How to choose a garage door

If your garage door is almost falling apart, it is time to get a new one. A new garage door will improve the aspect of your property and will also make your home more secure and safe. Manufacturers provide steel, wood, fiberglass and aluminum garage doors, very often custom made.

We strongly recommend buying a steel or wooden door.

Where can you find a garage door

Surf the internet or the telephone directory before visiting local dealers. Make sure you know the prices and features of the doors you are interested in. If you want to choose a garage door you can visit a showroom or you can ask a salesperson to come to your home. A salesperson will offer you brochures and catalogues and also will measure your garage door.

If you decide to buy a “do-it-yourself” garage door, make sure you get complete instructions and all the components and extensions.

Garage doors made of steel

Steel garage doors are an excellent choice because they offer more security than all other kinds of materials. Moreover, modern steel doors can imitate wood, offering you an elegant and accessible way of protecting your garage.

The advantage of steel garage doors is that they are not affected by weather. Unlike wooden doors, they do not need repainting or special care due to warping, cracking or delaminating. Many steel garage doors have extended guarantee. The drawback of this kind of garage doors is that they can suffer from fading and denting, damages hard to fix.
Modern garage doors are insulated with polyurethane foam, to maintain your garage warm during winter and cold during summer. The insulation will also make your door lighter and easier to function.

You can recognize a high quality steel door by its aspect: 2 inches thick, complete insulation, and covered in 24-gauge steel. This kind of doors are more expensive than thinner doors, but they are more resistant and safer.

Some doors are single skin, covered just on the outside. If you want a premium door, look for a sandwich door, with foam inside and with an attractive aspect from the garage.
If you want to choose a quality door, look for those who have a full-width vinyl bubble weatherstripping. Those weather seals protect the door and make it more durable.
Manufacturers offer a wide variety of styles, from doors imitating wood to ribbed surface metal doors.

The common price of a medium size garage door is between $750 and $1200.

Garage doors made of wood

Wood garage doors have an attractive aspect and are less expensive than metal ones. The drawback is that wood doors need routine maintenance consisting in refinishing and repainting, because they can warp and crack due to weather.

Most doors are made by covering a fir, spruce or a different softwood frame with a skin of plywood. To perfectly match the aspect of the house, some doors are covered with siding.

This kind of garage doors are durable and you have to pay $400 to $700 for them.
Panel doors are made of a fir or different softwood skeletal framework covered with rectangular panels. On the other side, flush garage doors also have a wooden frame, but covered with a plywood panel.

Painted wooden doors have flat surfaces , such as plywood or hardboard, or three-dimensional panels, such as Masonite’s SureWood raised panels. Three-dimensional are usually made of composites having overlays impregnated with resin.

For a paint-grade door you have to pay from $800 to $1000. The normal warranty of such door is one year, while the cladwood composite panels are warrantied dor 20 years.

High quality doors, designed to be stained are made of solid-wood panels. They can be made of cedar, redwood or a softwood frame, such as mahogany or oak. Those panels can be made of many pieces glued together or a solid single piece.

This kind of doors are quite expensive. A redwood panel may cost for about $1,500, while a oak-paneled one is $2,000 or even more.

Garage doors made of fiberglass

Fiberglass garage doors have a structure made of an aluminium frame with fiberglass sections.

The advantage of fiberglass doors is that they are not heavy, translucid and resistant to side effects of salt air. They are preffered in ocean climates and also for areas where light is important.

Fiberglass garage doors are not too popular because cold weather can cause damages and brake them, and they do not offer insulation.

Garage doors made of aluminium

Aluminium garage doors are similar to steel doors, having the same durability and finishes. Moreover, aluminium doors are lighter, less expensive, with prices between $400 and $700 and they do not rust. The main drawback is that they dent easily.