It should come as no surprise that to many of us, our garage door is our main entry into our home. They are the most exposed element of the building to weather conditions, physical damage, and stress resulting from wear and tear. After all, your garage door has been sliding up and down several times a week for many years and has been battered by balls of all sizes, from baseballs to basketballs. They are a type of testament to your children growing up and the memories you created within your home. But before we get all sentimental about your garage door, let’s refocus. An outdated or damaged garage door can cause further issues both structurally and financially, putting you and your family at various risks.
When replacing your garage door, here are reasons why you should consider upgrading this crucial element of your home.
When it is time to say goodbye to your old garage door, you might be looking through options for the best replacement. There is a chance that you are in favor of sticking with the same basic model. Garage doors have indefinitely changed within the last fifteen years, and manufacturers keep up with the current trends within the industry and are more in tune with customer demands. After all, the face of curb appeal is also dynamic, and new upgraded garage doors can recoup the majority of the cost when reselling, even up to 95 percent.
Modern garage doors are drastically improved compared to the ones manufactured and installed a decade or so ago. Aside from the obvious bonus of aesthetics, today’s garage doors come in multiple layers of vinyl, galvanized steel, or composite covering foam insulation, requiring minimal to no maintenance. For those with a more natural taste preferring wood, the garage door comes as a skin covering the rail-and-stile structure.
In order for your garage door to meet the applicable standards in the field of thermal insulation, warm walls and tightness are necessary. The garage door takes up quite a large area, which is a way for heat to escape from the body of the building. A properly selected and professionally installed sash can close this path.
The panels of modern garage doors are even several inches thick and filled with insulating material, usually polyurethane foam or polystyrene. The tightness is determined by the joints between the segments and the gaskets around the perimeter. How effectively the door retains heat in the garage depends not only on its construction but also on the way it is opened.
Replacing your garage door is also an opportunity to enhance the safety of use. Manufacturers offer various modern solutions, such as fall protection in case of spring damage. The garage door with a built-in photocell will retract after the infrared beam is interrupted, and when equipped with the soft stop function, the door will not hit the floor when closing.
Security also means better anti-burglary protection. More sturdy models have reinforced profiles, rotary handles with a bolt, and rolling gates equipped with electromagnetic brakes, blocking the profile in the winding bar, which protects against levering the door.
When enumerating the arguments speaking for upgrading your garage door, we cannot overlook the issue of aesthetics. The appearance of your garage door has a big impact on the curb appeal of your home. An old, rusty, or scratched garage door is no decor for the building. Modern garage doors come in a variety of sizes, styles, and performances to perfectly match any architectural design of the residence. You can easily choose the one that will aesthetically please the eye and enrich the façade.
In order for the thermal modernization of your home to be effective, the entire project should be carried out comprehensively. Insulating the walls and roof, replacing the joinery, and upgrading the heating system are just some of the elements on the list. Garage door replacement for an upgraded version is another item that needs to be prioritized more often.
A garage door installed years ago usually does not perform as it did at the beginning, even with proper maintenance. You can try to eliminate minor defects, such as checking the hinges and opening mechanism when a noisy operation is an issue. If the rollers wobble during the movement of the sash, they most likely have to be tightened. When worn out, they would need to be replaced. It also happens that some elements of the garage door are corroded. When that occurs, they can be thoroughly cleaned and preserved in order to buy them a little more time.
What if your garage door is leaky or not insulated properly? Is the heat escaping rapidly from your garage? In those cases, you should not delay replacing your outdated garage door with a new modern model.
Everything wears out after a certain period of use. This also applies to the garage doors. There are several reasons for the need to replace the garage door with a new, upgraded one.
● The garage door is not tight enough – rain, snow, or even uninvited guests have access to the garage.
● Older garage doors without modern security are not adequate protection against theft.
● Wear of hinges – they are subject to damage and wear with prolonged use.
● Using an older garage door not equipped with automation can become a nuisance. Garage door openers are not a standard.
● Modern garage doors come in a wide range of aesthetic qualities – if your old door is chipped, rusty, and has other signs of damage, it is time to consider replacing it with a new one.
Periodic inspections of your garage door are the best way to ensure longevity, functionality, and proper maintenance. If you have any doubts or questions about your existing garage door, contact our experts, who will assess the condition of your garage door and provide you with an individual solution tailored to your home’s and family’s needs.
