Garage Doors

From wooden carriage doors to double steel sliding doors, there's a garage door type out there to suit every taste. However, narrowing down your choices can be tough, especially when there are so many options to choose from. The first step to picking the garage door that's right for you is to figure out what you want from it. Even if you already have a door that you're happy with, it's still important to know as much about your make and model as possible in order to address any issues that may come up. If you're thinking about doing a home improvement project, or you're simply hungry to know more, take a look at a few of the basic distinguishing features of garage door types.

Material

Most doors are made from one out of five materials. Starting at the highest price range, there's wood, a classic option for people who want style above all. Steel is also a popular option as well as a versatile one. For those who are more interested in a sturdy, dent-proof door that won't break the bank, there's aluminum, vinyl, and fiberglass. Each material can be customized, and each can be the perfect compliment to any home's style with a bit of sprucing up. Homeowners should also always consider the weather before making a decision. While wood can look great from the outside, it's also vulnerable to moisture-related damage in a way that steel or vinyl is not.

Insulation
For homeowners who are concerned about keeping the garage as a storage space for sensitive materials, getting an insulated door is a great choice. Not only does insulation help with temperature control inside the garage, it can also help keep a regular temperature inside the home. For garages that are attached to the main home structure, insulation can prevent cold air and moisture from escaping into the house by keeping it out altogether. The first step to keeping a garage safe is keeping the weather out. Even for homeowners who live in a more mild, controlled climate, the benefits of insulation still apply in moist or windy areas.

Safety and Security

A garage door's main function is to keep the garage safe. For this reason, many options exist to keep homeowners aware of everything that's going on in their garage, including who's allowed access, even from a remote location. Some garage door openers even use smartphone technology to keep homeowners aware of every entry and exit as they happen. Even if these kinds of security measures seem extreme, installing a newer garage door model always means putting safety concerns first.

Function and Style

For many homeowners, having an elegant garage door that compliments their main home structure is extremely important. While it can be tough to customize a door to compliment the home, there are certain things that homeowners can do to put style and neighborhood consideration first, such as choosing a silent belt drive system, opting for a side-to-side or sliding paneled door, or using sleek motion censors to make a garage door's function as elegant and noiseless as possible.