Do you pay attention to your garage door? Like most homeowners, you only notice it when there’s a problem – it doesn’t open when your remote control asks it to, for instance, or when it needs repainting. But, as with attractive landscaping, the visuals of a garage do matter for curb appeal or potential resale.
An attached garage is usually the part of the house that is closest to the street and the first thing people notice, especially with newer homes, so a dented or paint-flaking door doesn’t create the best impression. Add to that today’s oversized and even triple-car garages with RV parking, and this functional feature can make a bigger esthetic impact than you may think.
Longtime St. Albert business City Custom Doors, now newly-moved to bigger digs in west Edmonton, is all about overhead garage doors, which have evolved from wood slabs that chip and need regular painting, to maintenance-free metal or steel-sandwich varieties with R-values and urethane foam cores.
“Our work is new installation and renovations, and while sometimes there are architectural guidelines in new developments – colour matching, certain hardware, wood embellishments or windows – most homeowners go with a standard white door,” said Gary Henault, sales manager for City Custom Doors.
“Many garage doors out there are 25 to 30 years old, but parts wear out. Since it’s the largest moving component in your home, you don’t want to have a garage door come crashing down on you one day.”
Henault said most residential garage doors average $1,000 to $2,000 and come in almond, linen, sandstone, brown, charcoal and wood grain, and in styles to suit all types of homes – heritage, craftsman and shaker style, for instance, with decorative hinges, Tudor-style wood add-ons and even shuttered windows.
As with the most popular white colour, most homeowners opt for the standard double-wide steel door – six panels across for a two-car garage – no windows, no accessories.
While most home improvement companies are busiest in warm weather months, garage door companies take most service calls in fall and winter, when snow and ice buildup cause problems that need immediate attention. Door Surgeon services all those moving parts that tend to become problems in freezing temperatures – motors, door operators, tracks, springs, hinges and rollers – all the parts needed to move an overhead door smoothly up and down.
“We often get calls at the three to seven-year mark – people don’t think about servicing a garage door, but it’s like anything with moving parts that can wear out or need lubrication,” said J. J. Boisclair, operations manager for Door Surgeon. “An overhead door should be looked at every couple of years – to make sure screws aren’t coming loose – it’s just regular maintenance like any other major component in your house.”
City Custom Doors owner Curtis Barnstable said fall and winter are also his busiest times, and whether it’s an attached or detached garage, it’s the time when parts can snap more easily.
“We recommend having garage doors installed professionally,” he said. “It’s good peace of mind for homeowners.”
