Guide to Investing in The Right Garage Doors
Investing in the right garage door is has many benefits. The right garage door will be designed to take account of both homeowners’ safety and aesthetic considerations while offering curb appeal and durability.
Maintenance is also incredibly important as garage doors can be susceptible to damage or other problems, requiring servicing charges and replacement. This is why it is crucial for homeowners to invest in the right garage doors by considering both aesthetic and functional requirements. In this post, we provide a detailed guide on how you can choose the right garage door for your home.
Garage Door Windows
- Roll-up
- Swing up
- Swing out
- Slide to side
The sectional roll-up doors are the most common garage doors for residential uses. However, if you wish to keep the ceiling clear, you can choose from the other types of doors. This, of course, will depend on how much space you can utilize on its exterior. If you want to invest in a roll-up garage door, make sure that you have enough headroom, around 14 inches, to ensure it can roll-up easily. Otherwise, you may have to invest an additional $100 on a headroom track.
Although what garage door you choose is entirely up to your design preferences, it is wise to opt for a style that goes with your residential property. For example, slide to side door options may go better with residential properties that have an attached garage.
Materials for Garage Doors
Choosing the right material for your garage door is also important. There are a range of materials you can choose from, each with different properties and features that are crucial for enhancing curb appeal and functionality. These are as follows:
Wood
Wood is ideal for giving the natural aesthetic appeal to your garage door and thus good for enhancing the value of your home. However, wood garage doors suffer from high cost, owing to frequent maintenance. Although wood garage doors are resistant to day-to-day wear and tear, they need to be refinished and polished frequently that leads to high maintenance expenses. On the plus side, wood garage doors can be customized easily and can go with almost any design and color theme of your residential property.
Pricing of wood doors tend to range between mid-price and expensive, though you can always opt for wood composite if you wish to keep it low-budget. Wood composite is artificial wood that gives the same look and feel to normal wood but is lighter in weight and cheaper. However, they tend are usually best for double-doors.
Steel
When it comes to maintenance expenses, steel is a much better option than wood. Galvanized steel, for instance, is preferred both for its low-price tag and high durability. However, you will steel need to invest in frequent polishing and other servicing expenses to prevent rust and dents.
To minimize these risks and ensure your investment pays off in the long-term, you should get 24-25 gauge panel doors instead of the 27-28 ones. Higher gauge numbers have thinner metals and thus are not as sturdy and durable. If this is not an option for you, consider choosing fiberglass overlay steel doors that are not only resistant to rust, but also have less chance of sustaining dents.
However, you should be aware that the fiberglass on the door will require painting on a regular basis to ensure its features remain intact. Furthermore, if you do not have any particular budget constraints, you should consider buying steel doors that offer superior quality. You will have the benefit of lifetime warranty on the door hardware, insulation, and the steel itself. Lower quality steel garage doors, on the other hand, will usually offer warranties for a limited period of time.
Fiberglass
Selecting fiberglass can be particularly useful to suit a range of design preferences and tastes. This material is highly malleable, which means that it can be molded into any shape or texture. Usually, there will be two fiberglass layers bonded together on a steel frame and insulated with polyurethane.
You can choose its natural transparent appearance in soft light or one that offers the look and feel of wood. However, fiberglass suffers from being brittle and so can easily break or shatter time upon impact, particularly in cold areas. For this reason, fiberglass garage doors are best used in coastal areas.
Vinyl
If your garage doors dent or get damaged easily, you may want to opt for vinyl garage doors. Vinyl is beneficial for being resistant to dents and other kinds of damages, offering you considerable durability. Because of this, vinyl garage doors tend to attract low maintenance expenses.
The only area where it falls short of being the best material is its low range of designs and colors. So as long as aesthetics are not a major factor behind your buying decision, then vinyl garage doors are your best choice.
Aluminum
Aluminum tends to be ideal for large, double garage doors. This is because of it being extremely light in weight, providing minimal strain on the door’s operating mechanism. The material is often thought to be easy to break or damage; however, manufacturers, over the years, have made sturdier aluminum frames that can be a good investment for your garage door.
Aluminum garage doors are available in a range of price points. Higher-priced frames are equipped with lamination that prevents dents. Cheaper frames, on the other hand, are made out of high-density materials, such as polyethylene, which provides sufficient durability.
