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Does it make any difference if my garage doesn't have working garage doors?

703 views 8 replies 7 participants last post by  Colbyt 
#1 ·
Hi All,

I have been using my garage as a gym and shop for almost a decade. We don't ever park in that space. A few years ago I took the garage door rails off, because they were in the way of overhead exercises. Also, the garage doors are from the mid-70s and have seen better days.

Recently, I was contemplating either just walling in the opening and just screwing the doors to the outside of the house to give the appearance we have a garage, then insulating the wall there and dry walling inside. Alternatively, building some swing out doors on hinges to avoid the rails in a relatively low ceiling garage.

I don't want to do anything wrong here, I am not trying to turn it into heated interior living space with finished floor and hide it or anything. And ultimately, I like the option of going back to garage at some point in the future.

Is there any concerns in just sealing off the space for a while? building code, electrical, otherwise?

Additional information: I do have a regular door to the exterior in the garage as well, the garage doors were not the only exit.


Thanks
 
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#5 · (Edited)
If I were doing what you are asking about, I would build an insulated stud wall on the inside that is not permanently attached to the walls, floor, or ceiling. I would leave the doors and rails as they are. I would build the wall like a "U" shaped box that slides into place and hides the whole door assembly.
Movable partitions are not considered part of the structure by code, they are "furniture". Metal clips are used all the time to keep top heavy furniture from tipping over.
As long as the egress door is not blocked it's ok, not a code issue. If you add an electircal outlet, that is not ok, Don't.
Another benefit of doing it this way, if you ever sell house the wall can be removed quickly/easily. Resale value is not affected.
 
#8 ·
I did that to our garage. Never saw the lucidity in having cars parked under your bedroom, emitting gasses. The doors were air leaky, and rattled in a good wind. We had a man door between them, so I blocked up two rounds with CMU and built a 2x6 wall over it, insulated it and sheetrocked it. Installed two slider windows. Matched the T1-11 to the house and painted it. Never looked back.
 

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#9 ·
The tracks come apart at the 90. Remove the horizontal portion if desired. Secure the door and build your wall. I suggest you follow the advice above about elevating the bottom plate and make it treated also.


Some folks in the next subdivision built the wall about 4' back and left the door operable so they had a place for bicycles and lawnmower as may HOAs do not allow storage sheds.
 
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