It could happen to anyone. You're slowly cruising into your driveway after a hard days work, when suddenly your phone rings. It's your boss calling to tell you what an excellent job you did on the latest office project. You look down for just a moment to grab your phone, when, bang! You accidently cruise at a remarkable two miles per hour into your garage door.
The damage isn't too bad,
it's mostly just an unsightly dent. However, you soon notice that the impact has caused a gap between the bottom of the door and the asphalt. And you dread to think of all of the little critters that would love to scurry under that gap to live in your nice, climate controlled garage. You begin to think to yourself, “Well, that door was pretty old anyway, I could probably stand to purchase a new one.” But there are a few things you may want to consider before just hopping down to the hardware store and choosing any one.
When it comes to choosing a garage door, there are a number of different options. As far as material, you will likely choose between a wooden door, an aluminum door, or a fiberglass door. Before you go about choosing from those styles, there are a number of questions you might ask yourself. First, what type of material was your old garage door made from, and were you satisfied with it? Next, you might want to consider which material is going to be most aesthetically pleasing in comparison to the rest of your house. And finally (and this is the ugly one), how much money are you willing to spend.
Many people find wooden garage doors to be a great bet. Wooden doors are the most customizable of the bunch, as they come in many different designs, and are able to be painted. Some find it easier to match a wooden garage door to their style of home as compared to other types of doors. They are also very good when it comes to insulation. As wood is a very dense material, it is able to hold in heat or cold naturally better than other materials.
However, a wooden door is not without it's drawbacks. While the density of the wood means good news when it comes to insulation, it may also require bigger and more expensive springs to open it, or may even require a strong motor to open it automatically. Wooden doors are also typically more expensive than other materials. Wood is also a bit more difficult to maintain, as it requires painting, sealing, and staining.
Aluminum garage doors are perhaps the least expensive of the bunch. Basic aluminum doors usually cost under $1,000, sometimes a little more if you opt for an insulated door. Determining whether or not to opt for the insulation all depends on what you use your garage for. If you simply use your garage for tools and perhaps automobiles, you may find that you don't have much use for an insulated door. Also, aluminum garage doors are considerably lighter in weight than other doors, thereby ensuring that you probably won't need a very heave-duty opening mechanism to lift your door. Aluminum doors are also fairly easy to upkeep, as they don't require very much maintenance.
Finally, you may consider fiberglass for your garage door. Fiberglass is a fairly light material, which shouldn't put too much strain onto your opening mechanism. Another benefit is that fiberglass can be designed to look very much like wood, which many find to be the most attractive material for a door. These doors can also be fairly dent resistant, as well as easy to clean and maintain.
They are typically less expensive than other materials as well. There are also several cons to a fiberglass door. First off, fiberglass is considered to be a fairly bad for the environment once disposed of. There have also been a number of reports about fiberglass doors warping and cracking, especially in extreme temperatures.
When it comes down to it, it's all about your personal and financial preference. There is no shortage of options when it comes to choosing from the variety of garage doors made available to consumers.
