How to Balance Your Garage Door
How to Balance Your Garage Door
If your garage door isn’t sitting right, you may need to balance it. An unbalanced garage door can put a strain on the door’s system as well as create a potential safety issue, so it’s important to take care of your balance issue as quickly as possible. If you’re not sure whether or not you need to balance your garage door — or how to do it if you need to — read on!
Do I Need to Balance My Garage Door?
To see if you need to balance your garage door, simply lift the garage door a little more than halfway and release it. It should come to rest between three and four feet above the ground. If it stops lower or higher than this range, you need to balance the door.
How to Balance the Extension Spring on Your Garage Door
Use a step ladder to hold the door open and take pressure off the door spring. You will then move the spring depending on where the door needs balance. MAKE SURE THE SPRING IS FREE OF TENSION BEFORE REMOVING. If the door is going down too far and too quickly, move the spring one higher hole on the bracket. If it is going up too far and too fast, move the spring down one on the bracket. Adjust springs on both sides of the door so they are parallel to each other.
Once this is done, test the door again to see if it you have balanced it. If not, go through the procedure again until you achieve balance. Once you are satisfied, close the door and use a level to make sure the door is hitting the ground evenly on both sides. If it is not, adjust the spring tension.
Caution: many doors are now made with torsion springs, which can be very dangerous if not handled correctly. Please contact us immediately if you are experiencing problems with a torsion spring and our experienced team will be happy to assist you! To see if your door uses an extension or torsion spring, please visit the Clopay Garage Door Springing Systems guide.
Consult Continental Door for More Assistance
If you’re in or around Spokane, WA, Northern Idaho or the surrounding areas, Continental Door can help you with any of your garage door issues. If your attempt to balance the garage door is unsuccessful, get in touch with us and we’ll come down and take care of it without a problem.
In fact, if you have a garage door balance problem, we recommend calling us right away. Any garage door maintenance, even simple procedures, can put you at risk of injury and void your garage door warranty.
At Continental Door, our trained experts can fix your problem fast and right, and inspect your door for other potential issues that we can take care of right away before they become an expensive problem. We’re ready and waiting to help you resolve your garage door maintenance and repair issues.
If you have any problem with your garage door at all, contact Continental Door today.
Request Garage Door Repair Now
What Is a Garage Door R-Value?
What Is a Garage Door R-Value?
One thing you may notice when comparing potential garage doors is the door’s R-Value. But what is a garage door’s R-Value — and how important is it when choosing a garage door?
R-Value, Explained
An R-value tells you the level of insulation a garage door provides. Thus, it’s only an issue if you’re seeking an insulated garage door.
There are many benefits to having an insulated garage door. For one, insulated garage doors, since they have that added layer of insulation, tend to be more durable and damage-resistant than non-insulated doors. Naturally, they also have energy-efficiency benefits, keeping heat in during the winter and keeping it out in the summer, reducing your heating and cooling costs.
How Does R-Value Work?
Specifically, R-Value is a measure of thermal resistance to heat flow, or how well the insulation prevents heat from penetrating. This is a factor of the chemical properties of the insulation as well as its thickness. The higher the R-value, the better an insulator your garage door is.
If insulating your garage is important to you, you should seek out garage doors with an R-value of at least 8, which represents a 90% heat flow reduction.
When comparing garage doors and R-values, however, it’s important to note that higher values represent only an incremental increase in heat flow reduction. A door with an R-value of 12 has only 3% greater thermal resistance than one with an R-value of 8. A garage door with an R-value of 16 has only a 2% greater thermal resistance than one with an R-value of 12. Once you go beyond R-value 16, gains are extremely small. A door with an R-value of 32 offers 97% heat flow reduction. A significant number, but only 2% greater than an R-value 16 door.
For this reason, while R-value is important when assessing an insulated door, it should only be one of several factors you weigh to decide whether a particular garage door is right for you.
Order Your Insulated or Non-Insulated Garage Doors From Continental Door Today
If you are looking for a garage door in the Spokane, Washington or Northern Idaho areas, Continental Door is an authorized Clopay® dealer of both non-insulated garage doors and insulated garage doors with R-values as high as 18 or even higher. We can help you choose the ideal door for your home and your family’s needs.
To learn more about the insulated Clopay® garage doors offered by Continental Door, please take a look at the following resource.
To learn more about the many quality garage doors we have to offer, give us a call at 509-792-3098, stop by our showroom at 12718 East Indiana Avenue, Spokane Valley, Washington, or contact us online today.
How Does a Garage Door Work?
How Does a Garage Door Work?
The functioning of a garage door is something a lot of people take for granted. All they know is when they press the button on their remote, the garage door opens or closes. They may know that a spring is somehow involved, but that’s it. So, how does a spring-loaded garage door work?
