You Have More Than One Garage Door in This Home. Ask Me Again With a Specific Room

Shown: Steel pulls and X-bracing simulate the look of swing-out carriage doors. Coachman door, $4,300; Clopay

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They're battered past the elements, assaulted by basketballs, and allowable to perform their disappearing and reappearing act countless times each week. When, after decades of service, a garage door stops working well—or looking good—you tin can take condolement in the fact that a new one is among the best investments yous tin can make, assuasive yous to recoup virtually 95 per centum of the toll when you sell.

"Garage doors have come a long way over the last fifteen years. Springs are safer, R-values are every bit high as 18, and they're quieter and demand less maintenance. Manufacturers now realize that looks thing, adding blueprint options that brand them a focal point." —D.J. Seeber, Business Development Director, Cambek Designer Door, and a 43-year industry veteran

Why Upgrade My Garage Door?

A new garage door is too a insufficiently inexpensive upgrade given how drastically information technology tin can bump up your curb appeal.

The all-time of today's doors are fabricated from multiple layers of galvanized steel, vinyl, or composite wrapped around foam insulation, which require almost no maintenance; for purists who desire wood, it's most often delivered as a skin on top of solid rail-and-stile construction. In that location are door designs to suit just well-nigh any architectural style, and the insulation stuffed within can give yous the R-value of an insulated two×vi stud wall—a boon for garages under a living space.

Buying a new garage door means living with your decision for several decades, so information technology pays to read up on state-of-the-art builds and new pattern styles.

Time for an Upgrade?

Here is how to tell if your old garage door is ready for the dustbin.

Shown: Classica CL100 steel door in White, from $ane,950; Amarr

iStock

While many issues that can crop upward over a garage door'due south lifetime— from busted springs to dented horizontal panels to noisy rollers—can be repaired, in that location is a betoken at which you're better o spending your money on a new one. If xing the door would cost more one-half of a replacement, it'south not worth the cost of repairs. The good news? With amend, more than durable materials, a new garage door could last up to 50 years.

PRO TIP: "If a garage door shows signs of rot or deterioration if information technology has started arresting moisture, or the steel frame or runway is bent or rusted and the door isn't sealing out the weather anymore, it's time for a new one." —Tom Silva, General Contractor

Beefcake of a Garage Door

Ian Worpole

Most garages today have sectional overhead doors made up of four or more horizontal slabs. Wall-mounted openers are quieter than the traditional ceiling versions and save overhead storage space.

Material Choices

While garage doors are increasingly low-maintenance, their success in replicating the traditional look of wood, and their energy efficiency, depend on what they're made of and how they're built

Skilful: Unmarried Layer


Shown: Classic Steel in White, $575*; Clopay *All prices are for single-car garage doors

Ian Worpole

Made from a layer of stamped 24- or 25-gauge galvanized steel (1), these doors are ordinarily uninsulated (some tin accept a layer of cream added on the inside for a slight upwards-charge and improve R-value). The steel is protected from rust past a galvanized layer and often comes from the manufacturing plant with a tough, broiled-on primer and pinnacle coat.

While it has an embossed woods-grain look, steel can dent if hitting with a baseball. Basic, uninsulated wood doors with solid stiles and runway fitted with wood or engineered panels are too available, merely require regular budget to look their all-time. Steel doors are stocked for openings upward to sixteen anxiety wide, in a handful of panel designs and colors; these can be dressed upwards with windows.

While an uninsulated door isn't the all-time choice for a garage with living space to a higher place, it is the well-nigh budget-friendly. Prices start at $250 for steel and $700 for forest.

BETTER: Three Layers

Shown: Gallery Steel in Almond, $1,200; Clopay

Ian Worpole

From the street, these stamped-steel or -vinyl doors await identical to the unmarried-layer versions, but they are always insulated and are finished with a steel or vinyl interior face (ane). Polystyrene- or polyurethane-cream insulation fills the 1 3⁄8- or 2-inch core (two), along with wood or metal for structure; some other steel (or vinyl) layer faces the street (3).

