Consider these 4 factors when buying a garage door

First of all, if your garage door takes up more than a third of your home’s facade, you need to make the right choice because it’s your garage door that’s going to complement or detract from your overall look. What’s more, don’t be surprised by the extensive choice of designs, models and colors available from manufacturers today. Okay, where should we start?

Choose the right style

Do you have a traditional style home? Or is it a contemporary or modern style? Or a carriage‑house style? Garaga has up to 23 different styles, which is 5 or 6 times more than was found 20 years ago. So with all these choices, how can you select the door style that suits you best?

Here are some examples:

• If you have a bungalow style (Craftsman) home, recognized by its low‑pitched overhanging roof, often one‑and‑a‑half stories, vinyl or wood siding blended with brick or stone cladding, dormers and large windows, your priority should be for a garage door with a similar cachet, like a door with classic embossed designs.
• If you have a home with a sleek, modern and contemporary style, look for a garage door having the sam fully windowed garage door, looking like a curtain wall, may also be suitable.
• If yours is a country, carriage‑house style home, select a garage door style similar to the arched carriage doors seen in the 50s.

Today’s garage door manufacturers don’t lack imagination. In recent years, they have developed new door designs to satisfy the varied tastes of consumers. Take a closer look at their full range of decorative windows that can give a door an individualized look. As well, they can even provide you with a custom‑made garage door.

Don’t overlook the insulation and weatherseals

Increasingly, the garage has become an extension of the house. As the size of yards has become smaller and smaller to avoid urban sprawl, each square foot of the house has become precious and we all want to maximize available space. Often we want to use the garage to make a DIY area, place a freezer or second refrigerator, store items that are used seasonally or store… our “junk” that we should instead give away to charity.

Did you know that with a properly insulated and weatherproof garage door, your garage would be 10° to 20°F (5 to 8°C) warmer than with a low or non-insulated door? Remember that each time you drive your car into the garage, the heat given off by the motor during the coldest weather will be retained thanks to a door with a thermal resistance value of at least R‑12.

Very often, the garage door is used as the main entrance for a house, except on the coldest days. With a properly insulated and weatherproofed garage door, you won’t lose all the heat that has accumulated in your garage. In addition, you won’t transfer cold, humid air each time you open the access door between the garage and the house.

How much maintenance will it require?

We all want a product that requires the least amount of maintenance possible… especially no need for painting! Even though wood garage doors have an appealing natural beauty, they require extensive maintenance every two years (sanding and a new coat of stain). Contrast that with metal garage doors which come with baked‑on paint exteriors and galvanized steel resistant to temperature fluctuations.

The other components of your garage door system should also be analyzed. As the saying goes, we all want to get our money’s worth. If we recommend one product that is less expensive than another, ask for an explanation. Ask us to give you the pros and cons. Do the strength of parts and their anchoring correspond to a product that should last for at least 20 years?

Have the entire door system properly explained to you and don’t consider buying a product that requires any regular maintenance you are not ready to take on.

Picture it before buying it!

Today, many garage door manufacturers provide a tool for virtually trying out a garage door. We have our Design Centre where you are given three possibilities:

• Design only the garage door you desire according to the size you are looking for. You can choose the model you prefer and even add windows.
• Choose one of the home models that corresponds as closely as possible to your architectural style.
• The ultimate: upload a photo of your current house or the one you are thinking of building and superimpose the garage door models that suit you the best.

Select your door style, try out color schemes and add windows or decorative hardware to it. Dozens of combinations are available to you. After you are done, save the choice you like best on your computer then show it to your family and friends and see what they think. You’re not limited to just one choice – you can save as many as you’d like. It’s easy, fun and inspiring.

Take a little time to look at the image gallery on the website you visited. It will give you even more ideas and help you narrow down your possibilities.

So, you’re ready to get started…

From the door style to its type of construction, including its R-value, its weatherseals, whether you want windows or not – there is no lack of choices or prices. If, after reading this blog, you still have unanswered questions, contact us at 905-684-8161.

You can visit us at our showroom. It will be our pleasure to explain the complete range of doors available and to advise you on the best choice to make. You can also send us a request for an online quotation.