Most of the time, you don’t really need to know. However, when something goes wrong with your garage door, a little knowledge about how a roller garage door works can be helpful, or at least comforting. Even if you’re not going to fix your garage door yourself — and most of the time, for safety and warranty reasons, you shouldn’t — it helps to know what should be happening. Here are the basics on how garage doors work.
Simple Guide to How Garage Doors Work
It’s really all about the torsion spring. The torsion spring is a tightly wound spring that has tremendous energy built up in it. At the command of the garage door opener, or when you pull on the door if it’s a manual-opening situation, the torsion spring winds or unwinds to provide counterweight to the door. This allows you to easily open or close a door that weighs hundreds of pounds.
The action of the garage door opener and the torsion spring allows a trolley to slide back and forth on rollers on a track hanging above the garage door. This pulls or pushes the door with it through use of a chain, belt or screw that moves when the opener is activated.
That’s really all there is to it. If your garage door is not opening or closing correctly, the problem is usually that a torsion spring has broken or become worn out, or the trolley has somehow jumped the track, so that the door cannot roll up or down properly. The problem could also be with the garage door opener, but it’s usually easy to tell if it is.
If you can hear the garage door opener trying to work but nothing is happening, it’s probably not the garage door opener that is the problem. Also, if you disable the garage door opener and you cannot open or close the door manually, you definitely have a problem other than the garage door opener.
Continental Door for Garage Door Repair in Washington and Idaho
Whatever your garage door problem is, if you’re in the Spokane, Washington, northern Idaho or surrounding areas, Continental Door can fix it. For more than 15 years, Continental Door has been offering the highest service in garage door repair and installation, and we’re happy to put our knowledge to work for you. If you have any problem with your garage door at all, contact Continental Door now.
How to Fix a Noisy Garage Door
How to Fix a Noisy Garage Door
Is there anything more irritating than a noisy garage door? The loud whirring, rumbling and rattling of a garage door every time it goes up or down — it makes you feel like something is very wrong even if it isn’t and alerts everyone in the house, also possibly all the neighbors, that you’re coming or going.
While it’s probably not realistic to expect that your garage door will glide noiselessly up and down every time you use it, or even that you’ll have it purring like a kitten, it shouldn’t be unbearably noisy.
What the Problem Could Be
If your garage door sounds like there’s a herd of buffalo headed straight for your living room every time you use or you open it, you need to do something about it. Here are some possible solutions:
1. Tighten Screws and Bolts
If you look at your garage door, you’ll notice there’s a lot of hardware going on there. Any loose screws or bolts could be interfering with the operation of your garage door and leading to excessive noise. Check all the screws, nuts and bolts, and if any are loose, tighten them with a basic wrench and socket set and see if that doesn’t solve your problem.
2. Check Your Rollers
Open and close your garage doors and watch the rollers to see if any seem loose or broken. You can also move the rollers back and forth a little bit manually to see if they seem to be functioning properly. Be sure to disconnect the garage door opener before you do this.
If you have a roller problem, you need to call in a professional. Untrained replacement of garage door rollers can be dangerous, and there’s a good chance the replacement rollers you use will be of poor quality. If you do call a professional to replace your rollers, you may want to request quieter nylon rollers over your existing metal rollers.
3. Check the Garage Door Opener
Many times, the source of most of your garage door noise is the garage door opener. A garage door opener with an old, failing motor that needs replacement can make a very loud raucous. If you determine that this is the problem, you will probably want to have your garage door opener replaced as soon as possible.
Annual Maintenance
Another way to avoid a noisy garage door is to make sure to have annual maintenance performed. Complete annual maintenance on a garage door entails lubricating all moving door parts with light household oil. These parts include:
- Full length of torsion springs
- Lift cables
- Lock hardware
- Bearing of sheaves
- Steel rollers — but not nylon rollers
It’s also recommended that you check for and tighten, replace or straighten loose or bent hinges. Checking the roller for worn out bearings, bent shafts or broken wheels is also important. Other key components to look out for are:
- Properly run extension cables in the sheaves
- Missing or loose bolts and screws from the door and track supports
- Bent tracks
- Worn cables at the bottom of the bracket button
Annual Maintenance Cautions
If replacing a hinge or roller, make sure door is down and locked, and only remove one hinge at any given time. It’s important you don’t attempt to repair a bent track by yourself. Any extension spring hardware, such as cables, springs, sheaves and sheave forks, containment cables or bottom brackets must be repaired with the door open, and should only be worked on by a trained professional. A spring assembly and wood anchor pad for torsion springs should also only be repaired or adjusted by a trained professional.
Contact Us Today
Continental Door Company sells and installs Linear and LiftMaster® garage door openers, considered by many to be the most reliable, efficient and effective garage door openers on the market today. If you’re ready to get rid of the noise and upgrade to a brand new Linear or LiftMaster® garage door opener — or if you need roller replacement or any other type of garage door repair in the Spokane or Northern Idaho Panhandle areas — contact Continental Door for a free service estimate today.
