Your garage door is more than just a functional barrier—it’s an opportunity to showcase your personal style and demonstrate a commitment to sustainability. Eco-friendly materials and energy-saving innovations provide stunning beauty and reduce your utility bills. Click the https://www.jctzgaragedoors.com/ to learn more.
Real wood doors offer a warm, rich look that complements any architectural style and adds value to your home. Choose from moisture-resistant cedar, redwood and cypress for durability and customization.
There are many options when it comes to garage door styles, each one suited for different homes. A few of the most popular in Ohio and Michigan include traditional, Craftsman, bifold and slab doors. To find the right style for your home, consider the unique architectural features of the property and your aesthetic preferences.
Traditional garage doors offer a classic look that pairs well with most home styles. They’re available in a variety of colors and simple designs that allow them to blend easily with most color schemes and exterior finishes. For an added level of customization, they also come with window options and decorative hardware.
Inspired by vintage carriage doors, these products pair well with rustic and farmhouse-style homes. They feature wood panels with painted or stained buck overlays and divided window grilles. Some have a swing-out operation while others have convenient overhead operation. They can even be made with windows for a truly picturesque barn door effect.
Modern-styled garage doors are designed with clean lines and sleek finishes that suit a range of contemporary home styles. They can be minimalist and sleek or use asymmetrical patterns for an artistic touch. Many of them emphasize windows, adding to their visual appeal and helping to brighten the garage space.
For an elegant, understated look, consider a slab garage door. They don’t have section breaks like other styles and are solidly constructed of wood members or aluminum for a smooth, sophisticated appearance. This garage door style returns in popularity among some modern and midcentury-modern homes, making it a good fit for new constructions and renovation projects.
Similar to a sliding patio door, this garage door style slides on a track from side to side when open. It’s perfect for large openings and can replace an entire wall. While this garage door style has a lot of practicality, it may not be as energy-efficient or secure as other options. To maximize efficiency, make sure the door is sized perfectly for the space and uses a high-quality double-insulated model. You can also choose a glass-paneled option for a modern look that lets natural light fill the garage space, but beware of potential security risks.
Materials
Choosing the garage door material that’s right for you is an important decision. Each type of material has its own advantages and disadvantages, depending on the climate where you live, your home’s style, and your budget. Steel doors are a popular choice, but aluminum and fiberglass options also provide durability, low maintenance, and unique beauty. Wood doors offer a natural look that’s ideal for traditional or high-end homes, and wood composite provides a compromise between real wood and alternative materials. Fiberglass is resistant to moisture and corrosion, which makes it a good choice for humid environments and coastal areas. Finally, wind load doors are necessary for hurricane-prone areas and serve a more niche market than other types of residential garage door.
Steel garage doors are affordable, durable, and versatile, providing a wide range of design and insulation options. Unlike other types of residential doors, steel is highly resistant to impact and corrosion due to its galvanized finish and baked-on paint coating. This protection against damage can save you from costly repairs in the future. Steel doors are available in a number of different thicknesses to suit your insulation needs, and they can be customized with a variety of decorative touches and accessories.
The natural beauty and rich craftsmanship of wood garage doors make them a favorite among homeowners. Crafted from a wide range of woods, including moisture-resistant cedar and cypress, this type of residential garage door offers timeless appeal with an aesthetically pleasing appearance. Wood garage doors also serve as a natural insulator, helping to keep your garage warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. However, wood requires more maintenance than other materials and is susceptible to rot.
For a modern or contemporary feel, consider an aluminum frame garage door with glass panels. The panels can be glazed with clear, seeded, or rain glass and come in a variety of grille patterns. In addition, you can customize the amount of light coming into your garage by choosing from various window shapes and sizes. Insulated aluminum garage doors are also equipped with a Clopay Safe-T-Bracket safety feature and WINDCODE reinforcement for extra security in hurricane-prone areas.
Insulation
Insulation slows down the transfer of heat through a garage door, keeping it cooler in summer and warmer in winter. It also reduces the noise generated when a garage door opens and closes. In addition, insulation protects valuable items in the garage from damage due to extreme temperatures. Insulation in a garage also reduces the amount of light needed to illuminate the inside of the garage.
Most manufacturers incorporate insulation into the doors they make, using either polystyrene or polyurethane foam. This insulation is sandwiched between the steel layers of a two- or three-layered garage door. Polystyrene, commonly known as Styrofoam, is also sold in rolls and boards at hardware stores for do-it-yourself (DIY) installation. This type of insulation has an R-value of between R-6 and R-9.
Spray-on polyurethane is another option for incorporating insulation into garage doors. This insulation, which starts as a liquid and then expands when it is applied, adheres to the surface of the garage door and fills gaps to form an effective thermal barrier. It also adds strength and durability to the garage door, reducing vibrations and making it less prone to denting and scratching. The downside of spray-on insulation is that it has a higher upfront cost than other types of insulation.
Another option for incorporating insulation into a garage door is to use a vinyl-faced fiberglass batting kit, which comes in a roll and is taped to the interior side of the garage door panels. This kit has an R-value of about R-4 and can be purchased at most home improvement centers.
Polyurethane is a more expensive insulation product that can be injected between the garage door panel skins. Like polystyrene, it begins as a liquid and then expands to fill the space. It has an R-value of between R-6 to R-9 and adds additional structural strength to the garage door, making it more resistant to dents and scratches.
Incorporating insulation into a garage door is a relatively simple DIY project that can save homeowners money and help the environment. The key is to ensure that the rest of the garage is well insulated, too, to minimize the energy loss from the garage. If your garage is attached to a living space, it is especially important to insulate the garage ceiling and walls that share the same space as the residence.
Security
As well as the obvious physical security measures like locks and door sensors, there are additional steps homeowners can take to increase the overall strength and security of their garage doors. This includes things such as adding a padlock to the emergency release cord or even disabling it altogether (though this is not recommended as it could be dangerous to bystanders). Other considerations include installing frosted windows that prevent anyone from seeing inside, and reinforcing the door from the garage into the house to improve its resilience against physical attack. Finally, lighting upgrades such as motion-activated flood lights can provide a strong deterrent and also illuminate suspicious activity around the area.
The most important thing to remember when it comes to garage door security is that you need to create multiple roadblocks in a potential burglar’s plans. This means avoiding sharing your garage door remote code with anyone other than members of your household. If you must share the code with someone, such as a cleaner or pet sitter, then it should be changed regularly to avoid it being compromised.
Consider changing the code for your garage opener to something difficult for others to guess, and never leave a spare key outside the house, where it could be found by a burglar. Finally, it’s a good idea to use a deadbolt on the door from the garage into the house and to reinforce this with a solid core or steel reinforcement.
Keeping tools that can be used to break glass or doors out of the garage, and securing them in a shed with a lock where possible, is another useful step to increase your garage’s security. Also be sure to keep ladders, hammers and hedge cutters locked away in an outdoor shed or garden shed, rather than leaving them unattended inside the garage.
Lastly, making sure your garage door is up to the task by upgrading it with a high-quality roller door is a great way to make it more secure. For example, the new Qompact roller garage door has been designed and tested to achieve unrivalled levels of security, with a design that can withstand the impact of a sledgehammer.