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Insulation Options for Your New or Existing Bifold Door

To keep your shop or hangar space comfortable in summer or winter, insulation is a must for both your building and your bifold door. Quality insulation helps maintain a consistent temperature and reduces energy costs. However, the effectiveness of your insulation is largely dependent on the style of insulation you choose.

There are several different types of insulation available. Each option comes with its own advantages, depending on the project. However, when it comes to bifold doors, we’ve done our share of research to bring you the best option in terms of quality, simplicity, and effectiveness. Let’s take a closer look at three bifold door installation options and break down the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Top Three Bifold Door Insulation Options

The three most popular insulation options for bifold doors are spray foam, blanket insulation, and ridged board polystyrene.

Spray Foam for Bifold Doors

Spray foam is available in two variations – open cell and closed cell.

As its name suggests, open cell spray foam is made of millions of tiny bubbles that are not entirely closed, resulting in “open cells”. As it is applied, open cell spray foam rapidly expands to fill difficult to reach areas.

Closed cell spray foam is also made up of millions of cells. However, these cells are completely sealed, creating a moisture proof barrier with excellent insulation capabilities. While closed cell spray foam also expends when it is applied, it doesn’t expand nearly as much as open cell spray foam.

Blanket Insulation on Bifold Doors

Blanket insulation is one of the most widely known types of insulation. Generally made of fiberglass or rock wool insulation, it comes in batts or rolls that will need to be cut to fit the project.

Depending on the type of blanket insulation used, it may come with a protective vapour barrier as part of the roll to simplify the insulation process.

Comparing the Advantages of Each

There are definite differences in cost, efficiency, and general installation and maintenance of each type of insulation. Let’s break it down by each category to determine the type of insulation best suited to installation on a bifold door.

Effectiveness and Efficiency

When comparing the effectiveness and efficiency of different insulation options, the simplest way to do so is by comparing the R value, or the measure of how well a material resists transferring heat from one object to another. For example, a piece of metal has a low R value, while winter gloves have a high(er) R value.

However, the R value of a specific material is not the only thing that should be considered as there are other factors that play a significant role in the ability of different insulation options, such as compressibility, how well the insulation was installed, gaps in the insulation, and more.

Open Cell Spray Foam

Open cell spray foam has a standard R value of R3.5 per inch of thickness. This is a relatively low insulation value, though it can be increased with multiple layers. The reason for this low R value is that open cell spray foam is relatively lightweight and less dense than other insulation options, allowing heat to transfer more quickly through it.

The open cell design also means that it is moisture permeable, allowing moisture transfer through the insulation if not properly protected by a vapour barrier.

One point in favour of open cell spray foam is its ability to fill hard-to-reach spaces. It expands up to 100 times its size during application, helping to eliminate pesky gaps that reduce the effectiveness of your insulation.

Closed Cell Spray Foam

Due to its closed cell design, closed cell spray foam is denser and has a significantly higher R value of about R6 – R7 per inch of thickness. Unlike open cell spray foam, it does not allow moisture transfer but creates a barrier that eliminates vapour and air transfer. It expands up to 33 times its size during application, which may help fill in gaps and crevices. Compared to open cell spray foam, closed cell spray foam is a much more effective insulation choice.

However, with any type of spray foam, it is important to note that it will not be possible to achieve a consistent R value across the full width of the door. This is because of the space required around certain moving parts on your bifold door lift motor and locking system. Spray foam must be applied to the interior of your door frame, with adequate space around these moving parts. This will result in a decreased insulation value around those areas of your bifold door.

Blanket Insulation

In comparison, blanket insulation can be installed to the exterior of the door frame, between the frame members and external finishing. It has a typical R value of anywhere between R3 and R4 per inch of thickness. However, most of that R value comes from the air trapped within the fiberglass. When the insulation is compressed or squished between the door frame member and external finishing, the R value is significantly reduced and it becomes ineffective in those areas.

Alternatively, blanket insulation can be installed between the door frame members, but this leaves the steel frame to easily transfer heat out of the building.

Ridged Board Insulation

Finally, Diamond Doors offers ridged board insulation that varies between R5.3 and R6 per inch of thickness. The advantage of ridged board insulation is that it is easily installed between the bifold door frame members and exterior finishing without being compressed. With our unique ship-lapped design, it provides a consistent R value across the entire width of the door.  

In terms of effectiveness, ridged board insulation and closed cell spray foam perform similarly. However, when we break it down in terms of consistency, ridged board insulation is a clear winner.

Simplicity of Install and Maintenance

Ease of installation and maintenance on your bifold door can vary greatly depending on the type of insulation that you choose for your bifold door. Regardless of the type of insulation you choose, it is important that it is correctly installed to maximize its effectiveness. Whether you are tackling the work yourself or hiring a professional, here are a few things you might want to consider.

Spray Foam Insulation

Installation

Spray foam insulation is the one of the most difficult types of insulation to install and it’s generally not recommended to DIY this project. While it can be safely done for small projects, such as insulating gaps around pedestrian doors and windows. However, for large scale projects, such as insulating a bifold door, spray foam application requires specialized equipment and safety gear.