What To Do if I Lose My Garage Door Opener Remote?
What To Do if I Lose My Garage Door Opener Remote?
There are few things as convenient as a garage door opener. It makes getting in and out of your home convenient and safer – not to mention staying dry in rainy weather. What happens though if you misplace or lose it? How do you make sure that no one else can use it to gain entry to your home?
Make Sure Your Garage Door Opener Remote Is Really Missing
It’s highly likely that your garage door opener remote is simply misplaced. Check all the places where it could be, starting with your vehicle. Check between the seats, underneath the seats, and in the glove compartment. Also, look around in the immediate vicinity outside the car in case it fell out when you opened the door.
If you still can’t find it, think. Do you have another car you could have moved it to? Do you have a family member that might have borrowed it without telling you? Before taking more serious measures, make sure you have exhausted all possibilities.
If Your Garage Door Remote Is Really Gone
If you’re certain the remote to your garage door opener is gone, you should act quickly. The remote to your garage door is basically a key to your home.
The first step is to disable the remote. Press the Smart Button on the motor housing of your garage door opener. Hold it for a few seconds, and all remote and keypads will be deprogrammed.
Then use the manufacturer’s instructions to reprogram your spare remote, or purchase a universal remote and program it as instructed.
How to Prevent This Problem in the Future
One of the best solutions is thanks to new technology – a LiftMaster garage door opener with the MyQ system means that you can open, close, program and reprogram your garage door opener right from your phone.
As an added precaution, be sure to always lock your car doors, even if the car is in your own driveway, and avoid leaving the remote in plain view.
If you are in the Spokane area and would like to install a LiftMaster garage door opener or you wish to learn more about your garage door opener options, including the MyQ system, contact Continental Door Co. today. We have been serving the greater Spokane and northern Idaho area for more than 10 years, providing quality installation and service for LiftMaster garage door openers, Clopay garage doors and more.
Request More Information About Garage Door Openers
An Introduction to Garage Door Sizes
There are a lot of reasons to get a garage. Garages protect your car from the elements while also keeping it safe from thieves. They provide your home with extra storage or room for recreational vehicles. They make it easier to unload groceries after a long day at work. And they increase the value of your home.
No wonder then that the National Association of Home Builders reports that 61.9% of homes built in 2014 included a two-car garage. Another 23.5% were built with a three-car garage or larger, a significant increase over the 19% found in new homes built ten years earlier.
However, if you are looking to either remodel an existing garage or build a brand new garage as an addition to your home, you likely have a few questions. What is a standard garage size? How about garage door width? What is the size of a single car garage? Is there a standard double car garage door size?
Because of the wide variety of garage sizes, answering these questions is an essential first step for any proposed garage addition or remodel. That’s why we put together this introduction to both custom and standard garage door sizes.
Whether you are interested in figuring out standard single car garage door dimensions, commercial garage sizes or how much space you need for a triple car garage, we hope that this guide with take the mystery out of all of your garage size questions. Because in the end, we want you to have the perfect garage door size for your home or business.
Contact UsTable of Contents
- Standard Garage Door Sizes
- Planning Your Garage Door
- Further Thoughts on Vehicle Sizes
- Standard Car Size Estimates
Standard Garage Door Sizes
While the numbers of possible garage door sizes are practically limitless, there are standard dimensions for garage doors that are most common in new garage installations. By incorporating a garage door with a standard size, you can avoid the higher costs of door size customizations. With that in mind, here are the most common garage door sizes.
Single Car and 1.5 Garage Door Size: There isn’t just one standard single car garage door size, there are 3. Doors are either 10 x 7, 9 x 7 or 8 x 7 in size. However, keep in mind that an 8 x 7 size door is a tight fit for SUVs, trucks and vans. If you are looking to build a new addition with typical single-car garage dimensions, you will most likely be incorporating either a 10 x 7 or 9 x 7 size door. The 8 x 7 door size is typically only installed when the dimensions of a preexisting a single-car garage make a larger door impossible.
Furthermore, keep in mind that single-car garage doors make parking an RV or an oversized truck nearly impossible. Similarly, even a 10 x 7 door combined with the size of a single car garage will limit the amount of available storage, especially if you have a full-sized car.
In addition, some homeowners prefer a slightly larger 1.5 car garage to accommodate extra storage or recreational vehicles, especially if they don’t have room for a full two-car garage.
Double Car Garage Door Size: Like single car garage size doors, there are a number of standard size doors classified as doubles. The largest can measure 14 x 7, while 12 x 7 size doors are also available.
While these doors are called double doors since they can accommodate multiple cars, many people with large cars prefer to use a double-sized door even if they only intend to park one car in the garage. The same is true for those who are looking to use half of their garage for parking and the other half for storage.
Triple Car Garage Door Size: A full triple car garage door is rare. Most residential three-car garage door owners instead opt for either one double door and one single or three single doors. That way you can keep the rest of your garage closed when parking one car.
