Since 1997, HomeTips has guided millions of homeowners with original, expert advice for DIY home improvement and repair. Founder Don Vandervort, a nationally recognized authority, has written more than 30 books and countless magazine articles, been a host on HGTV, and served as MSN's home improvement expert. MORE
An unbiased consumer report for buying steel, wood, fiberglass, and aluminum garage doors
By Don Vandervort, HomeTips
Is your garage door sagging, almost impossible to lift, or just generally falling apart? If it is, maybe now is the time to replace it with a new one that’s easy to operate and maintain.
Not only can a new garage door provide safe, secure, and easy access to your garage, but it also can renew and refresh your property’s overall appearance, particularly if it can be seen from curbside. Garage doors are made from steel, wood, fiberglass, and aluminum. Though each of these has its benefits, steel and wood doors are by far the favorites.
Where to Shop for Garage Doors
Most people find a dealer by looking up “Garage Doors & Door Operating Devices” in the telephone directory or on the Internet. Though some companies manufacture their own doors—particularly wood doors—most buy door sections from large manufacturers.
Some local dealers sell only one manufacturer’s doors; others sell a variety of makes. It pays to do your homework before talking with dealers by contacting major manufacturers and requesting product information so that you can compare features. Then contact dealers in your area.
Though some garage door companies have showrooms, most will send a salesperson to your home to discuss your needs, show you brochures from the lines they carry, and measure your old door.
Some home improvement centers sell a few makes of garage doors that are designed for do-it-yourselfers to install. If you buy a door to install yourself, be sure that it comes with complete and easy-to-follow instructions. Also be sure that the door comes with an extension- spring containment kit in the event a spring snaps—without it, such an eventuality can pose a serious danger.
Steel Garage Doors
Steel garage doors are much stronger and more secure than wood, aluminum, or fiberglass ones. Thanks primarily to new technologies that allow for embossing metals with wood-grain patterns, plus new durable coatings, today’s steel doors rival the look of wood without the maintenance headaches.
Steel doors won’t warp, crack, delaminate, or fall apart due to the effects of weather. And, because most are made of hot-dipped, galvanized steel that is vinyl clad or given a baked-on polyester finish, they don’t rust or require repainting as often as do wood doors. Most warranties guarantee the door won’t rust for as long as you own the house, but they do not guarantee against fading. On the downside, steel does dent and can be difficult to repair.
Premium-quality steel doors have cores of rigid polystyrene or polyurethane foam insulation. Not only does this insulation help keep the garage warm in winter and cool in summer, but it makes the door lighter, quieter, and easier to operate. Plus, it is less likely to sag over time.
You can usually discern a steel door’s quality both by its thickness and the thickness of its cladding. A premium door is often a full 2 inches thick, filled with insulation, and clad in 24-gauge steel. Less-expensive doors are thinner and made of 28-gauge steel (the lower the number, the thicker the metal).
Doors may be single skin, with a frame that shows from inside, or double skin, sandwiching the foam insulation between panels on both outside and inside. If looks inside the garage matter, the double-skin construction is not only much more durable but also attractive.
Weatherstripping is another measure of quality. The best-made doors have a full-width vinyl bubble weatherstripping along the bottom edge that conforms to the floor. They also have rigid vinyl end caps along the sides of the door panels, a vinyl top cap, and weather seals between each section.
Styles imitate those of wood doors—flush, recessed panel, and raised panel. You can also get metal doors with a horizontal, ribbed design. For an average-size steel door, expect to pay between $750 and $1,200 installed.
Wood Garage Doors
Wood is preferred more for its natural look, affordability, and easy tooling than for its durability. Because wood expands and contracts and can warp and crack as it weathers, it demands regular maintenance—repainting or refinishing every couple of years.
The easiest to build and most affordable type of door is a tilt-up wood door. In many cases, it can be built right in the driveway by applying a skin of exterior plywood—usually 3/8 inch thick—to a frame of Douglas fir, spruce, or a similar softwood. Or, the frame and plywood can be covered with siding to match the house.
This type of flush construction is quite strong, stable, and affordable. For a 16-by-7-foot flush wood door, you can expect to pay from $400 to $700.
Sections of roll-up wood doors may have either flush or panel construction. Flush sections are made by fastening a plywood panel over a wooden frame, like a small version of the flush door described above. For panel doors, manufacturers fit several separate, rectangular panels into a wooden frame. The skeletal framework is built of fir or some other common softwood; panels are made from a variety of materials.
Panels for a door meant to be painted may be flat surfaces of plywood or hardboard, or they may be three-dimensional raised or recessed panels. Cladwood, made from composites with resin-impregnated overlays, or wood look-alikes such as Masonite’s SureWood raised panels, are commonly used for the three-dimensional type.
Cladwood composite panels come with a 20-year warranty, but most wood doors are warrantied for only one year. Installed, an average-size (16-by-7- foot) paint-grade sectional door normally costs from about $800 to $1,000.
Appearance-grade wood doors—those meant to be stained rather than painted—have solid-wood panel inserts. These doors may be all cedar, redwood, or may have softwood frames with oak, mahogany, or other hardwood panels. When buying one of these, be sure to find out whether the panels are made from a single, solid piece or from several widths edge-glued together (since the joint between glued-up lengths may show).
Appearance-grade wood doors are the most expensive available. One with redwood panels will run about $1,500; an all-cedar or oak-paneled door may cost $2,000 or more.
Fiberglass Garage Doors
Fiberglass garage doors actually consist of an aluminum frame with fiberglass sections. Like aluminum, fiberglass is very lightweight.
Other advantages of fiberglass are its translucency and its resistance to the effects of salt air, which is why fiberglass doors are sometimes chosen for locations where light transmission is important and in corrosive ocean climates.
However, for more mainstream uses, fiberglass isn’t a very popular material because it is a poor insulator, it yellows with age, and it breaks relatively easily, especially when cold.
Aluminum Garage Doors
Aluminum garage doors have enjoyed many of the same advances as steel—wood-grain embossing and durable finishes are typical.Aluminum single-piece tilt-up doors are fairly popular because they are extremely lightweight, will not rust, and are relatively inexpensive—from $400 to $700. Unfortunately, aluminum has a major drawback—it’s very easily dented.
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