When shopping for a garage door there are four main types of materials to choose from. It is important to be an informed consumer when making large purchasing decisions. Therefore, here is everything you need to know about the pros and cons of each material.

Steel

Steel has a long track record of being used in garage doors since the 40s. Steel doors are stronger and resist twisting and kinking better than other materials.

When looking at a steel door, the most important part is its gauge. The lower the gauge number, the thicker the steel and the more resistant the door will be to dents. Always try to get a door with a 24 gauge.

Some manufacturers will not mention the thickness or will say “nominal” gauge. This means that the door is 30 gauge which is not what you want. You should never buy a door with a gauge higher that 27 as this is the recommended thickness to give you any lasting durability.

The only cons to using a steel door would be dents from hitting the door too hard and possible rusting if the door is not properly maintained by washing the door twice a year. They are the most popular door for use in both residential and commercial applications.

Vinyl

Vinyl doors have been out for around 20 years, but because of low customer satisfaction many installers have stopped selling them. Vinyl is much more elastic than wood or steel which means it expands more in warm temperature and shrinks more in cold temperature.

If you live in an area with variable temperatures and legitimate seasons, you should never consider vinyl because over time the front of your door will be in bad shape with holes and warping.

You should only consider a vinyl door if you live in an area where it is consistently warm and weather changes are not common.

Wood

From the early 50s through the mid-80s, wood doors were most common. They were usually constructed with horizontal wooden rails and vertical styles making a framework to hold floating Masonite (particle board) panels.

After taking a dip in popularity, wood is coming back as a popular option today. Some doors are combined with steel and other have wooden panels with insulation in between.

Wooden doors are considerably more expensive than other materials and take much more to maintain. Staining and painting is required consistently every two to four years.

Despite this, the aesthetic appeal and warm feeling of a wooden door is unsurpassed.

Fiberglass

Fiberglass doors have been around for over 25 years. Using a heavy gauge fiberglass, these doors can come pre-finished in a specific color or stain or they are available in a “stainable” version allowing you to stain the door in whatever color yourself.

Modern fiberglass doors have steel frames and insulation sandwiched between the front fiberglass skin. They can have a realistic wood-like appearance but don’t have the price premium that wood doors currently have. However, fiberglass doors do require a clear coat resealing every one to three years for proper maintenance.

In conclusion, steel doors are the most reliable, have the least amount of maintenance, and are the cheapest of all the materials. Vinyl doors are not recommended unless you live in an area where it is always warm. Wooden doors are the most expensive and require a lot of maintenance, but they have the best aesthetic appeal. Fiberglass can give you the look of wood for less money but still has more maintenance compared to a steel door.

Have more specific questions about a material? Let us know in the comments!

Thomas V. Giel Garage Doors serves the greater Pittsburgh area in all things garage doors. We have maintenance programs for both commercial and residential to keep your doors working like new.

Overview

Garage door weather trim is the seal between the door and the frame and it is made out of a flexible material as to ensure a snug fit between the two. The trim is an integral part of the way the door fits and maintains the temperature inside your garage. It is essential for both residential and commercial doors.

It should be installed so that it fits snugly against the door. It will not be air tight because the door still must be able to move up and down. However, the outer edge should be caulked against the building and should match the trim or the building exterior.

If you don’t seal the door properly, you will lose heated or conditioned air from your garage when the door is closed. Similar to R-Value of the door itself, the weather trim is designed to make the door as energy efficient as possible.

Installation

Weather trim comes in different sizes; normally 2” in width but you may have to use 3” trim depending on your door and how far away it is from the frame. If you have “fancy” corners on your garage, your installer should make trim adjustments.

A good installer will point out the adjustment and will place the trim behind the false corners making sure that the trim fits around the sides and top of the door. Verify that your door installers include the weather seal and the color matched caulking in his pricing.

Have a question about weather trim on your garage door? Let us know down in the comments.

Giel Garage Doors serves the greater Pittsburgh area in all things garage doors. We also have maintenance programs to keep your doors working like new after years of use.

Getting a new garage door is awesome! It opens quietly, provides light to your garage, and makes your house look spectacular. Despite that, over time your garage door will become sluggish, start to be louder, and may make you house look worse!

We don’t want you to worry about all of that so we created a checklist so you know when it is time to get your garage door repaired, serviced , or completely replaced. This checklist will work with residential and commercial garage doors.

Here is a picture of the checklist and a link to download below.

Save this checklist and go through it every three months to make sure your door is running the best that it can. If you have any of the symptoms on the list, please give us a call! Our best deal is the Annual Residential Maintenance Program which services your doors once a year for 3 years and its only $198!

Download the Checklist Now!

Giel Garage doors serves the greater Pittsburgh area for all things garage doors. We do commercial and residential services.

When shopping for a new garage door , one of piece of information that it touted around by the manufacturers is R-Value.

R-Value is a commonly used measure of an insulation material’s ability to resist the conductions of heat flow. While this is a fine piece of information to know, how much does it affect your door and what should you know in order to make the best decision possible regarding your door?

Here are the three most important things you need to know about R-Value.

1. Published R-Values are Deceiving

When a manufacture publishes a specific R-Value for their garage door, you must take that number with a grain of salt. Why?

Because manufacturers test this under controlled conditions in a laboratory, or a static test. They test one piece of the door in its center, not the whole door through the gaps where the heat loss would be the greatest.

Architectural Testing Inc., an independent laboratory, tested R-Value on seven different installed garage doors. They found that the installed R-Value is 35% to 65% of the manufacturer’s published R-Value.

2. Doubling the R-Value doesn’t double the insulation

As R-Values get higher, the number does not have a one-to-one ratio to the amount of heat flow reduction. As you can see from the chart above, doubling your R-Value from 8 to 16 only gives you a 5% increase in heat flow reduction.

Don’t be fooled thinking that a high R-Value will give you significantly better insulation compared to a door with a slightly lower R-Value. It will be better, just not double better.

3. Don’t choose a door because of R-Value

Only looking a R-Value is a terrible way to decide which door is the right door. When considering energy efficiency, make sure you consider factors such as tightness of fit in the opening and proper seals and caulking. These all affect heat loss and should be evaluated on top of the R-Value.

Ask for the installed R-Value of the door which will give you better impression of how energy efficient the door will be. Always make sure you get professional installation of your door to ensure that your door will be as heat saving as possible.

Have any more questions about R-Value, energy efficiency, or how to shop for a garage door ? Let us know down in the comments and tell us what other kinds of content you want published! Click here to learn more about our company!

Giel Garage Doors services the greater Pittsburgh area selling residential garage doors. We also provide maintenance for all of the doors we sell.