However, if you are committed to having one triple-wide door, there are ways to customize your door to meet your needs. This is an especially good option if you have an especially large-sized vehicle that you want to park in your garage.
RV Size Garage Doors: You may have noticed that while the width of standard size garage doors change, their height remains the same: 7 feet. However, those with extra tall RVs often require more headroom than a 7-foot door can provide.
There are a number of oversized standard doors that are made especially for RV owners. The most common door installed by RV owners is 16 x 8. However, keep in mind that these types of doors usually require further architectural accommodation. You may have a hard time retrofitting an existing garage that doesn’t have the required clearance.
Commercial Size Garage Doors: Finally, commercial-sized garage doors come in a very different standard size. That’s because these doors are designed to accommodate everything from moving equipment to a backed-in semi truck.
The typical size for a commercial-style door is 32 x 24. However, you must also take into account the types of trucks that will be regularly docking at your commercial site. While a typical semi-truck will easily match a 32 x 24 size door, there are a number of more specialized commercial trucks that may require another dimension.
If you anticipate typically accommodating standard-sized trucks, but know that you may occasionally need to receive deliveries from a very different sized truck, you should consider installing multiple doors on your dock, with one door being specially designated for the uncommon sized vehicle.
Planning Your Garage Door
Now that we’ve discussed many of the standard sizes, there are several other things that you should consider if you are planning to build a new garage with a new door installation.
Know What You Need: While a good architect or garage door salesperson would never pressure you into purchasing an ill-fitting garage door, know that most garages use a standard size. Because of this, if you don’t make your needs clear from the onset, you may find that you are dissatisfied with the fit of your car or the storage space within your garage.
The most common requirement is a larger size. Today’s pickup trucks are bigger than ever. Even standard-sized SUVs and full-size luxury cars may be a tight fit in the standard 9 x 7 door.
Furthermore, you want to anticipate reasonable future needs. If you do not yet own an RV, but you think you could very likely own one in the near future, you should consider installing a garage door that can accommodate a taller vehicle. If you install a new standard height door and then realize a year or two later that you also want to add an RV to your fleet, you will likely be stuck parking the RV in the driveway, as raising the height of the door could very well be impossible without tearing down the whole garage.
Think About The Whole Garage: You also don’t want to get caught up thinking only about the size of the door. One of the best features of a garage is its versatility. It is a great place for parking your car but it is also a great place to store things.
Consider this scenario: You only own one car, so you assume that you will only need a single car garage. However, you quickly start to fill your garage with other items, such as sports equipment, lawn mowers and other tools. Before too long, you have to choose whether to keep your stuff where it is or make space for your car.
Many homeowners benefit from owning a garage that can accommodate more cars than they actually need. If they are a two car family, they opt for a three car garage. That way, two spots can be used to park cars and the other spot can be used for storage.
This is especially convenient if you plan on storing lawn and gardening equipment in your garage, as most people do. By having a dedicated car port for you gardening equipment, you will find that you can easily access your tools when you need them rather than removing a car just to pull out your mower. Or worse, scratching your car because you are trying to squeeze a weed whacker through a tight spot.
It’s Easier to Make a Door Smaller Than Bigger: Even with the best prior planning, you may find that the size of your door doesn’t match your needs. Reducing the size of your garage door is much easier than expanding it. Structurally, this only requires building in a portion of your garage door opening and then installing the smaller door within the smaller space.
Unfortunately, very few homeowners actually want to have their garage door made smaller. Instead, they come to realize that their small door no longer meets their needs.
The problem is that installing a larger garage door isn’t as simple as cutting a larger hole. Garage doors require at least a foot of clearance above the top of the door. That’s because when the door is opened, it needs space against the garage ceiling to rest or else the inside of your garage will actually be smaller than the opening of the door.
Because of the way garages are designed, they usually aren’t built with space to grow, meaning they only have just as much clearance as is required to fit the original door.
That means if you do want to raise the height of your door, you may need to raise the roofline of your entire garage. If your garage isn’t detached and is built within the main structure of your house, you will likely find raising the roofline to be either impossible or so cost-prohibitive that it isn’t worth the investment.
If your garage is detached, you may find that raising the roofline is worth it, but regardless, it will be far more expensive than getting the taller door installed initially.
Further Thoughts on Vehicle Sizes
While you may agree that planning ahead is good, and making a smart investment is the best path for building your new garage, you may also still be unsure about the best size garage for the specific vehicle you own. To help you get a better sense of how your car may fit in your garage, we thought we would break down exactly how to measure your car and compare that with what other dimensions you’ll need.
According to Houzz, garage sizes haven’t changed, even as car sizes have. To put this in perspective, they note that the Ford Model T was 134 inches long, about 11 feet. Today’s standard sedans average at around 15 feet. That’s 4 feet of space that many garages don’t account for.
What guidelines should you then use when planning the dimensions of a new garage?
