If you have decided that you want to convert your garage into a living space, you may be wondering what you can do about the door. Many people decide that replacing it with a set of French doors is a good idea. This double door arrangement fills the space and makes an attractive entrance into your new room. In this article, we will discuss how to convert a garage door into French doors. Read on to learn more.
What You'll Learn Today
- Follow These Steps To Replace Your Garage Door With A Set Of French Doors
- Why Are French Doors A Great Choice For A Garage Conversion?
- Prepare Your Garage For Use As A Living Space
- Is It Hard To Replace A Garage Door With French Doors?
Follow These Steps To Replace Your Garage Door With A Set Of French Doors
- Remove your garage door. To do this, you’ll need to detach the springs following the instructions in the video below. Once this is done, place a screwdriver under the door’s pivot stick lip. Remove the door using a mallet or a hammer.
- When you have removed the door from the pivot, you must clear away all the dust, debris and clutter caused by the job. Pick up all your tools so you can start fresh with the French door installation.
- Assemble the framing for the door using shims to perfect your measurements. Once you’ve got the framing in place, you can install the doors.
- Insert the bottom of the French doors into the space first and then tilt the door into place. Square it into the space using a long level or a carpenter’s square to be sure of getting a good fit with the framing.
How To Remove The Existing Garage Door
French Door Q&A
1. How much do French doors cost?
Generally speaking, you can expect to spend between $400 and $500 on a nice set of French doors. As with anything else, you can expect to save a bit of money if you watch for closeouts, clearances, sales and salvage opportunities.
2. What if the French doors I choose don’t fit the garage door space perfectly?
Of course, you should measure carefully to be sure the doors you choose are not too big for the space you have. If, on the other hand, they are a bit small, you can easily make adjustments in the framing.
4. What are French door frames made of?
The frames for French doors are usually made of steel, aluminum or fiberglass.
5. Is it absolutely necessary to get a permit to replace my garage door with a French door?
Although you may not face any penalties if you install a French door without permission, you may face complications in the future when you try to sell your home.
Additionally, changes and improvements made without permission can interfere with insurance claims and payouts. You are always better off getting proper permission before making improvements to your home.
How-To Install A French Door
Why Are French Doors A Great Choice For A Garage Conversion?
- French doors are good looking. The addition of a set of French doors where your garage door used to be will definitely improve the curb appeal and value of your home.
- French doors perfectly fill the space that once held your garage door. If you were to choose a single door, you’d have a lot of wall building to do to fill in that space. A French door slots right in almost effortlessly.
- French doors are a fairly secure option in garage door replacement. With the security bolt feature on one door and dead bolt feature on the other, these doors increase the security of your space.
- French doors make it easy to move furniture and equipment in and out of your home. You don’t lose the convenience of a large garage door when you put French doors in its place.
- French doors provide a spacious feeling because they allow in more light and make it seem as if the outside is part of the room. This is especially true if you have a patio space right outside the doors.
Prepare Your Garage For Use As A Living Space
Of course, replacing your garage door with French doors is not the only thing you’ll need to do to make your garage a habitable space.
You’ll also want to make any necessary additions, changes or adjustments in the electrical wiring, add insulation and finish the walls with sheetrock and/or paneling. Depending upon the purpose you have in mind, you may need to do a bit of plumbing as well.
These are things you can do in advance of switching out your garage doors, but really, it’s best to wait until you’ve gotten your French doors in place to do all the interior work to your garage. There are a couple of reasons for this.
First, taking out the garage door and putting in French doors can be a messy, dusty process. You don’t want to have your interior garage all set and then wreak havoc with it by doing a big construction job on an entire wall.
Second, once you have your French doors in place, you can do all the rest of the work any time of year. It won’t matter if it’s cold or raining or snowing out, you can go ahead and do all the interior work at your leisure, so it’s best to get that big job out of the way first and then complete the rest.
TIP: If you plan to expand or add windows, do it at the same time you replace your garage door with your French doors.
Is It Hard To Replace A Garage Door With French Doors?
Actually, converting a garage door opening into French doors is extremely easy. The only hard part may be getting permits from your local authorities. Additionally, there may be a few structural adjustments required to get a perfect fit.
The first thing you’ll need to do is check with your city or township to see what sort of permit you’ll need for garage door replacement. They may need to come and perform an inspection in order to issue your permit.
Once you have your permit, you’ll need to draw up a plan or blueprint of your project. It may be necessary to hire a contractor or architect to help you with this.
Once you have these preparatory steps out of the way, actually replacing your garage door with French doors is a pretty straightforward, simple task.