Safety gear is required because as it is applied, spray foam releases dangerous toxic gases. These gases disappear within 24 – 48 hours, but it does require full protective gear during application. This includes goggles, breathing apparatus in enclosed spaces, and a full suit to prevent contact with the chemicals as they are being applied.

It is also difficult to handle the spray gun, as the foam can clog the nozzle within 30 seconds if you stop spraying. And if it gets somewhere it’s not supposed to be, it is difficult to clean before it dries.

When installing spray foam on your bifold door, extreme caution must be taken to avoid spraying any moving parts, and it is important to ensure that adequate space is available for parts such as the locking fingers to move.

Maintenance

Spray foam makes it difficult to maintain the exterior of your bifold door. It is applied to the interior of the door frame, often directly onto the interior side of the tin or cladding that finishes the door.  It is nearly impossible to remove from any surface once cured, which makes replacing damaged cladding very difficult.

Otherwise, spray foam itself requires little maintenance.

Blanket Insulation

Installation

Installation of blanket insulation is relatively simple. However, care must be taken to ensure that it is not compressed, which would reduce the R value. Otherwise, insulation must be cut to fit the bifold door and then sandwiched between the bifold door frame and exterior cladding.

Maintenance

Maintenance work on bifold doors is generally not impacted by the use of blanket insulation. However, blanket insulation itself requires more maintenance than spray foam, as it is relatively easy to damage. It is also susceptible to moisture damage, causing mold and odor problems. To maintain the effectiveness of blanket insulation, it should be inspected regularly and any damaged insulation should be replaced as soon as possible.

Ridged Board Insulation

Installation

While installation of ridged board insulation varies by manufacturer, Diamond Doors has designed our insulation to be as easy as possible to install on a bifold door. We deliver it with your bifold door, precut to the length you need. It is fastened to the exterior of the door frame, and then overlaid with the door cladding.

Maintenance

Maintenance of ridged board insulation is also simple. Each insulation panel is lined with a white aluminum panel. This prevents damage to the insulation and makes it easy to clean. If the insulation is crushed or damaged by equipment, you can contact Diamond Doors directly for replacement insulation panels.

Cost of Insulation for Your Bifold Door

The final factor to consider when insulating your bifold door is the cost. A well insulated door will eventually pay for itself in energy cost savings, but it’s always good to be aware of the upfront cost.

Costs will vary depending on your location, so we recommend checking locally for pricing rather than relying on prices here. Please note that these prices are current as of January 2025.

Spray Foam

These costs are based on retail costs for DIY spray foam kits, which include the equipment necessary for application. Costs for professional application will vary based on your location.

Open cell spray foam costs anywhere from $0.91 ($0.63 USD) to $1.72 ($1.19 USD) per 1-inch board foot. In comparison to Diamond Doors’ two-inch ridged board insulation (R12), at least 3 inches of spray foam is required. This results in a final cost of $2.73 ($1.89 USD) to $5.16 ($3.57 USD) per square foot.

Closed cell spray foam costs approximately $2.50 ($1.74 USD) to $2.80 ($1.95 USD) per 1-inch board foot. Comparing this to the R12 value of Diamond Doors’ two-inch insulation requires about 2 inches of closed cell spray foam, at an approximate cost of $5.00 ($3.48 USD) to $5.60 ($3.90 USD) per square foot.

Blanket Insulation

The cost of blanket insulation ranges from $0.77 ($0.54 USD) to $0.92 ($0.64 USD) per square foot at R12 (3.5 inches thick). This makes it the cheapest option. However, this R value is not consistent after the insulation has been installed on the bifold door and it often requires additional insulation to achieve the same effectiveness as other insulation options.

Ridged Board Insulation

These costs are accurate as of January 2025 and may vary. For the most up-to-date pricing, please contact our sales department and they would be happy to help.

Diamond Doors offers ridged board insulation in R12 and R16 values. To provide a consistent comparison to the insulation types listed above, we evaluated the cost of our R12 insulation.

Our R12 insulation ranges from $3.67 ($2.56 USD) to $4.10 ($2.86) per square foot. Its effectiveness and ease of installation provide further cost savings on insulating your bifold door.

The Best Insulation for Your Bifold Door

Clearly, there’s a lot to consider when it comes to insulating your bifold door. Here’s a quick summary of everything we looked at earlier.

• EFFECTIVNESS – Ridged board insulation and closed cell spray foam perform similarly in terms of effectiveness. However, spray foam lacks consistency due to how it must be applied on a bifold door. This makes ridged board insulation the winner in this category.
• COST – Ridged board insulation holds the middle ground here. Blanket insulation is the cheapest option for insulating bifold doors, but it lacks effectiveness, which will cost more in long-term energy savings than other options.
• MAINTENANCE AND LONGEVITY – Ridged board insulation is the easiest to install and maintain. It is less susceptible to damage than blanket insulation, and it is easier to replace than spray foam insulation.

Ridged board insulation provides the best of everything that insulation has to offer, which is why Diamond Doors is proud to offer it with every door we sell.

For more information on our insulation package, visit our insulation product feature page. To request a free quote or chat with our sales team, visit our contact page. We look forward to hearing from you!

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