Space Between Cars: Obviously, this only applies to garages that are going to accommodate more than one car. However, keep in mind that with a single car garage, you will have limited space for storage or future growth in your household.
It is recommended that you leave at least 36 inches of space between your cars in order to prevent accidentally denting your other car with your door.
Consider Storage Furniture: If you are planning on using your garage for storage, at least in some capacity, you should also make sure to build storage furniture into your measurements.
Luckily, storage cabinetry for garages is very similar to kitchen cabinetry. Most garage cabinet systems are 24 inches deep, but if you have to work with tighter spaces, you can also find slimmer cabinets that are 12 or 18 inches deep as well.
Consult Your Car Manufacturer: One of the nice things about being a car owner today is that you can skip pulling out a tape measure if you want to know the exact length and width of your car. Just go onto the manufacturer website for your car and pick your exact model and year and you can easily find your vehicle’s specifications, assuming you haven’t made any drastic aftermarket modifications. Don’t forget to include the mirrors in the width measurement!
Once you have the width and length of your car along with the depth of any storage furniture you plan installing while making sure to include the minimum space between cars, you will have the data you need to make an informed garage design decision.
Consult Local Building Codes: While you may have an ideal garage size in mind, you also need to make sure that any future construction is in compliance with local building codes. Historic districts may have a limit on the size of your garage while other zoning codes have specifications on the minimum size allowed.
Don’t Forget the Lawnmower: While some homeowners opt for a storage shed for their lawnmower, many keep theirs in the garage. Depending on the size of lawnmower that you use, you may have a very hard time getting it out of your garage unless you’ve built in an appropriately sized space for it.
This is especially true if you own a riding lawnmower. If you keep your lawnmower against one of the garage walls, getting it out will either require moving your car first or having enough clearance beside your car to move the lawnmower out with the car still parked.
If you are choosing to use one of your available car ports for storage, this is a great place to keep your lawnmower. Even the largest lawnmower designed for home use is much smaller than a car, so you will have plenty of space for storage in front of where you park your mower.
Standard Car Size Estimates
Although you should use the specifications of your car if possible, if you are building a garage that you want to be accommodating for potential future purchases, it may be helpful to have a sense of the average size of cars of various classes.
Vans and SUVs:
These are the largest cars in the typical family fleet. They are usually 6 to 7 feet wide, 16 to 19 feet long and 5 to 6 feet high. Keep this in mind if you are considering the smaller 8 x 7 foot door. A 7 foot wide van will be a very tight fit in one of these smaller entries.
Standard and Luxury Sedans:
While they are not as large as SUVs, these large sedans can still be sizable. Furthermore, while scraping the side of any car is frustrating, scratching a luxury car can be especially costly. These sedans average 6 to 6 1/2 feet wide, 16 to 18 feet long and 4 1/2 to 5 feet high.
Sports and Compact Cars:
At the end of the day, smaller cars are easier to park in a garage of any size. They are usually between 5 to 6 feet wide, 14 to 16 feet long and 4 to 5 feet high.
Local Garage Door Installation and Design Planning
If you are in the Greater Spokane Washington or Northern Idaho areas, there is no better place to turn for garage door repair and installation than Continental Door Company.
We offer a wide selection of residential doors in every standard size, as well as commercial and industrial garage doors. So regardless of your design tastes or proposed configuration, you are sure to find what you need with us. Furthermore, we are experienced with custom door fabrication, meaning that even if you have specific needs that cannot be met with factory standard doors, we can take care of you.
Regardless of what design you choose, whether you are opting for a factory standard door or a custom made one, you can trust in our quality. We know how important our work is for the people of Spokane, whether they are business or homeowners.
Whether you are looking to build a whole new garage or simply want to give your existing garage a facelift, contact us for a free estimate. Even if you are still trying to figure out exactly what your garage plans are, our professional staff are able to assist you with any measurements or planning, helping to make your job easier.
Request An EstimateView Our Guide to Understanding Garage Door Sizes
Transcript:
“Hi, Derek with Continental Door here, and today I’m going to go over door sizes. So you’ve got a one car garage — a single car garage — which is over here, and that’s defined off the width. It can be anywhere from as small as seven, eight, nine, or ten feet. This one over here is a ten wide, that’s a single car, and then a car and a half garage is something that is in between there. It’s not quite a two car, like over here — an eighteen by eight, it’s a twelve or a fourteen or something in between where it’s kind of a car and a half, it’s not quite a one car or a two car. A two car garage is anything greater than sixteen or eighteen [feet] that you can park two cars in. Thank you for watching! For any questions, please feel free to call us or check us out online.”
Request Information About Garage Doors
Updated: 05/22/2019
Why Insulate a Garage
Why Insulate a Garage
While many people understand the importance of a high-functioning, aesthetically appealing garage door, few think about the garage door insulation. There are many reasons to make sure your garage is better insulated, but one of the most important is energy savings.
