Replacement Garage Doors-Stamped Carriage Door vs. Carriage Overlay

Well if you’ve decided that it’s time to replace your existing garage door with a new carriage style door because you’re tired of repairing your existing overhead door here’s some info to help you make a better decision and save yourself some money too.

Carriage style garage doors have become very popular since the late 1990’s and have significantly changed the appearance of today’s homes. Since the introduction of carriage garage doors your selection of garage door designs has quadrupled and the appearance has gone from mundane to exquisite.

Stamped carriage doors or stamped steel carriage doors are the most economical and generally speaking the most durable of the carriage style doors. Stamped steel carriage doors offer a variety of window designs and colors as well as insulation options, are durable and very affordable however they lack in design options. Stamped carriage garage doors are offered in non-insulated, add in insulation and sandwich style which is the strongest and best insulated garage door.

Carriage doors that use an overlay pattern offer endless styles and designs as well as insulation and window options. Creative ability with these types of overhead garage doors is only limited by your budget. Carriage garage doors that are made with an overlay can be constructed with wood frames and wood or composite design overlays or with a flush steel garage door and wood or composite overlays.

Long term the stamped steel garage doors will give better service with fewer problems because the material is all steel. Overlay type steel carriage garage doors can be troublesome because the base of the garage door is steel and expands and contracts at one rate while the overlay is a different material and expands and contracts differently. This difference in material will eventually cause a delamination of the garage door overlay material and once this happens the only thing to do is replace your overhead door again.

Commercial Overhead Door Repairs

Are you tired of the same overhead doors breaking regularly at your place of business? Are you losing productivity and experiencing prolonged downtime because your commercial overhead door requires constant repair?

Here are a few things to consider. A properly installed commercial overhead door should operate for many years to come with routine service and maintenance. If your place of business is experiencing a stack of ongoing repair bills, it might just be time to get a second opinion.

A second opinion could yield some interesting information and serve as a reference to keep your existing commercial overhead door repair company in check.

Often the root of continuous repair bills started with a poor installation of your overhead doors and the ongoing repairs are simply Band-Aids for the inevitable correction of the original overhead door installation. When a commercial overhead door is improperly installed it will result in premature breakage of hinges, fraying of overhead door cables, track, and wear and damage to the commercial door sections.

A thorough inspection by a reputable commercial overhead door repair company can point out installation points that need correction and with the proper re-installation of your overhead doors you can expect a significant, reduction in the frequency and cost of repair bills.

Unfortunately many of the commercial overhead door repair companies care more about their financial bottom line than yours. Most folks have come to expect regular breakdowns of their overhead doors and believe it just goes with the territory when it doesn’t have to.

A properly installed commercial garage door will provide years of service without being a major drain on your budget.

How To Choose An Insulated Residential Garage Door

If you’re considering replacing your existing wood garage door or steel non-insulated overhead door with an insulated garage door, I have some information to aid you in making a great decision for your new garage door.

Determine what overall thickness of garage door that you’d like to have; depending upon manufacturer you can find ¾’, 1”, 1 ¼”, 1 3/8”, 1 ½’ and 2” thick residential garage doors. These doors in my opinion can be separated into two groups, generally speaking any overhead garage door 1 ¼” thick or less is builder grade and 1 ½” thick or more is a professional grade garage door.

There are essentially 3 type of insulated doors and they are 2” hollow doors with add in or pop in insulation, sandwich style doors that are steel interior and exterior with insulation sandwiched in between or a foam back type garage door.

The hollow overhead garage doors tend to be noisy and tin can sounding when they open and close. When the pop in insulation panels are added the door becomes quieter and loses its hollow sound. This type of insulated garage door will provide some insulation quality and noise reduction and I would consider this product an entry level insulated garage door.

Sandwich type insulated overhead garage doors are the strongest and quietest of all garage doors as well as the best insulated and most durable.  Sandwich garage doors will normally be 1 3/8” or 2”, constructed with a steel interior and exterior and either polystyrene or polyurethane insulation.

Foam back overhead garage doors are really a builder grade insulated garage door disguised to look better than it really is. The foam back insulated garage door is basically a 2” hollow door with 9/16” polyurethane foamed in place and a poly vinyl backer. The gauge of the steel is decreased making the skin thinner and weaker and the polyurethane adds rigidity.

To sum things up if you are seeking a quality steel insulated overhead garage door pick the 2” sandwich door and you’ll be thoroughly pleased.

Blog provided by Sandy Springs Garage Door Company

Carriage Garage Doors 101 (What you need to know) Part 1

If you’re considering a replacement garage door for your home and you’re trying to decide whether or not to install a carriage style garage door here’s some useful information to help you make an educated decision.

First and this is a big decision, you’ll need to decide some kind of budget, the more elaborate the garage door the more expensive it’s going to be. Stamped steel carriage doors are going to be by far more reasonable than custom made steel carriage doors or custom wood carriage doors. We’ll talk more about this in a moment.

Next you’ll need to decide if your new garage door is going to be insulated or non-insulated, solid without windows or have some kind of decorative windows. Insulated carriage doors are offered in different overall thickness, R value and open back garage doors or finished sandwich style doors.

Sandwich style steel carriage doors are going to overall be the most durable and the strongest of the steel carriage doors, however your choice of designs will be more limited. Sandwich style carriage doors will also provide the best insulating qualities.

Stamped steel carriage doors will be the most reasonable and the most durable. Custom steel carriage doors are next in line, these doors usually start with a flush steel garage door, (insulated or non-insulated) and then have some type of composite overlay attached to achieve the carriage door look.

