When it comes time for garage door replacement, there are several things to consider. The first consideration is whether your entire garage door needs to be replaced. If your garage door is damaged, it is sometimes possible to replace only the damaged section of the door. Replacing only the damaged section of an overhead garage door allows you to save money.
If you determine that you will need an entire garage door replacement, there are several things to consider. The first is what type of material you should choose for the garage door. Garage doors are available in steel, wood and fiberglass. The decision of which material to choose will likely be based on price and appearance.
Steel doors provide a sturdy and energy efficient choice for garage doors. The major drawback of steel garage doors is typically aesthetics. While a steel garage door can be painted to coordinate with the rest of the home, it lacks the warmth of a wooden door. The great advantage of a steel garage door is the ease of maintenance.
Wooden garage doors are less common now than they were in the past. Old wooden doors are a typical reason for garage door replacement. They easily warp and need repainted frequently. Without proper maintenance they will not roll smoothly on their tracks. Wooden doors are susceptible to changes in the weather, and can swell or warp after exposure to moisture. For many people, the amount of maintenance required to keep a wooden garage door running smoothly outweighs the aesthetic appeal of a traditional wooden door.
A fine compromise between steel and wooden doors is fiberglass.
Replacing a garage door with a fiberglass door is an economical and long lasting solution. Once they are painted or stained, fiberglass doors are hard to distinguish from wooden doors, but they have many of the advantages of steel. Fiberglass garage doors are virtually maintenance free, are not susceptible to changing weather, and are energy efficient.
Once you have decided what type of garage door you will replace your existing door with, it is necessary to decide if the garage door hardware needs replaced as well. If the existing tracks in your garage are the correct size for your new door, it may be possible to save some money by only replacing the garage door. However, many people find that once they take the door down, it makes sense to replace the existing garage door track. By doing this, you prevent the possibility that a few years down the road you will need to take your nearly new garage door down and install new hanging hardware.