These doors provide an R-value of 6.5 to nineteen, quieter performance, and more rigidity. Vinyl is frequently a better choice in southern exposures or harsh environments near saltwater. Also considered stock doors, the options are similar to those for single-layer doors, though the glass can be insulated.

Another insulated-metal option is a contemporary aluminum-and-glass door, with a hollow frame that can be filled with insulating foam and that holds large glass panels. Prices outset at $440 for steel, $700 for vinyl, and $4,000 for aluminum and glass.

All-time: Four to Five Layers

Shown: Coulee Ridge composite in Mahogany, $6,300; Clopay

Ian Worpole

These semi-custom doors re-create the shadow lines of traditional wood by layering a low-maintenance composite skin (one), often with moldings (2), over the guts of a three-layer door'south exterior steel confront (3), insulating foam core (four), and interior steel face up (5). These beefy doors pack an R-value of over xx.

The colored and textured composite provides a realistic wood look; this engineered skin is available in a range of plank widths or cut with beadboard or V-groove details, simply like a wood door.

Once finished with strap hinges and door pulls, each one can look like a pair of swing-out carriage doors. Wood doors are also bachelor, often with a solid-wood frame, filled with insulation, and then wrapped in plywood and trim. With a wider range of colour, window, and hardware options, all these doors take longer to evangelize (nigh six weeks). Prices start at virtually $6,000 for composite and $4,500 for wood.

Factor in Your Environment

If a garage door fails in a storm, wind gusts can blow the roof off. In hurricane-prone areas, await for a door rated to handle loftier winds as specified by local codes, which adds near $150 to the price.

Installing a New Garage Door

Having a garage door installed should take less than a mean solar day. Garage door dealers, lumberyards, and domicile centers can include installation in the price.

Courtesy Clopay

Here'south how to find the right garage door to suit your mode and budget, bring it domicile, and accept information technology installed.

Seek Some Inspiration

Start online to notice stock and semi-custom looks you lot like and the companies that make them. Many brands offer virtual attempt-on options on their websites, where y'all can drib different doors and colors onto an image of your house.

This volition let you lot narrow down styles and colors, and will also assist you locate local distributors. Order custom doors directly from the manufacturer or a distributor its representative recommends.

Become Sample Shopping

Habitation centers and lumberyards may have scaled-down sample doors that show materials, insulation, grain patterns, and colors. A garage door retailer's exhibit will offer a much wider range of full-size examples. A visit is worth the legwork and mileage—it gives you an opportunity to touch on a door and go an idea of pricing.

If y'all're in a hurry, stock-size doors tin can arrive anywhere from the next day to two weeks after ordering. Semi-custom steel doors with a composite face up take longer, virtually three to six weeks. For a custom wood door, wait to wait up to ii months.

Rent an installer

If yous buy your garage door from the lumberyard or a big-box store, it can suit for installation, ordinarily by subbing out the job to a local garage door company. Going this route takes the pressure off you to observe a pro, and you lot tin can residuum easy knowing where to plough if there's a problem. But yous might be better off going another way.

Become recommendations and choose a few garage door companies, then let the pros assess your garage, making suggestions about the best options for your dwelling and upkeep. While this might cost more, you're likely to go a door that fits your home—in both manner and dimensions­—simply right.

This is especially important for houses built earlier Earth State of war II, which often take narrower or taller garage doors than the standard sizes available today. While the track, rollers, springs, and hinges are frequently included in the door price, installation and carting off the former door are not.

The labor to install a new door typically costs betwixt $300 and $500, and includes discarding the old door and hooking up an opener. Add $l to $100 for a wider two-car door.

Measure Your Garage Door Before You Shop

iStock

Before you striking whatever stores or showrooms, know what size you lot demand so y'all tin can become an idea of pricing. The dimensions are likewise a quick style to tell if the door you demand is stock or semi-custom—particularly helpful in older homes with nonstandard garages. Measure the door itself from the inside when it'south down.

Stock doors are seven or 8 feet tall and in widths of 8 to 16 feet. Semi-custom doors are by and large available in increments of ane or ii inches in width and 3 inches in height, achieved by combining horizontal sections that are 18, 21, or 24 inches tall.