What material you choose will vary on your personal preferences and factors, such as price, long-term use, maintenance, and functionality. What kind of garage door you should also be factored in your decision, as the heavier the material, the more likely it can suffer from operating problems.
Color Choices
You should also be careful when choosing the right color for your garage door as it can have a substantial impact on the value of your home. This can be particularly important if you are considering selling the property in the future. Usually, the brick colors of your house will determine what color your garage door should be.
However, you should not get too worked up on getting the right color. There are a few colors that you can choose from that can work with most design options. These are the following:
White
Having white as your garage door color is perhaps the safest choice you can go for. Many homeowners tend to go with white to benefit from its crisp, bright appearance that really helps to enhance their curb appeal. The downside, however, is that it stains or dirt is a lot more visible. If you spend your weekends playing baseball, basket ball, or soccer, you will need to remember this and make sure any stains are cleaned and removed as quickly as possible.
Black or Grey
If white is not what you want, then black may be an option to consider. Black garage doors are very popular not only because it can cover stain marks, but also because it can help bring out any brick or door color of your house. However, it will be more advisable to paint your window panes the same color to ensure higher aesthetic value.
You can also opt for grey or dark grey as it can blend easily with many brick colors and give you the middle ground between the extremes of white and black. Grey-colored garage doors are becoming trendier and one that can be an excellent choice for covering stain marks and increasing curb appeal.
Brown
Brown garage doors signify elegance and give a sophisticated finish to your home. Best of all, you get to achieve this without spending a significant amount of money. Investing in walnut brown garage doors thus can be a great option for enhancing your home’s aesthetic value. If the garage door is painted professionally, you benefit from giving a natural wood-like texture without spending a substantial amount in wood garage doors.
Garage Door Maintenance
Regardless of which garage door type and material you buy, garage door maintenance must be on top priority if you wish to extend it lifetime value and avoid spending unnecessary amount of expenses in maintenance and garage door repairs. Although how much maintenance you need to carry out will vary depending on what material you go for, there are a few things that you need to be taken care of on a frequent basis.
Firstly, you must ensure that all garage door rollers and hinges are cleaned regularly using light oil and a cloth. Kerosene is often applied on a small brush to clean deep into the cracks that also help to remove rust and other small substances that become stuck. This is particularly useful for fixing hinges or rollers that become stuck.
It is also important for the garage door components to be lubricated. The operating mechanism, due to wear and tear, can malfunction and faulty over time. Lubricating the parts can help ensure the door functions smoothly and is able to work efficiently in the long-term.
Furthermore, the garage door sensors may have to be realigned if they stop working. This may be due to a misalignment caused by damage or improper installation. This involves carefully pushing the sensors into its correct place so that they are positioned opposite each other. The sensors should have blinking lights to indicate they are misaligned. Once the alignment is complete, the lights should stop blinking and be stable.
More importantly, check if that the doors have no signs of weather-stripping. This might especially be a problem right after a heavy storm, rain, or snow, the impact of which can break the seal of the door or any of its components. Should this happen, make sure that problem is resolved instantly by a professional servicing firm.
Garage doors also need to be painted at least on an annual basis to minimize the risks of rusting. Although DIY painting is an option, it is usually best to use professional painting to ensure a consistent level of layers and coating.
Garage Door Maintenance
There are tons of materials you can find on DIY household repair and work. However, regardless of how useful the advice and information is, it is not a substitute for the breadth of experience and expertise of professional garage door servicers.
Whether it is installing your garage doors or lubricating its components and parts, seeking professional help can ensure you are able to avoid rookie mistakes, as well as expenses incurred as a result of it. Furthermore, professional service can also be critical for avoiding any injuries or accidents resulting from DIY garage door work. The risk of your garage door opening or closing unexpectedly pose serious health hazards to you and your family and can also damage your car and property.
The most important reasons why professional garage door service should be utilized are to lower costs, extend garage door warranty and value, and ensure perfection of work. A professional garage door repair company has dedicated staff that is trained to carry out garage door repairs and other services with utmost precision and quality.
To invest in the right garage door, you need to consider more than just aesthetics. Factors, such as materials, color choice, and functionality, are all crucial for helping you make the most of your garage doors. Most important of all, you need to take into account the level and frequency of maintenance required as it can contribute to a significant amount of expenses.
Speaking of high costs, hiring professional garage door services are your best bet for minimizing unnecessary expenses and ensuring high quality of work. Garage door services are available and can be the option for extending the lifetime value of your garage doors.
