5 golden tips for choosing your garage door
For most of us, building or renovating will be a stressful experience at the best of times. First of all, there is the budget to watch like a hawk. Or not? More power to your elbow! And then there is the enormous choice of materials to make your mind up about. The possibilities, not to mention the options, are endless. Even the choice of garage doors is nothing short of staggering! But these few tips should help you to see the wood for the trees.
TIP 1. Start by choosing the material
We don’t want to exaggerate but sectional garage doors come in an amazing range of materials. For starters, steel garage doors. These doors consist of several sections, known as sandwich panels, and are basically a construction of 2 steel plates with PUR foam in between. Sandwich panels come in some fifteen different variants.
Next, you have the wooden sectional doors. These garage doors too are composed of insulated panels but their front is clad with timber. Here you have a choice between vertical boards for the rectory-style look or vertical timber blades if you prefer a sleek and modern look. Remember though that timber is not maintenance-free.
The third category of sectional doors is the most innovative one. If you have decided on the sleek look, your garage door can be incorporated into the facade cladding. Here, the materials are almost endless: composite, aluminium...
TIP 2. Decide on a colour
The days of a limited number of standard colours are long gone. Nowadays you can have your new garage door coated in any of the RAL colours. Better still, even the specific colour codes of the various window manufacturers are an option now. If you want to match the colour of your garage door to your PVC windows, your garage door can even be clad with the exact same film.
TIP 3. Customise your garage door with a range of options
In some cases, natural light will be a requirement. If so, fitting your garage door with windows may be the way to go. Windows come in any shape (round, square, oval...) and in any material (PVC, stainless steel, aluminium...). Tend to use your garage door as a regular entrance but don’t have a separate door? Consider incorporating a door into your garage door (or fitting one alongside it). A cat or dog flap, a letterbox... are some of the other options worth thinking about.
TIP 4. Open your door at the push of a button
Some older homes still have very heavy wooden doors, which take considerable strength to open. In a sectional garage door however, the springs do the work for you as they carry the weight of the door as it opens. And if you’re done with getting in and out of your car to open and close the door, simply opt for a motor and the door will open and close at the push of a button. The garage doors of today are extremely energy efficient and even come with LED lighting.
TIP 5. Opt for a safe garage door
Modern garage doors are designed with safety in mind. Because of their anti-finger trap design for instance, fingers can no longer get trapped in between the panels. And did you know that a closing garage door will automatically reopen a little if it comes into contact with an object or touches a person? If you purchase your garage door from a reputable manufacturer, your garage door is guaranteed to meet the latest safety requirements.