Steel carriage doors with an overlay will give you endless design possibilities; however there can be major drawbacks to this type of carriage door and the most important information you’ll need to know is whether the door is being built by a name brand overhead garage door company or is manufactured locally by your garage door installation company.

I’ll talk more about this in our next segment; remember doing your homework now will save you time, money and potential grief later.

Why I Wouldn’t Purchase an Overhead Brand Garage Door

If you are considering the purchase and installation of a new overhead garage door you’ll find that depending on where in the country you are located you may have as many as 12-15 different overhead garage door manufacturers to choose from.

I’m a big believer in the ability to select and choose the brand of product I desire and garage doors are no different. I also believe in purchasing a brand of overhead garage door that I can obtain parts and service from the company I choose and not being locked into one company.

Now the Overhead Door Manufacturing Company won’t like what I’m about to say but I think you the consumer should pay close attention. Overhead Door has a network of dealers across the country. Usually there is one dealer per metro area which means they don’t compete against each other, they only compete against other brands of garage doors. Now initially that sounds ok but here is where the problem starts.

Each brand of overhead garage door makes their garage door sections or panels unique to their brand of door. The garage door hardware used to be generic industry standard hardware but much of it is now proprietary. Since Overhead Door Brand products are exclusive to one dealer in any given area, if you purchase their product and later need a replacement garage section or hardware your only choice is to purchase from them. NO COMPETITION, NO Mercy, meaning you are STUCK purchasing from them at whatever price they want to charge you.

Most other brands of garage door manufacturers have multiple representation in every city which means as a consumer you have overhead door companies competing against each other for your business. Competition keeps people honest and pricing fair. Furthermore if you purchase a garage door installation from a particular company and are later unhappy someone else can compete for your replacement parts if needed.

Purchasing A New Garage Door Part 3

A very important decision to make when purchasing your new garage door installation is whether or not you’re going to have windows installed.

Older garage doors were mostly constructed of wood and quite often were installed with windows both for natural light and for decoration. These garage door windows were relatively easy to replace and inexpensive. Most homeowners could perform the window replacement themselves for under $30.00. Today’s garage doors are primarily constructed of lightweight steel and the replacement of the window glass can be very involved, usually requires two people and most overhead garage door repair companies don’t replace glass. These repairs are usually made by glass companies at a cost of $100-150 or more.

Your new garage door installation can be solid without windows, plain windows or decorative glass. Your basic decorative glass is really just plain windows with a snap in insert in front of them that can be painted to match or left white. Most of the really decorative garage door glass is acrylic which doesn’t break easily but does yellow and fade over time.

Another consideration for the installation of your new garage door regarding windows is security. Windows allow natural light and can add charm and character to your new garage door , however they also allow would be un-wanted to see if you’re home or not and a broken garage door window allows easy access to your garage and your home. Even if you have an automatic garage door opener a broken window will allow a would be thief to pull the emergency released and lift your garage door.

Think about whether or not you want your new garage door installed with windows and watch for new garage door installation part 4.

Why Buying From A Garage Door Contractor Makes Sense

If you have finally decided to replace that old worn out garage door, you may have been tempted to buy one from your local home improvement center.  While you may be able to save a few bucks this way, you are much better off buying a garage door from a reputable garage door dealer with experience in garage door installation and repairs.

When you buy a garage door at a local home improvement center, you either have to install it yourself or hire a handyman to install the door.  However, installing a garage door is much more difficult than it looks and improper installation will make the door unsafe and cause it to perform poorly.  In addition, garage doors use heavy springs under a lot of pressure.  These springs can be very dangerous.  Many people have been severely injured or killed by garage door springs.

A garage door is the largest moving surface in your home and proper installation is critical for it to provide years of great service.  A properly installed and adjusted door opens and closes smoothly and evenly, minimizing wear on your garage door opener. 

A properly installed garage door also maximizes your family’s safety and security.  Modern garage doors are equipped with safety features such as electronic eyes to detect obstructions and reversing mechanisms to reverse the door’s direction if it encounters an obstacle.  Unless the door is properly installed and these features are working correctly, children and other family members are at risk.

Finally, when you have a reputable contractor install the door, you can be confident that if any problems arise with the door that the contractor will be able to provide warranty repairs and support.  If you buy from the home improvement center, you’re on your own for any warranty work.

Should You Install Your Own Garage Door?

If you are in the market for a new garage door, you may be considering handling the installation of the door yourself to save a few dollars on the cost of the door.  Most home improvement centers carry a basic line of steel roll up garage doors that don’t look too difficult for the home handyman to install.  However, as they say, some jobs are not as easy as they look and installing a garage door is one of these.  Unless you have some experience installing garage doors, it is probably not a very good idea to try to do it yourself.

The main reason you are better off letting a professional handle the garage door installation is that garage doors have springs or torsion bars that help raise the door.  These springs or torsion bars are under a lot of tension and can severely injure you or even kill you if don’t know how to assemble or disassemble them properly.  It’s just not worth risking your life to save a few dollars on the installation of a garage door.

There are other great reasons to have the garage door professionally installed. I addition to the dangerous springs, garage doors are much heavier than they look and you can be injured trying to lift the door or if it comes crashing down while the springs or torsion bars are disconnected.

In addition, garage door contractors have a much better selection of high quality garage doors than the local home improvement store.  Also, the door tracks need to be properly aligned and the springs or torsion bars properly adjusted for the door to open and close smoothly and an experienced installer can get it done right.

The bottom line is that using an experienced garage door contractor to handle the installation will save you from a potentially life threatening injury and will result in a great new garage door that will operate smoothly for years.