Using Your Garage as a Workspace
Not everyone heats their garage, but there are certain situations where it might be necessary. For example, if part of your garage doubles as a workspace, having heat in the garage is vital so you can continue working even in the cold.
Garage Storage
The garage often is used for storage of items, some of which aren’t meant to be exposed to extreme temperatures. Often the answer is to store these items elsewhere, but adding more insulation to your garage can at least help reduce extreme temperature fluctuations.
Losing Heat Through an Interior Door
If you have an interior door leading from your garage into your house and it is opened frequently, the garage can become an extension of your homes interior. By adding insulation, you increase the efficiency of your entire home.
Adding an Insulated Garage Door
One of the best ways to insulate your garage, is by replacing your current garage door with an insulated model. An insulated garage door can even pay for itself with the money you save in energy costs.
For customers in the Greater Spokane area, Continental Door Company offers a variety of functional and attractive insulated garage doors that can keep heat in and protect your garage’s interior from the elements. To learn more about insulated garage doors contact us for a free estimate today!
What Are Garage Doors Made Of?
What Are Garage Doors Made Of?
Your garage door is an important part of your home. It protects your house from the outside world and it’s part of your home’s overall exterior look, meaning it’s a big factor when it comes to curb appeal. As important as the function and appeal of your garage door is, you may not give much thought to what it’s actually made of.
But that can be an important factor, too. What is yours made of and is it the right material for your lifestyle? To learn more about the different types of garage doors and help you decide which one might be right for you, read on.
Types of Garage Doors
Wood
Wood is the classic garage door material. A wood garage door aesthetically fits in with the external appearances of most homes, and wood doors are sturdy. While a wood door can take a considerable amount of punishment, it also needs refinishing and repainting often to look its best over time. If you purchase a wood garage door from Continental Door Company, you can opt for paint or stain-grade wood, factory primed or finished painted. Available woods for garage doors include Hemlock, Cedar and Redwood.
Steel
Steel is a nice low-maintenance, low-cost alternative to wood. They’re also slightly more durable that wood. You may even be able to get one with a lifetime warranty. They don’t chip — although the paint may — but they can dent, and any scratches need to be handled quickly or the area can rust. Continental Door Company offers a number of appealing steel door designs, including flush panel doors, grooved panel doors, flush doors with windows and grooved doors with windows.
Aluminum
A good aluminum door is lightweight, dent-resistant, rustproof and highly durable. They seem like a perfect solution, but they are also pricier. Still if durability is critical to you, it may be worth the investment!
Contact Continental Door for More Information
If you are in the Greater Spokane area, and looking to make a change to your garage door, contact Continental Door Company today. You’ll find a wide range of door materials and styles, including many attractive wood, steel and aluminum doors. If you’d like to learn more about how cost-effective it is to replace your existing garage door, request a free estimate.
Contact UsShould You Repair or Replace a Garage Door?
Homeowners like you are understandably concerned about the value of their home. You have invested significant amounts of money, time and labor into transforming a house into your perfect sanctuary.
At the same time, you also want a home you don’t have to be constantly worrying about. You want to save money on utilities while also ensuring your home is safe and secure.
You’d be surprised at how important a garage door is when considering these issues. A garage door is an essential part of your home’s curb appeal, and its insulation is one of the most important barriers against heat and cold. It’s also one of the most important lines of defense against intruders — whether they are human or vermin.
Consider these statistics from garagewownow.com: 71% of homeowners who recently replaced their garage door cite the change as the reason for an increase in home value. This isn’t very surprising, considering that a garage door typically makes up 30% of the street-facing surface of your home.
But what should you do if your garage door doesn’t seem to be cutting it anymore?
If your garage door is old, functioning poorly or not energy efficient, you will need to decide if it makes more sense to repair or replace your door.
While repairs may save you money in the short term, you need to also consider the value a new door can add in the long run.
As you decide whether to repair vs. replace your garage door, take a look at some of our tips on the best way to make sure your decision is the right one for you and your family.
Cosmetics
The first issue we’ll address is cosmetics. Considering its oversized presence as part of your home’s appearance, the way your garage door looks is important. So what kind of cosmetic issues are there, and what is the best approach for improving the look of your garage door?
Garage door paint: The paint job is one of the most obvious and easily rectified issues with garage doors. If your garage door is chipping or drab looking, a new coat of paint may be all you need.
Additionally, if your garage door is functionally fine but you are looking to transform the appearance of your home, a new, bold color on your garage door can change your curb appeal drastically. However, you also want to be careful of using paint when you may have more serious issues.
One of the biggest concerns with old doors is rust damage. While paint may stop further rusting from occurring, rust damage can weaken your door, making it both less secure and more dangerous. So if you see significant rust damage, you should strongly consider replacing the whole garage door rather than trying to repaint it.
Damaged panels: If a single panel or section is damaged — perhaps from an errant baseball or inclement weather damage — deciding whether you want to repair it or replace it will depend on the age of your door.
