Garage door differences

[JYR]

I recently purchased a home and realized over the weekend that the old fiberglass door is splitting and needs to be addressed sooner rather than later. It was on 'my list' but I am pulling the trigger on a new door by the weekend.

I had a local company come out and give me a quote.

The brand quoted is a 'Stratford 2000', insulated, steel door.

I am considering the differences of the internal construction of the door. There is a vinyl option and a steel backed option. -mind you this is for the backing of the insulation, the actual outer portion is steel. The R value is almost identical between the two doors.

Is one better than the other? There is an $80 difference between the two. The guy who came out and gave me the quote said it is really a personal preference. Both are durable, both hold up great, both are lightweight...

 

[kevinwilly]

The doors that are steel,insulation,steel are going to be MUCH better than the ones that are steel,insulation.

The vinyl backing on the insulation is SUPER easy to dent in. I had mine for less than a week before it got dented. Added to that, with the two layers of steel it boxes in the shape of the panels more and it'll be more rigid.

The metal gauge used is thinner on the doors with two layers of steel, but they are still stronger, just fyi.

I don't regret going the way that I did because it was around a $650 difference, but if it was only $80 there's NO way I'd consider getting the vinyl-backed door over the steel-backed one.

 

[gnpenning]

Steel back doors are much easier to maintain and keep clean. Must be a single wide door. The vinyl back is generally called thermo bond.
A good door manufacture will use the same gauge metal on the inside as the outside. Plus there should be a thermal break between the front and back panels and the end stiles.
The most name recognized door brand you could shove a pencil all the way through both sides of there steel backed doors.

Depending how you will be using your garage, do you have kids,pets,etc? They have a tendency to run into the insulation and damage it. If you do any welding and grinding, cutting wood and getting saw dust on the ledges that fall out when you open the door. The steel back will hold up much better. You can clean it with 409, simple green, etc

Check with the companies your dealing with for color options and price difference. I have 5 colors that have no upcharge in pricing. A door can be 30% of the front of your home and a simple contrast color can make a huge difference in the look of your home. Also they are metal and easy to custom paint any color you want. Easier to prep and paint before install.

As a side note many dealers carry everything in 10" radius tracks so they fit a wide range of homes. The wider the radius of track the better the door will open, the less stress on panels, rollers and hinges and longer it will last. I always put in the widest radius I can. The amount of space above the door opening to the bottom of the truss is called head room. I like to have 3" for an opener(unless it's a jackshaft). For example you have 15" headroom. You can use a 12" radius track and 3" for your opener.

 

[JYR]

The insulation is backed by either the steel or the vinyl, so its steel:insulation:steel or steel: insulation:vinyl.

I'll go steel. -and white is the color I'll go with. It matches my house and I am also adding windows to the door. The windows have the same design as the windows in my house, so it will look super good once complete.

And the radius is a 12" radius.

 

[upndown]

Metal front and back= Sturdier door period! Enjoy.

 

[exmaxima1]

The doors that are steel,insulation,steel are going to be MUCH better than the ones that are steel,insulation.

The vinyl backing on the insulation is SUPER easy to dent in. I had mine for less than a week before it got dented. Added to that, with the two layers of steel it boxes in the shape of the panels more and it'll be more rigid.

The metal gauge used is thinner on the doors with two layers of steel, but they are still stronger, just fyi.

In that series of doors the Steel-Insul-Vinyl option is 25 gauge, while the Steel-Insul-Steel option is 27 gauge on both skins. 27 gauge steel is very thin, and dents very easily. If there are any kids around playing in the driveway that door will dent quickly from bikes, balls, hockey sticks, snowballs, snow shovels, pretty much anything. Plus the overall thickness of the entire door is thinner by 5/8" which slightly offsets the potential gains in beam strength. Looking at just the skins in this case, 25 gauge steel is twice as stiff as 27 gauge (cube function of thickness), so even with 2 skins there is not much difference there.

I think I would get the base Stratford 200 and glue some heavier plastic skins to the inside if I was worried about denting the inside surface. I would sleep better....

 

[csp]

For only an $80 difference? No question, steel inner/outer

 

[kevinwilly]

In that series of doors the Steel-Insul-Vinyl option is 25 gauge, while the Steel-Insul-Steel option is 27 gauge on both skins. 27 gauge steel is very thin, and dents very easily. If there are any kids around playing in the driveway that door will dent quickly from bikes, balls, hockey sticks, snowballs, snow shovels, pretty much anything. Plus the overall thickness of the entire door is thinner by 5/8" which slightly offsets the potential gains in beam strength. Looking at just the skins in this case, 25 gauge steel is twice as stiff as 27 gauge (cube function of thickness), so even with 2 skins there is not much difference there.

I think I would get the base Stratford 200 and glue some heavier plastic skins to the inside if I was worried about denting the inside surface. I would sleep better....

Ahh. In that case it's pretty tough. Personally, I looked in Amarr doors and decided that I didn't want anything to do with them.

I'd really recommend that the OP look into overhead door co or Clopay doors. I ended up finding the best deal at Home Depot on a Clopay door. They have a local garage door place contracted to do their installs/delivery. I installed it myself in the end, but they were still the best price for installation out of everyone I talked to.

Amarr doors were significantly higher in price than any of the other options for a similar style door. They DO offer a lot of really neat carriage-house style options that a lot of people might want. But if you want a normal raised-panel style door there's better options out there.

 

[Crazy68Dart]

In our area, I like CHI doors. They have a very nice steel door, thermally broken to the inside. I think it has an R17+ insulation rating. I replaced an old wooden door with one of these and it made a huge difference with noise and ease of heating my old garage.

 

[bimmer1980]

I'll second the vote for CHI. I bought three of their carriage style doors (steel, insulation, steel, with a composite overlay on the outside for the carriage door style) and have been really pleased.

I had also bought one Clopay door and the hardware much much lighter duty than the CHI. And for what it was, it was more expensive. I would have bought all CHI doors, but that particular door style and size was not available from CHI.....

 

[HillsME]

I don't see a location for the OP but may be a reason the original door was fiberglass. I purchased a home out on the coast and it had two ugly fiberglass doors and I planned on replacing. After looking around at the newer homes with steel doors that already were rusting I decided to get some special primer paint and recondition mine. Now look great and will outlast the steel.