A new garage door is the perfect way to improve your home without exerting too much effort. While also helping add curb appeal to your property, a new garage door ensures better security for your home.
Choosing a new garage door can be quite exciting, but it’s not something you should rush into blindly. Contrary to what you might think, there’s actually quite a lot that goes into choosing a new garage door.
But don’t worry, we’ve compiled our best recommendations for choosing and purchasing the perfect garage door for you. Let’s get started.
Initial Factors to Consider
So, you’re in the market for a new garage door. As you might have guessed, there’s a few things you should consider before you buy:
1) What size do I need?
Not all garage doors are the same size. There is a standard range that most garage doors fit into (between 6 to 10 feet wide and 6 to 7 feet wide) but you’ll need to know the exact size of the space you need to fill.
Finding a garage door that fits your size perfectly will probably be quite difficult. However, some garage door companies (like us here at Garolla) can measure the space for you and craft a door that fits perfectly.
2) What do I plan to do with my garage space?
Are you planning to use your garage space for anything in particular? Car or tool storage? Do you plan to create a man-cave, or another internal living space? What your plans are for the space will probably help you decide on a type of garage door.
If you plan to store valuable items in there, like your car, getting a door that enhances your security is smart. Perhaps you’re looking to spend more time inside your garage. In that case, you’ll need to ensure your garage door helps the space keep warm.
3) Do I want to choose a specific colour?
Do you have a specific colour in mind for your garage door? Have you spent time and money decorating your property, and want your garage door to match? If so, you’ll probably want to involve a company that offers you plenty of colour options.
Are you planning on painting your external woodwork? Or having new window frames installed? These are all great ways to spruce up the curb appeal of your property. A new garage door that matches your aesthetic choices will only improve this further.
What Kind of Garage Door Meets Your Needs?
So hopefully now you have an idea of what requirements your garage door needs to meet. Of course, there are more than one type of garage door. Which of these types sounds right for you?
- Up and Over Garage Door
The old fashioned, manual tilt up and over garage door does exactly as it says on the tin. It comes in one piece, and tilts upward into your garage roof space when it opens. This is perhaps the most common type of garage door that properties are fitted with. However, these doors don’t offer much in the way of versatility. They are cheaper, and as a result you can expect a shorter lifespan for your door. Ideal if you’re on a budget, a manually tilting door is a standard, unflashy solution to a new garage door.
Additionally, up and over doors are not great for retaining heat, nor are they overly secure. They are a budget option that will probably serve you well for a few years before it starts to deteriorate. So in summary, manual tilt garage doors are:
A budget option that offers the bare minimum.
Not ideal for retaining heat, or for staying secure.
Will probably not last as long as an electric door.
Fairly easy to maintain until it starts to deteriorate.
- Electric
Electric garage doors are, as you might think, the modern alternative to old-fashioned garage doors. Available in a range of formats, electric garage doors are an investment that offers multiple, long-term advantages to your home. We’ll talk more about the types of electric garage doors later. The key things to remember are that electric garage doors are almost always custom-built to suit your needs. This means that they can be made to fit your space perfectly, and coloured however you like.
Electric garage doors offer multiple advantages over manual garage doors. For instance, due to their customisability, they are better at retaining heat in your space. They are also more secure, being much harder to pry open due to the electrical security systems they have. In summary, electric garage doors:
Come in a variety of formats such as sectional, side hinged, roller shutter etc.
Are slightly more expensive, but offer far more benefits
Are more secure, easier to operate and retains heat better than a manual door
Can be customised to suit your needs perfectly
Types of Electric Garage Door
Due to the range of formats that electric garage doors come in, a direct comparison to manual doors isn’t enough to explain their benefits. Here we delve into the most popular types of electric garage doors, and the benefits of each one.
1) Roller Shutter
Roller shutter garage doors are perhaps the mainstay of electric garage doors. Offering all the benefits we’ve already talked about, roller garage doors fold upwards into themselves, saving valuable garage space in the process. These garage doors are made of slats, which not only help it save space, they also help your security. These slats are designed in such a way that they will not move unless the electric system that governs them is activated. Some roller garage doors (like ours!) come with side guides that help the door descend laterally. This ensures a perfect fit between the door and the opening. This keeps heat in, and any security threats out. Interested? Go ahead and build your garage door with our online tool.
2) Side Hinged
Side-hinged electric garage doors offer a more traditional ‘barn door’ look, which is popular with homes that suit that style. Side-hinged doors offer a similarly good level of security as roller shutter doors, but they have a few drawbacks too. Chiefly, side-hinged garage doors need a lot of space in order to open and close. They swing shut, just like normal doors do. If you’re looking to save space in your garage, this might not be the right choice. But if you’ve got the space, side-hinged doors can be a very stylish choice. Because side hinged garage doors do not need to ascend or descend, the doors can be made extra thick and heavy to help your security. It all depends on whether you have the space.
3) Sectional
Sectional garage doors are almost a cross between roller shutter garage doors and manual lift doors. They are composed of multiple large panels rather than the many slats of a roller door. They function in a similar way, but instead of rolling up into itself, a sectional garage door will run along rails and position itself on the ceiling above the door, like a manual door does. This saves space just like a roller door, but needs to be installed into the ceiling like a manual door. As with all types of electric garage door, sectional doors are good for security and for retaining heat. They tend to be used as an electric alternative to the old up-and-over style, which is what they most resemble.
So which type is right for you?
Order your Perfect Garage Door with Garolla
Here at Garolla, we are the premium supplier of electric roller shutter garage doors. Our doors are custom designed to match the space available, and come in a range of colours. Fitted with our patented side guides, our garage doors offer a unique method of ensuring the perfect fit.
If you’re looking to insulate your garage and stop heat escaping, our roller garage doors are ideally suited to help you. Our doors come with a fully enclosed top box, ensuring it is protected against tampering. Operated via remote control, our garage doors are the ideal choice for ease of use, security and insulation. Take a look at our garage door product range .
Our all-inclusive prices mean that you pay for design, manufacture and installation, all in one, with no hidden costs. We operate through a network of expert garage door installers all over the country. So wherever you are in Ireland, you’re never far away from one of our experts.
Browse our garage doors today and design your perfect option, or contact our team of Garolla experts to book your free garage door consultation and home survey.