Overhead Garage Doors
They're the largest and most visible moving parts of your house, but with all the options out there, don't leave the choice up to someone else.
Synopsis: Here’s a look at what’s on the market in the way of garage doors. The author discusses steel, wood, and plastic versions, including both one-piece and hinged designs.
The garage door on the house I grew up in was a beast made of heavy timbers and plywood. I was almost a teenager before I could budge the thing open. And when the door closed, it seemed as if no springs in the world could have kept it from crashing down and rattling mom’s dishes in the kitchen above. To this day, I swear that my right arm is longer than my left from slowing the door’s descent. Today’s garage doors, on the other hand, are not only light, quiet and smooth-operating, but with the choices out there, they also can be surprisingly good looking.
Wooden doors on the wane
The lumber in my folks’ old door was probably 2-in. thick, tight-grained Douglas fir with flat plywood or solid-wood panels. Now, the same garage door is made of 1 1/4-in. hemlock frames and hardboard panels. Because doors made of these materials don’t last as long, traditional wooden doors are declining in popularity, and people are opting for longer-lasting, low-maintenance doors made of steel or plastic.
Traditional frame-and-panel garage doors are among the least expensive options, but they do take time and effort to maintain. Most companies offer their wooden doors preprimed for a slight additional charge. But even these doors have to be painted with a finish coat after they’re installed and then repainted regularly. But being able to paint a traditional wooden door to match your house or trim can be a plus.
Stock wooden garage doors are also available as flush models; when closed, they form an unbroken surface across the door opening. Flush doors are also fairly inexpensive, and they have to be finished and kept up like their frame-and-panel cousins. Flush wooden doors can be ordered with a layer of insulation mounted inside the door sections. In addition to its thermal qualities, this insulation also helps with sound dampening, which is nice if your driveway happens to be a gathering place for noisy neighborhood kids.
Besides the typical frame-and-panel doors, many companies offer raised panels made of redwood or cedar. And all traditional wooden garage doors can be ordered with window sections. Custom wooden doors, which are discussed later, occupy the other end of the quality scale and can be built to match almost any architectural whim.
Steel doors come plain, with insulation or in a sandwich
Tom Youstey of Clopay, the nation’s biggest steel-door manufacturer, says that five or six years ago, steel doors finally overtook wooden doors as this country’s most popular choice. Because these doors are made of sheet steel that has been galvanized, primed and painted with at least one coat of finish paint, they are virtually maintenance-free. Most steel for garage doors is given a wood-grain surface. Then the embossed steel is either stamped with a raised-panel pattern or made directly into flush-door sections.
There are three basic choices for steel doors. The most basic steel door has sections that are just an exterior steel skin mounted on a frame of either steel or aluminum. Because steel-skin doors are uninsulated, they are a good choice for detached unheated garages.
For more photos and details, click the View PDF button below: