Choosing a new garage door for your Elizabethtown, KY home is about far more than finding the right door size and aesthetics. Garage doors play a significant role in insulating buildings. They often also serve as preferred, primary entrances. To select an option that functions just as good looks, be sure to make the following considerations.
Big Box Stores Can’t Provide End-to-End Solutions
It might be tempting to head to a big box store and take advantage of their ultra-low prices on standard garage doors and openers. However, you shouldn’t expect to find an impressive selection of even the most base-level products. Many of their options aren’t built to last, and most of these companies only work with a very limited range of manufacturers. More importantly, there’s no guarantee that the door designs, materials, or hardware you find will be streamlined to suit the needs and nuances of your environment.
Buying a garage door by yourself also means having to find a way to install it. Most big box stores don’t offer installation services directly, and many local companies aren’t willing to handle or guarantee products that they haven’t sourced themselves. You could be stuck working with a contracted third party and dealing with the hassles of getting your labor and materials from different places. Although do-it-yourself installation is always an option, there are a number of major safety risks involved. Keep in mind that substandard garage door installation can:
- Automatically void all product warranties
- Result in accelerated wear of key components
- Increase operational noise
- Significantly shorten a garage door’s lifespan
DIY garage door installation can additionally diminish all the benefits that purchasing a new garage door provides. A self-installed door won’t add as much value to your home, if any at all. It also might not offer the best level of insulation, and it won’t provide or maintain superior aesthetics. It’s always easier and more rewarding to work with a garage door installation company that offers a sufficiently diverse range of high-quality products and seamless, end-to-end solutions.
Protect Your Home’s Envelope: Find a Door With a High Insulating Capacity
Even if you don’t spend your spare time lounging around or working in your garage, your garage door will still have a major impact on your indoor comfort levels. Attached garages aren’t usually serviced by HVAC systems, but they still detract and retain heat from the building interior. For this and many other reasons, it’s important to consider the insulating capacity of different door designs. After all, it makes no sense to invest in efficient windows, seal up air leaks throughout the building, and optimize your heating and cooling equipment if the vast majority of your energy losses are coming from your garage.
Among the many current trends in garage doors are all-glass door designs. These look great from both the inside and outside of buildings. They also flood garage interiors with natural light to create bright, uplifting spaces. Best of all, with frosted, beveled, or opaque glass, you can still retain much of your privacy. The major downside to these doors is that they aren’t always well-insulated.
If your primary goal is to maximize insulation in this space, steel garage doors are the best choice. Steel doors will keep heat out during the warmer months of the year and trap it in during winter. While wood doors provide a classic look with natural texture, intricate patterns, and gorgeous wood grain, wood is the least insulating material available.
Although homeowners can always add insulation to their garage doors after installation, the best results are achieved with pre-insulated doors. Pre-insulated doors look better and offer a higher level of efficiency.
Ask About Ongoing Maintenance
Limited insulating capacity aside, wood might be your preferred choice due to its remarkable aesthetics. If you have a number of natural wood elements on the exterior of your home, a real wood door with a coordinating stain would certainly complement them. However, you should make sure that you’re prepared for all the ongoing maintenance that having a wood door entails, including:
- Wiping off all dirt and other debris every few months
- Regularly inspecting both sides of the door for blemishes and other damage
- Power washing the door annually to remove grease, dirt, and other grime
- Reapplying wood stain every one to three years
When these or other maintenance tasks are skipped, wood doors are unlikely to last the duration of their expected lifespans.
Steel and aluminum doors are a lot easier to clean. They’re also less prone to UV damage, water damage, and other problems caused by natural elements. For stalwart wood enthusiasts, there are many options in composite wood doors that look very much like the real thing and require far less maintenance overall.
Carefully Read Through the Terms of Garage Door Warranties
Manufacturer warranties on garage doors last at least one year from the date of installation and cover all repairs and replacements resulting from defective components or substandard manufacturing. However, when it comes to benefits provided, not all manufacturer warranties are equal. Some of these agreements have far more stringent maintenance requirements than others, and some cover a far more expansive range of functional, mechanical, and cosmetic issues. If something should ever go awry with a newly installed garage door, you won’t regret having carefully considered warranty protections.
Make Sure That Your Choice Is a Practical One
When you take the time to browse the available options in residential garage doors, you’ll find a downright dazzling array of products. In addition to the ever-popular sectional doors that are installed on most modern homes, there are barn-style doors that slide side to side, side-hinged doors that open outward, tri-fold and bi-fold doors, and even authentic-looking carriage doors. It’s important to choose an option that works well for your household and space. That way, if you park one of your vehicles in your garage but keep another in your driveway, you won’t have to worry about having your side-hinged door get stuck or cause auto damage.
Work With a Seasoned Installer Who Understands Your Local Climate
The standard garage doors offered at many big box stores work well in most moderate climates. However, they aren’t usually built for sudden hailstorms, long bouts of rain, or extended periods of scorchingly hot weather. Local installers offer climate-specific products that account for both recent weather patterns and the unexpected weather events that periodically occur in Elizabethtown.
There are many other practical reasons for working with local garage door suppliers and installers. For instance, if you’re interested in ramping up the value and marketability of your property before listing it on the market, a local provider can tell you which options will best meet your goals. They can also assist you in finding the right door features and attributes for achieving your desired efficiency gains.
We’ve been proudly serving Elizabethtown, KY and the surrounding area since 2008. We offer heating, cooling, and electrical services. We also provide a fantastic selection of garage doors and top-notch garage door installation services. To find out about our current inventory or to schedule an appointment, contact Absolute Services today.
