lot you can do to make them quieter, thankfully.
Here are nine pointers to help you turn your garage door from a big noisemaker to a smooth, silent hatch:
8 Tips on How to Make Garage Door Quieter
1. Ensure that your garage door is properly insulated.
When the garage is used as a regular room, such as a music room or a gym, garage door insulation is typically employed to keep the heat in.
However, one of the most significant things you can do to make your garage door quieter is to insulate it.
Steel, aluminum, and vinyl are the most common materials for garage doors. None of them are particularly effective at dampening vibrations; in fact, an uninsulated garage door can operate as a large drum, increasing any vibration that passes through it.
Installing insulation to increase the R-value (heat resistance) of your garage door will make it much quieter when it opens and closes.
Garage doors are insulated using three different types of insulation:
- Foam Board Insulation – This is a type of insulation that comes in the form of panels that provide a lot of insulation without being too thick. This is the ideal form of insulation to use to insulate a garage door because it is lightweight and absorbs sound well.
- Batt Insulation is a type of insulation that is often used in walls and ceilings. Rockwool is a well-known brand of batt insulation. It is effective for garage door insulation, although it is hefty and prone to breaking if not properly protected.
- Reflective insulation is the kind you’ll see draped over marathon runners after they’ve finished the race. Because it is rather thin and has limited dampening properties, it is not the most effective solution for quieting your garage door.
Use polyurethane glue to adhere the foam board insulation to the inside of your garage door, covering as much surface area as possible.
2. Tighten the nut, bolt, and screw fasteners
Garage doors can get rattly over time as a result of repeated opening and closing, causing nuts and bolts to loosen.
Examine your garage door for any loose nuts, bolts, or screws, and make sure they’re all securely fastened to eliminate rattling noises and to make your door operate more smoothly.
3. Use a lubricant to lubricate the door.
Lubricating your garage door once a year will help to reduce wear and tear, keep it working smoothly, and reduce noise.
Buy a lithium-based oil to lubricate your garage door; WD-40 isn’t designed for garage doors, and regular oils drip more than garage door oil and are more likely to accumulate dirt and dust.
After you’ve obtained your oil, apply it to the following areas:
- Hinges
- The rollers on the garage door (this sit inside the frame of your garage door)
- The springs and bearing plates (these sit above your garage door, the spring is usually in the middle with bearing plates at either end)
- The lock is broken (spraying this will make it easier to open and prevent it from rusting up in the future)
- The guardrails (the part that your garage door rides up into when it is fully open)
After you’ve completed these steps, your garage door should work more smoothly and quietly. Doing these things once a year will help your garage door last longer.
4. Make use of a garage door opener that is quiet.
Automatic garage door openers make it much easier to drive your automobile into your garage. However, when it comes to noise levels, not all garage door openers are made equal.
Garage door openers with chains create a lot more noise than those using belts. Some older models have AC engines, which are noisier than more modern DC engines.
The overall quietness of your garage door will be greatly improved by replacing your old noisy garage door opener with a purpose-built quiet garage door opener.
5. Use a garage door silencer in conjunction with your garage door opener.
Whether or not your garage door opener is designed to be silent, it will benefit from being equipped with a garage door silencer.
When in use, even the quietest garage door openers produce vibrations. The vibrations flow straight through your ceiling joists and into the floor above, affecting anyone is in there because they are bolted directly to the ceiling.
A garage door silencer works by disconnecting your garage door opener from your ceiling, thereby reducing vibrations and absorbing sound energy before it reaches your upper room.
They are quite simple to install (just some drilling and bolting), but you will need to disconnect your door opening mechanism to do so, so if you are not confident doing so, hire a professional (get a quote here).
6. Use quieter nylon rollers instead of steel rollers.
When it comes to noise, your garage door rollers are one of the biggest culprits; the sound they create rolling up the frame is frequently responsible for the majority of your garage door’s noise.
Switching to nylon-coated wheels is a simple (and inexpensive) solution to reduce noise. Nylon-covered wheels are substantially quieter since they are softer and produce far less noise.
Replacement rollers vary depending on how your door is made, but for the most part, you simply remove the brackets that hold the rollers, pull the roller out, and swap it overwatch this video for a walkthrough on how to do it.
7. Use Torsion Springs Instead of Extension Springs
A word of caution if you plan on doing this yourself: garage door springs are extremely dangerous, so use extra caution when working with them. We recommend having your springs replaced by a professional, but if you want to do it yourself, here’s what you’ll need to do:
- Remove the existing extension springs by fully opening the garage door, which will relieve the stress in the springs.
- Unplug your garage door opener and disconnect it from your garage door; the technique will vary depending on your garage door opener’s model.
- Remove the safety cable and disconnect it.
- The extension spring should now be loose and slack, allowing it to be securely withdrawn.
8. Replace the bottom seals on your garage door.
The opening mechanisms, whether rollers, automated door openers, or just door rattling, are frequently blamed for garage door noise. However, the noise your garage door generates when it closes can be just as loud, if not more so, than when it opens.
All of the techniques above will make your garage door quieter when it closes, but you can take it a step further by replacing your garage door seals with ones that fit well and have lots of padding. This will keep your door from slamming shut and causing a ruckus.
9. Replace the side seals on your garage door.
Side seals on garage doors are often overlooked, but they are just as critical as bottom seals. Replacing these can also help your door close more quietly and minimize slamming.
We hope you found these suggestions helpful in your quest to quiet your garage door.
In homes where people sleep above the garage and someone has to leave early in the morning, a noisy garage door may be a major issue. Hopefully, these ideas can help you silence your garage door and make whoever sleeps upstairs much happier!
