# Converted garage to bedroom while garage door still intact. Sealing wall opening.



## calleros24 (Oct 29, 2014)

Hello everyone. Recently my dad took on the task of converting our garage into a bedroom. He wanted to add a wall so he can add a door to enter from the front of the garage, but with the garage door still fully functioning. That way there could still be some room for storage in the garage. What he did was make the wall about 4 feet away from the garage door and included an opening for the door; therefore to get into the room you could use the front entrance by opening the garage door and then opening the door, or you could just use the side door. 

Now the issue with this method is that the railings for the garage door are way more than 4 feet long, so he had to cut out a, i guess you could say slot in the wall he added for the garage door to open through. Now that wall he added has a horizontal opening about 8 feet long, and 6 inches wide. I guess my question is if there's anything that can seal that opening up when the garage door closes while being flexible enough to still allow the garage door to open. I'm sure there's something out there, but I just don't know what that could be called. I'd appreciate the help.


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

To do it right the wall should have been built further back or the whole door changed to a roll up type door so those rails would no longer be there.
Any living space has to be completely air sealed off from a garage and 5/8 fire code drywall used.
One hour fire rated steel entry door.
Most places it not even legal to have a garage door open into a bedroom.
Got a permit to do this, right?


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## calleros24 (Oct 29, 2014)

When I mean this is a DIY job I really mean that we did this ourselves. We didn't get any permits or anything, I know that would be the right way to do this, but we are not trying to make a Ritz Carlton room here. This is simply just for me, a college student that's gonna be at home for a couple months. Now I am aware that the opening probably won't be 100% sealable, but any suggestions on what we can do to try and seal it up as much as we can, while allowing the door to still open. Btw we don't live in an area with extreme weather, its a pretty temperate climate.


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## joed (Mar 13, 2005)

Box in under the rails Just like you would under a duct in a basement remodel. Then the door opens into a pocket that is sealed off from the outside.

Like this. Imagine the door coming in from the left.


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## calleros24 (Oct 29, 2014)

I was just thinking about that! I think that's what I'll go with, I'll just have to see if it won't be too low for me, then again it'll only be for a small section of the room. Thank you for the suggestion.


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## NickTheGreat (Jul 25, 2014)

Yeah you're basically making a giant soffit, right? I'm fairly tall, but I can walk easily under the track of ours. It may be tight if you drop it too much more. 

I don't think I'd do a door between the room and the 4ft deep "garage." i'd just use the side door


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## wkearney99 (Apr 8, 2009)

There are also garage door openers that do not use a center track to pull the door. They use a motor up on the side at the top of the door, and a spring along the front. You'd still have the tracks on the side, of course, but you'd be able to lose the center piece.

That and they're darned quiet compared to the typical kind. One of my neighbors put on in so he'd be able to install a lift in the garage. I don't recall the brand, but I'll ask if needed.


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## wkearney99 (Apr 8, 2009)

That and if there's a side wall consider putting an entry door there instead. It'd probably be a lot less work than trying to keep the garage door operable. Easier to seal it up too.


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## NickTheGreat (Jul 25, 2014)

wkearney99 said:


> There are also garage door openers that do not use a center track to pull the door. They use a motor up on the side at the top of the door, and a spring along the front. You'd still have the tracks on the side, of course, but you'd be able to lose the center piece.
> 
> That and they're darned quiet compared to the typical kind. One of my neighbors put on in so he'd be able to install a lift in the garage. I don't recall the brand, but I'll ask if needed.


If you're gonna buy a new door, I'd buy a roll up kind :laughing:


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## carpdad (Oct 11, 2010)

That made me wonder how the bat cave was sealed.:laughing:


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