If your door has only been recently installed, repairing a panel makes a lot of sense. First of all, replacement parts are readily available and can be ordered quickly and affordably. Secondly, the rest of the door is likely still in excellent shape, meaning the cost of replacement wouldn’t necessarily be worth it, since much of what you’d be replacing is still in like-new condition.
However, if your door is older, a damaged panel may be the signal you need to finally replace your door. If the door is no longer being manufactured, a replacement piece will likely be much more expensive since it may be hard to find or require custom fabrication. Additionally, your door may have a number of other issues that, combined with the damage, would make replacement your best option.
If you aren’t sure about which category your door falls into, a professional will be able to fully assess the damage and give you a better sense of what option is best for you.
Warped Door: As wooden doors age, they are prone to warping. This can become a significant problem as automatic doors need to be straight in order to move up and down smoothly.
In the case of door warping, your best option is garage door replacement. New doors are designed to be more durable and thus are not prone to this kind of damage. Furthermore, new doors are far more energy-efficient and secure than the kinds of old wooden doors that are likely warp, so you will definitely be saving money in the long run with replacement.
Door Design: Finally, you may grow tired of the design of your garage door. When automatic garage doors were first installed in houses decades ago, the designs were often more plain and purely functional — there has been a drastic improvement in garage door designs over the past decade.
Today, new doors come in a wide variety of designs, all of which are made to match and accentuate the exterior of your home.
Considering that curb appeal is one of the biggest factors in improving home values, a well-designed garage door can go a long way in making your home stand out on the housing market.
Functionality
The next thing to consider when thinking about whether you want to replace a garage door is functionality. In other words, how’s your door working?
While certain issues can be easily repaired, there are others that are symptomatic of much bigger issues. In some cases, a full replacement is in order:
A sluggish door: Have you noticed that your door is starting to move up and down more slowly than it used to? There are a couple of things that could be causing the issue.
First of all, your motor may be in need of repair. This is something that a certified technician can fix and is best left to a professional. However, it is also something that usually does not always require a full door replacement.
Second, you may have your motor set to its slowest setting. This is especially common if it’s a newer door. For safety reasons, the default setting on an automatic door opener is always the lowest. However, adjusting the speed is easy. Instructions for doing so should be included in your owner’s manual.
Third, your drive chains may need to be cleaned and re-lubricated. If you have experience with this kind of work, you can easily do it on your own. Simply clean away any dirt and grime that has built up on the chain and then reapply a professional grade lubricant. However, if you are nervous about doing this kind of work, a professional technician can also do this job — and will be able to perform other tune-ups in the process.
The garage door opener doesn’t work: Nothing is more frustrating than getting home with a trunk full of groceries only to find that your garage door opener isn’t working.
There is some basic troubleshooting that you can try. First and foremost, make sure the car opener has fresh batteries. If that isn’t the issue, check to make sure the motor switch hasn’t been tripped. The motor in the garage usually has a dangling handle. If you pull this handle, the motor disengages, allowing you to lift the door by hand. This is helpful if you have a power outage, but sometimes it can get accidentally tripped.
If neither of these issues seems to be a problem, then you may need a professional to replace the motor. There could also be a significant jam in the mechanism, which again is an issue left to a professional because of the risk of injury. The problem may in fact be serious enough that it would make more sense to simply replace the door. A professional will help you determine what makes the most sense for you.
The garage door won’t go down: While a garage door stuck in the up position may be caused by all of the previously discussed problems, there is one more issue that might specifically cause your garage door to remain open.
One of the most common safety features that are installed in garage doors is a photo eye. These are designed to immediately stop a door from lowering in the event that something, such as a child or a car, crosses in front of them. However, if they have been knocked out of alignment, they will respond as if something is always obstructing them, thus locking the door in the upright position.
While you may be able to readjust them by hand, if you are having trouble, a professional will be able to put them back in alignment.
Garage door opens and closes randomly: While it seems humorous, having a door unexpectedly open in the middle of the night can be scary. However, there are a couple likely causes for a randomly opening door, and some of them are easy to fix.
First, make sure your neighbor doesn’t have the same brand door. It is possible that both of your openers are operating on the same frequency, meaning when they open their door, they’re inadvertently opening yours as well.
Next, make sure you don’t have a spare transmitter stored in a drawer somewhere. If there are other things piled on top of it, their weight may be accidentally setting the transmitter off.
If neither of these issues are the cause, you may need to call a professional to repair.
Learn More About Garage Door Openers
Energy Efficiency
We put a lot of time and energy into insulating our homes. Yet we often forget to think about insulation in our garage.
If you have an old door, especially a metal door, you might as well keep your garage door open all winter. They are usually poorly insulated, thus letting all of the warm air out, and increasing the cost on energy bills.
This is one of the biggest motivators for replacing your garage door. In fact, by focusing on energy efficiency, you could actually save yourself money in the long run.
