Benefits of Steel Garage Doors
With all the options on the market for garage doors, making a selection can be a little overwhelming. You want something durable, attractive, long-lasting, and with a reasonable price tag. Does that even exist? As it turns out, a good quality steel garage door just might fit the bill.
Here is some information on the benefits of steel garage doors and why this type of garage door could be a great choice for your garage.
Built to Last
A quality steel garage door is built to last and should stand the test of time and repeated usage. After all, you may be opening and closing your garage many times a day if you have a busy schedule, and you shouldn’t have to replace a garage door very frequently.
The material, construction, and paint job on a good steel garage door should continue to look and function like new for several years.
When purchasing a steel garage door, check out the warranty: the manufacturer may offer a 10, 15, 20 year or even lifetime warranty, which gives you some assurance that they’ve built it to withstand use and time.
Weather Resistance
Depending on where you live, you may experience high winds, snow and ice, hailstorms and dampness at different times of the year. Your garage door needs to protect and insulate your garage, vehicles and home from the elements, all while withstanding damage itself.
A steel garage door shouldn’t mold, rust, crack, dent or warp when exposed to seasonal climate changes and storms. Other types of garage door material, such as wood, can expand and warp or even crack when the humid season comes around.
Scratch-and-Dent Resistance
A steel garage door is more durable than most other overhead door materials. It needs to do a great job and look great at the same time – and that means not succumbing to every ding and dent from student drivers, thunderstorms, and kids’ toys.
Galvanized steel is resistant to the kind of everyday wear and tear that can eventually accumulate and bring down the appearance of the garage.
Rust Resistance
Your garage door needs to hold up throughout rain, storms, humidity, and snow without giving way to rust. A rusted garage door not only looks terrible, but it can also stain the surroundings and weaken the integrity of the unit.
Repairs and replacements are costly and time-consuming, but a steel garage door may be able to help you avoid suffering rust damage in the first place.
Keep in mind that all steel garage doors are not necessarily created equal: you want to look for a good quality, heavy duty galvanized steel garage door with a good warranty to ensure that it’s made to stand up against rust damage.
Enhanced Security
Break-ins are common in the United States, and you might be surprised to learn that many of them occur via a garage door. A weak, old, or broken garage door presents a perfect opportunity to an intruder who could manipulate it in order to gain entry.
A steel garage door is tough, almost impossible to break, and built to last a long time, so a thief would take one look and move on. Remember though, even if you do purchase a steel garage door: even the thickest door won’t work if it’s open, so always remember to close your garage door when you’re not in there.
Getting the right garage door opener is also important when it comes to your garage’s safety. We recommend getting a smart garage door opener. It allows you to monitor who opens your garage door and close it from anywhere in your home with your smart device.
Curb Appeal
If you’re envisioning a slab of metal hanging in your garage, think again. Garage door design is at an all-time high for style and trends and a steel garage door can really enhance the appearance and value of your home.
While you can have something custom designed to go with your home and embody your style down to the smallest detail, you can also find something pre-made that fits your taste.
From vertical panels to carriage-style doors to windows to raised panels, you can purchase a steel garage door that really draws the eye to your home and elevates its whole look.
Color Choices
You don’t have to settle for beige. Steel garage door manufacturers create their units in many different colors for each style – and if you can’t find the right shade, you can usually order it.
Choose a shade either light enough or dark enough to really contrast with the color of your siding, and your home will look professionally designed from the street.
You can even purchase a steel garage door with a realistic wood grain finish for the classic beauty of wood, but without its tendencies to warp and require extensive maintenance.
Environmental Responsibility
We don’t like to think too much about what happens to our castoffs when we discard old items, but the harsh reality is that they end up in landfills and even our forests and oceans.
Sure, we might recycle and carry a reusable water bottle, but we should consider sustainable materials for our homes as well. Steel garage doors are mostly made from recycled steel, and if you ever get rid of yours, you can recycle it again. Wooden garage doors, not so much.
Low Maintenance
The last thing you want to spend your time on is oiling, restaining, repainting, or scrubbing at your garage door. With the time, effort and expense that goes into putting it up, it should take care of itself for a while!
Steel garage doors are a one-and-done process and don’t require any special care. While you can certainly give it a spray down with a hose or pressure washer while you’re doing some spring cleaning, it won’t take up much of your time that would be better spent elsewhere.
Cost Effectiveness
The benefits of steel garage doors are many, but that doesn’t make their price tag prohibitive. You can certainly spend some money on a top-quality, custom-designed garage door unit, but even those are cheap compared to a custom-designed wooden garage door.
As an educated consumer, be sure to ask plenty of questions when purchasing and installing a new steel garage door. Try to look at units in person or use photo simulations to find the best color and style for your home. Savvy shopping will ensure that you have a garage to be proud of for years to come.
