Are you looking for a new garage door or building a home with an attached garage? At the present, making a decision is not easy at all. There are so many designs, materials and colors to choose from. Of course, you should make sure that the style of the garage door matches you home.
Still, even after vetting out designs that do not fit, you are still left with many options, each of them more attractive than the other. To help you out, we made a selection of the most popular garage door styles. In this way, you can understand the features and benefits of each model and, maybe, you will find it easier to make a final selection.
Garage Door Materials: the Starting Point
First of all, you should know what you want your garage door to be made of. A garage door Denver company confirms that the most popular materials are steel, wood and fiber glass composite. A steel garage door will offer the highest level of safety. On the other hand, wooden doors have classic look and are a good option if you want extra insulation for your garage.
Finally, fiber glass composites offer a mix of the qualities of the other two materials and make a good fit for modern homes. Each of these materials can be painted in various colors, have glass panels fitted into them or otherwise decorated.
Operating Modes
What really makes the difference between garage doors is how they open and close. In this case, you should take into consideration various factors, such as available space, average lifespan and maintenance requirements.
Here are the most popular garage door styles:
- Sectional Garage Doors
This is the most popular model of garage doors in the US. It consists of several horizontal panels, connected by hinges. The door is installed on tracks and uses a system of wheels and high-tension springs to move the sections up and down.
This type of door requires low maintenance and has a long lifespan. You need to have sufficient headroom in the garage, as the door will sit parallel to the ceiling when it is fully raised.
- Roll-Up Garage Doors
This type of garage door works just like window blind rollers. The door is made of steel slat sections, which roll up and down around a drum. Very sturdy and reliable, this kind of garage door is more often found in commercial buildings.
They are significantly more expensive than sectional doors, but they will also offer a longer lifespan and superior endurance to wear and tear.
- Side Hinge Garage Doors
If you want a traditional type of garage door, this is the best choice for you. The double doors swing open from hinges installed on the sides. They look like old-fashioned barn doors and are a great fit for ranch houses and other similar house styles.
Side hinge doors are the best choice for garages with limited headroom.
- Tilt-Up Garage Doors
Tilt-up garage doors consist of single solid piece that tilts around a pivot. When fully raised, the door is parallel with the ceiling and extends out of the façade of the garage. Thus, this model of garage door is recommended if you have sufficient open space in front of your garage.
A more complex version of this model is the tilt-up retractable door, which will fully retract inside the garage when open. However, it is more expensive and requires sufficient headroom inside the garage.