What Color Should Your Garage Door Be?

October 29th, 2012 Posted in New Garage Doors
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If you’re shopping for a new garage door, you might get lost in technicalities such as springs and openers and forget completely about one very important aspect. More than anything else, the color of the garage door can have an impact on the look of your house. The right color can blend and enhance, while the wrong color can make the entire house look off balance and strange. 

Most garage door manufacturers offer steel doors in basic colors of white, grey and beige. Wood doors are even more diverse, offered in natural wood stains and a wide variety of colors. Both steel and wood doors can also be painted, if desired.

 Color choice is easy if you keep a few basic points in mind: 

  • The garage door typically takes up a third of the front of your house and therefore becomes a focal point. If the garage door is bold or bright it will divert attention away from other aspects of the house, such as the front door, and will strongly emphasize the garage door. If the color blends it can make the house seem bigger, or help emphasize other aspects of the house, such as interesting architecture or a beautiful front entry.
     
  • Most homes have three colors: one for the siding, one for the trim and one for the door. In general, it is best to match the garage door with the siding.
     
  • For a little interest, choose a garage door that is in the same color cast as the siding, but a shade or two lighter.  If the house is brown, for example, use a cocoa color on the garage doors. If the house is brick, choose a color that brings out the cast of the brick, usually beige, blue or grey. 

Just like you would test a swatch of color for inside paint, try to test the color of your garage door before you make a permanent change.  Place a plyboard sample near the garage to see how it will look, or, better yet, experiment with an online program like Color-a-Home on the Better Homes and Gardens website.

 

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What is R-Value?

October 29th, 2012 Posted in New Garage Doors
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When shopping for a new garage door, you are bound to be hit with the question of R-value at some point or another.  This rating, usually displayed somewhere on the packaging of the door or on the manufacturer‘s web pages, usually indicates a number between 0 and 10 or 11, sometimes followed by a decimal point. 

In short, the R-value is a number that reflects the effectiveness of the door’s insulation, or how energy efficient it is. The number is derived from a mathematical formula that looks at such things as the thickness of the insulation and its chemical properties. Generally speaking, the higher the resulting number, the better the energy efficiency. 

But there are a couple of things to consider when looking at the R-values of garage doors. Some manufacturers base their R-value rating on a small section of the door’s center, producing a higher number, while others use the entire door, resulting in a lower number. The number also doesn’t take into account installation.  For example, a professional job done by a garage door contractor can mean a seamless, snug installation – and a more energy efficient garage door. 

If you need a rule of thumb to go on when comparing the R-values of insulated doors, go by this:  if you live in a moderate to temperate climate, seek an R-value of at least 3, while if you live in a colder, harsher climate, try to find an R-value of around 10.  Also, since high R-value doors tend to cost more, consider why you need an insulated garage door in the first place and how it fits into your home’s overall energy saving needs.

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The Purpose of Garage Door Springs

October 25th, 2012 Posted in Garage Door Springs
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Many homeowners believe that their automatic garage door opener does all the heavy lifting when it comes to opening and closing the garage door.  Garage door openers are convenient and work hard opening and closing the garage door, but the garage door springs actually do most of the work lifting the weight of a garage door. 

Overhead garage doors can weigh hundreds of pounds and without garage door springs, they would be very difficult for most people to open.  They would also be dangerous to close because as the door closes, more of the door moves from the overhead horizontal position to the vertical position.  As a result, the person closing the door would bear more and more of the weight of the door until it became too heavy and came crashing down.

The garage door springs work by taking up the weight of the door as it closes.  There are two types of garage door springs.  Extension springs are installed parallel with the horizontal door tracks.  Extension springs extend as the door closes and contract as the door is opened.

Torsion springs are mounted parallel with the top of the door opening.  These types of springs coil up as the door closes and uncoil as it opens.  Both types of springs must be adjusted properly by a trained garage door technician in order for the garage door to open smoothly without jamming.  When properly adjusted, a garage door opened about half way will remain in that position when released.

Garage door springs experience metal fatigue and will eventually break after a few thousand opening and closing cycles.  When one spring breaks, both springs should be replaced so that equal opening tension is exerted on the door. Garage door spring replacement is a common garage door repair.  However, replacing garage door springs is very dangerous and garage door spring replacement should only be replaced or adjusted by a trained garage door contractor.

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So Your Garage Door Needs Repair- Who Do I Choose

October 11th, 2012 Posted in Garage Door Companies, Garage Door Repairs
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These days more and more folks are remaining in their existing home due to deflated housing prices and a poor economy, not to mention a tight budget. As a result some folks are finding it necessary to contact their local garage door repair company. Garage door repairs are a very common occurrence and if you stay in your home long enough you’ll need to have your garage door repaired too.

Some common garage door repairs are the garage door coming off tracks, a broken garage door cable or frayed garage door cable, worn out garage door rollers, broken hinges, bent garage door tracks, a broken extension spring, a broken torsion spring, damaged garage door sections or an automatic garage door opener that needs repair.

A desperate economy calls for desperate garage door repair companies that will say or do almost anything to survive and gain your business often with you the customer receiving the proverbial, ”short end of the stick”. In order to avoid poor quality workmanship and rip-off repair charges it’s more important than ever to do your homework as a consumer. Not all garage door repair companies are the same.

Stay away from the allure of “free service call” or 50% off regular repair charges these are just gimmicks to sucker you in. A knowledgeable reputable garage door repair company will always provide you with some sort of free quote over the phone for your garage door or garage door opener repair.

Online reputation these days is very important so check that out and look for a garage door repair company that has been in business for at least 10 years or longer. The length of time a company has been in business speaks volumes and the shady companies can last that long.

Don’t be afraid to ask for detailed upfront pricing, after all it’s your money and you worked hard for it.

Blog post provided by Grayson Garage Door Company

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