Custom doors are merely that: i-of-a-kind doors in whatever size and style. If your opening is wider than 16 feet or requires a custom door, a pro will measure every bit part of the price.

Garage Door Upgrades Worth Considering

These components, which may exist offered when y'all shop for a new door, will improve its looks, operation, and durability.

High-Wheel Torsion Spring

Courtesy Home Depot

A torsion jump, centered in a higher place the door, helps it go up and down and comes with just about every model. Standard ones are rated for x,000 cycles, merely upgraded ones volition cover you for nigh 25,000 cycles. Cost: $50 to $75 per door.

Beefier Tracks

Ding a standard, roughly 17- or xviii-judge track with your lawnmower, or graze information technology with an SUV, and you'll likely need a repair. Sturdier 14- or fifteen-estimate runway stands up to abuse better. Cost: $150 per door.

Better Rollers

Courtesy Habitation Depot

Both nylon rollers, fitted with ten polish-gliding ball bearings, and polyurethane versions, with thirteen bearings, absorb vibration better than metal versions, which means they're quieter. Cost: $50 to $lx per door.

Windows

Insets of tempered drinking glass, commonly with overlay-way grilles, can help brand a new garage door look less imposing and more than in melody with your house's architectural style. Glass comes in several finishes, including frosted, etched, and textured, to increment privacy.

The number of panes can reach up to eight in some doors. Cost: $100 per window for unmarried-pane tempered glass; up to $1,000 per window for impact-rated, insulated drinking glass.

Garage Opener Options

If your old door needs replacing, chances are its opener does, as well. Here'southward what to consider:

Shown: WLED overhead opener (pinnacle left and center), from $460, and 8500W side-mounted opener (correct), from $560; LiftMaster

Nat Rea

1. Where it mounts: Traditionally, openers are ceiling mounted, where they hang off a rail and move the door with a chugalug, chain, or spiral. These models range in toll from $130 to $360. There are downsides, all the same: They rob a lot of infinite up near the ceiling, so yous can't add hanging storage or suspend bikes, and they can be loud, with a lot of vibration. A newer option is a wall-mounted opener. These are direct drive, so they turn the door's torsion spring directly, with no belts or chains. They're quieter and preserve space overhead, but they'll cost you—they start at around $500 per door.
2. How information technology drives: Ceiling-mounted openers use one of three mechanisms to move the door. Steel chains last the longest and are the well-nigh affordable to replace (most $150), merely they make a lot of noise. Belts are quieter, toll only near $20 more than to replace, and use safety-coated steel for durability. The screw-drive opener is the loudest and has the most moving parts—the machinery that opens the door rides along a rotating, threaded rod—which means more maintenance. Serenity, wall-mounted, direct-drive models crave the least maintenance, but tin cost four times more than a traditional chain bulldoze. This wall-mounted style has been around for about a decade, with few instances where the moving parts required replacement.
3. Number of ponies: Nearly openers use your home's alternating current (Air-conditioning), but a new brood transforms the power to direct current (DC). DC openers, which cost about $150 more, take a soft start and stop, then they're quieter, and likewise include battery backups to ensure the door will work during a ability outage. To order, you'll demand to know the weight of your door. For one up to 400 pounds, ½ horsepower is a good choice, or a DC unit of measurement with 24 volts. Pair doors over 400 pounds with at least a ¾-horsepower opener, or a DC version that's 140 volts.
4. Is a smart one for yous? Many openers connect to your abode's Wi-Fi network. While these come up with traditional remote controls and keypads, you can as well operate them from a smartphone app. Some work using voice commands through Alexa or the Google Banana, and use geofencing to sense when your phone is nearby—and then the door opens automatically as you pull into the driveway. Some manufacturers offer accessories similar security cameras, to see who comes and goes, or Bluetooth speakers.

Is the Wi-Fi Strong Enough in your Garage?

