Choosing the Right Garage Door

Some things you should consider or know while shopping for a new garage door.

You have heard the saying “They just don’t make things like they used to.  In garage doors this hold true also.  THE PRICE OF STEEL has constantly been on the rise over the last ten years.  The garage door manufactures under economic stress and competitive pressure has had to find ways to lower the cost.

What they have done is. Design garage doors with less material using lighter gauge steel, less bracing, thinner parts, plastic rollers, and smaller springs.  By doing this door approximately they have been able to lower the initial cost of the door to your local dealer.

The average American home owner uses their garage door 8 times a day.  This adds up to between 2500 and 3000 times a year.  Door and access systems manufacturers association (DASMA) has set a minimum standard at 10,000 cycles.  What that means is shortly after the third year of use it could begin to fail. Point is that if you check the manufactures web site to find out that their entry level garage door only carries a warranty of 1-3 years on the operation hardware.  So why would they offer a 10-15 year warranty on the garage door sections but only 1-3 years on all the moving parts. That’s easy because they know without a doubt the moving parts will begin to fail sometime after the 3^rd year.

The cost of owning a garage door

Aftermarket garage door repairs are big business.  In California alone the aftermarket garage door repair is a230M business a year and is still growing.  Your most common expensive parts are the springs and rollers.  Many of the companies charge an average $250-$350 to replace broken springs and worn out rollers. Some companies charge as much as $400-$500 and up for the same service.  So if you purchase one of these basic doors with minimum standard springs and light weight hardware, you can expect to spend a lot of money every 3-4 years.  That’s just to keep your door operational.

Fix the problem before it starts

While shopping for your new garage door, ask your dealer how much the extra cost would be for extended life springs, which should be longer than 32 inches.  If they are 25 inches or shorter they are not longer life springs.  The difference in cost should only be about $50.00.  also ask for ball bearing rollers, a good estimate $60.00.  if you are going to purchase a non insulated garage door, tell your sales representative to strut each section of the door.  Adding the struts will give the door more strength and help in high winds, an extra cost of about $50-$60.