Consider these statistics from Clopay® Garage Doors. An energy-efficient garage door can reduce your energy loss by around 70%. In the end, this results in an unheated garage staying 10 to 20 degrees warmer in the winter.
These doors work better because they have been designed with the latest in energy-efficient technology in mind. Using either expanded polystyrene or polyurethane insulation, these doors receive remarkably high ratings in regards to “R-values,” the unit used to measure energy efficiency.
This is especially important if you happen to have a bedroom or other room above your garage. A cold garage will disproportionately affect the rooms that are adjacent to it. Furthermore, the builders of many older homes were more aggressive in installing insulation within the shared wall between a garage and the rest of the house, but not the ceiling – especially above a garage.
By installing an energy-efficient door, you will immediately discover that your room above the garage is far more comfortable in both the hottest and coldest months.
Personal Safety
New doors have an additional advantage over older doors: They have better safety features.
Automatic stop switches and sensors are invaluable for protecting your family, especially small children, from inadvertently being injured by a closing door. Plus, newer doors are generally lighter, meaning they have less chance of causing significant damage.
While you may have used your old door for years without a mishap, it only takes one mistake to cause significant injury to either you or your loved ones. Is it really worth the risk? If you have an aging door, you should definitely consider contacting a professional in order to explore the safety benefits of a new door installation.
Increased Security
Finally, one of the biggest reasons to get your garage door replaced is security. An aging door can give burglars easy access to your home. A poor motor can also make a garage door easier to lift. Garage doors are often left off of home security systems, giving thieves a convenient entrance point.
In fact, according to Safe Streets USA, the garage door is the point of entrance for around one out of every 10 burglaries.
While there are clearly other security concerns, having an insecure garage door definitely gives burglars an advantage they otherwise would not have.
Luckily, new garage doors come with a number of robust security features that will stop burglars in their tracks.
Remember when we discussed the possibility of having someone from another home having an opener on the same frequency as your garage? Now consider what would happen if a burglar got their hands on a random opener and traveled through a neighborhood looking to see if it matched a garage frequency. Newer garage openers are designed to prevent unsecured entry.
Similarly, newer doors lock more firmly, meaning even if someone has a tool, it will be much less likely they can force your door open.
And of course, when you install a new garage door, this is the best opportunity for integrating your garage into your existing security system.
Ultimately, this can be one of the most important features of a garage door — let alone any door — in your home. You want to be able to sleep easy at night, and robust security helps to ensure you do.
So if you’re worried about someone breaking into your home and you want to see if a new door will make your residence more secure, contact a sales representative or design specialist. They will be able to go over your options and help you decide which type of garage door is the best fit for your needs.
Replace or Repair, Continental Door is Your Best Bet
Now that we’ve discussed the many reasons to either repair or replace your garage door, it’s time to start thinking about who is the best option for helping you make the transformation.
Fortunately, here in the Greater Spokane area, you can count on Continental Door for all your garage door repair or replacement needs!
When it comes to service and repair, no one has the experience and know-how that we do. We have spent years earning a reputation as Spokane’s quickest response team, helping you get your garage door working again as soon as possible. Furthermore, we have a wide range of experience, meaning there isn’t a problem we haven’t seen. Whether you need a garage spring replaced or a garage motor repaired, we get it done right the first time.
Learn More About Garage Door Repair
Plus, no matter how old your door is, our custom fabrication shop is prepared to provide you with the part or door section you need to make your garage door look good as new.
We even provide commercial garage door maintenance and repair. Our team has what it takes to get your operation back up and running!
However, if you have decided that it’s time for a new door installation, our selection of expertly designed, energy-efficient and high-quality doors cannot be beat!
We are proud to feature Clopay® garage doors, rated the #1 rated garage door company among dealers and made in the United States. This is a brand that we trust because they have combined unrivaled quality with a commitment to innovation.
For example, when it comes to energy efficiency, no company offers more insulation options and WindCode® compliant doors than Clopay®. Plus, their wide range of designs mean you are guaranteed to find a door that perfectly matches the exterior look of your home. With a number of different finishes and materials, each door stands out as a statement of quality and luxury.
So if you are interested in exploring what a newly installed door can do for you and your home, our expert design and installation team is ready to help you find your perfect garage door match.
We also offer a wide range of commercial doors, each one designed with business and durability in mind. Whether you are looking to install new doors on a loading dock, modular interior wall doors or even coiling doors for a storefront, our commercial door experts are ready to help your transform your business.
Whether you are looking to repair an existing door or replace it with a new well-designed, energy efficient garage door, you can count on Continental Door to not only meet your expectations, but exceed them. If you are in need of a free garage door consultation or estimate in the Spokane, Washington region, contact us today. Our courteous and professional sales representatives are waiting to hear from you. So make your home more beautiful, energy-efficient and secure today with a garage door from Spokane’s door installation leaders, Continental Door!