A smart garage door opener isn't worth much if your Wi-Fi network won't attain information technology. If a smartphone gets 2 bars of your network while standing in the garage, a smart door opener will piece of work. If your network is spotty, plug a Wi-Fi extender (about $60) into the wall virtually the garage to strengthen its accomplish.

An Arched Opening: Two Means to Exercise information technology

A rectangular door in a rectangular opening can suggest an curvation with a curved row of windows along the summit. But to create an architectural detail with depth and shadow lines, y'all accept to reframe the hole.

Curved Top

Pauli & Uribe Architects; Illustration: Ian Worpole

Platonic for homes with arched windows or doors, adding this graceful curve requires an experienced pro. Afterwards stripping off sections of the trim and siding, he'll frame the curvation below the header using three pieces of ii× lumber, ganged together or fastened individually, to lucifer the depth of the jamb.

Plywood sheathing with a matching curve gets installed on the front of the two× blocking assembly, which is and so finished with new flashing, siding, and door trim. Expect to pay $two,000 to $5,000.

Similar to shown: Custom wood door in Alder, from $8,500; Real/Arts and crafts

Clipped Corners

Shown: Thermacore Standard Panel steel door, Model 5470, in Terra Statuary, from $450; Overhead Door

Nat Rea; Illustration: Ian Worpole

These angled sides are often used to lend a home a farmhouse look. While simpler than adding a curve, the process is similar: After removing the corner trim and surrounding area of siding, a pro volition spike three lengths of 2× stock, one in front end of the other, to frame the angled corner detail.

Plywood sheathing cut to match goes on adjacent, roofing the 2× blocking. Then flashing and siding are patched in and finished with trim that follows the new corner item. Expect to pay $2,000 to $iii,000.

Hide or Highlight?

Nat Rea

The color you choose for your garage door will determine how prominently information technology impacts the look of your house. Investing in a semi-custom wagon-style door at the end of a driveway leading to a detached garage? You might want a color that draws attention. But a pair of street-facing stock doors on a facade might call for a shade that helps them disappear.

To downplay garage doors, paint them the body color of your house, suggests Denver-based architect Doug Walter; "that mode they'll alloy in with the walls."

To characteristic garage doors, paint them the house's trim colour—or make them really pop with a highlight color, similar the one on windows, shutters, or the entry door. The look of stained wood usually stands out, besides, especially against masonry walls.

Need to Buy Some Fourth dimension? Fix These Flaws

This Old House Painter Mauro Henrique adds the starting time coats of outside latex paint to a primed steel garage door.

There are a few means a handy DIYer tin can repair an existing garage door. Merely exist sure to leave structural repairs, like replacing a door section, and changing parts nether tension, like the springs and cables, to the pros.

• Worn weather seals: See daylight along the sides or under the door? Block air leaks by replacing the gaskets effectually the door with a dual-durometer conditions seal, sold at garage-door parts suppliers. While you're at that place, selection upwardly a replacement seal for the bottom of the door, a tubular vinyl strip you glue down on the threshold.
• Faded pigment: Updating the colour is a upkeep-friendly way to get a few more than years out of a door. Regardless of what the material is, starting time by lightly scuffing the confront with 150-grit sandpaper. Remove any dust, then coat the door with a suitable primer: Use a rust-inhibiting product for metal, and a h2o-based acrylic bonding primer/sealer for vinyl or wood. Fill up and polish any dings or dents using exterior wood filler for wood, vinyl, or blended doors, and Bondo on metal doors. Spot prime, and so roll on two coats of latex exterior paint.
• Wonky operation: If yous find you're pressing the opener'south remote command or keypad repeatedly because the door won't budge, the problem might exist the LED bulbs you lot screwed in there. Regular bulbs can interfere with the opener's radio frequency signals to the remote. Trade them out for LEDs designed for garage door openers.
• Squeaky hinges and rollers: Regular lubrication is essential, merely be certain to utilise ane of the products designed for garage doors. These go out backside a dry out lubricating film that won't attract dust and grime the fashion petroleum products can. Hit rollers, springs, and hinges every few months, and coat the tracks annually.

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Source: https://www.thisoldhouse.com/garages/22295873/upgrade-a-garage-door