Which garage door should I go with?

[tomas21]

Just purchased a ranch style home and the two car garage door needs to be replaced. What garage door manufacture does everyone on this forum prefer?

I like the traditional look and after running through Clopay's garage wizard I came up with the following:

Raised Long Panel Steel Garage Door
White
Traditional Panel
Colonial 609 SSB Glass Windows (Long Panel)

Not sure which insulation to go with, garage door mfg, garage door opener, etc

Input is appreciated and I'm in Southern California.

 

[elsensei]

Just purchased a ranch style home and the two car garage door needs to be replaced. What garage door manufacture does everyone on this forum prefer?

I like the traditional look and after running through Clopay's garage wizard I came up with the following:

Raised Long Panel Steel Garage Door
White
Traditional Panel
Colonial 609 SSB Glass Windows (Long Panel)

Not sure which insulation to go with, garage door mfg, garage door opener, etc

Input is appreciated and I'm in Southern California.

i just had an industrial roll-up installed in my new garage. from janusintl.com. I've looked long and hard and I think it's the only way to go. Roll up doors save your overhead clearance from being filled with those flimsy tracks or the door itself. I have a sectional and hated it. It was one of the reasons I tore my garage down and built something bigger and better.

The Janus door rolls up like a roll of paper towels and the opener is practically silent since it sits in the drum that the door rolls up onto. Mine is 18 feet wide and 10 feet high, and i'm in san diego and it came with everything needed to make it code-approved. Plus it looks totally cool- i got it in a straight galvanized finish.

 

[Junkman]

Being in So Cal, insulation shouldn't be an issue. It isn't like New England where the cold is a factor. I would just check the quality of the door that you like. Some of the cheaper doors require a metal stiffener to be screwed to each panel so it doesn't sag when the door is in the up position. I would stay away from those doors, and try to find one that is more rigid as a result of more quality installed components. Check around with local door companies to see what they offer. I have found that the more recognizable names seem to cost more than some of the better built less known brands. Also check new homes to see what they are installing. Some of the upscale homes have junk doors, and other have quality doors. The best way to learn is to see what is available in your area. My doors were installed by a local company that does lots of new homes, but only sells quality doors. He doesn't sell the cheap ones because of call back problems. Also use only torsion spring installation, because springs are a thing of the past in quality door installations. If you are considering a lift, make sure that you specify that you want high lift tracks. I have the Lift Master door operators on all my doors and like them. There are other brands out there that are just as good. I like having one control for 3 doors, so I stayed with one brand door operator.

 

[AGBill]

I currently have two Raynor Styleform sectional raised panel doors on order for my garage/workshop. The door sizes are 12' by 13' 6" H and 16' by 10' H. These doors have raised panels similar to residential sectional doors and are a steel sandwich construction with R10 polystyrene insulation in between. I am using Liftmaster operators. These doors are good quality and you do get what you pay for in spite of other's rants on this forum. These doors are in the $2,000 to $2,500 range each.

I purchased my metal building without doors because the roll-up type doors that would come with the building are the cheapest quality doors possible to have the overall building price be competitive.

 

[VvvJRvvV]

My building was installed with Raynor doors. I really like them.

 

[tomas21]

Keep the input coming... based on what I have researched so far these seem to be the popular mfg (Amarr, Martin, Raynor, and Clopay). I'm trying to narrow down based on quality, reliability, price, style that I like, etc

 

[fxeditor]

Hey Thomas,

I too am in socal and just blew a rather big wad on a Amarr Calssica door ( http://www.amarr.com/steel_classica.asp ). Although cold isn't a problem here Heat can be during the summer (at least in the San Fernando Valley) so I opted for something insulated, and besides when I showed all the brochures to the wife she pointed to the Amarr and said "go with the pretty one". Quality + spousal approval is always a winner in my book! I should have around January 15th. I'll let you know more about it then!

Good luck,
Michael

 

[fxeditor]

Hey Thomas,

I too am in socal and just blew a rather big wad on a Amarr Calssica door ( http://www.amarr.com/steel_classica.asp ). Although cold isn't a problem here Heat can be during the summer (at least in the San Fernando Valley) so I opted for something insulated, and besides when I showed all the brochures to the wife she pointed to the Amarr and said "go with the pretty one". Quality + spousal approval is always a winner in my book! I should have around January 15th. I'll let you know more about it then!

Good luck,
Michael

 

[safetyfast]

I just had CHI put on my new house. They are much nicer than the Clopay on my current house.

 

[BlackLead]

If you're looking at the Clopay doors, then you'll probably want to also take a look at the Holmes doors, as they are the same. In my neck of the woods, Home Depot carries the Clopay, and Lowes handles the Holmes. But the Clopay at HD was more expensive than the Holmes at Lowes, and the nice (and probably uninformed) people at HD told me I couldn't get the EZ-set torsion springs with the Clopay units. I went with the LG series Holmes doors with the EZ-set torsion springs, but I have yet to install them.

FYI, Amarr doors are also sold under the Reliabilt name carried by Lowes.

 

[tomas21]

BlackLead, please let me know how your installation goes... I have access to numerous vendors that carry a wide variety of doors and am curious about the quality of the Holmes versus Clopay. I believe Holmes is actually made by Clopay.

 

[KenBaker]

I purchased two Clopay Doors from Lowe's. The first one was an insulated 16'x7' that had been sitting outside and the box had fell apart because of the water. I purchased it for 350.00 and was originally 750.00. The second was a 8'x6' that was not insulated that I got for 140.00. I took the non-insulated doors and glued foam insulation on the inside of it. This prevented dings in the door from the inside.

 

[BlackLead]

Well, I made a bold start to hanging one of the doors, but didn't get very far. For some reason I'm having trouble getting the track to behave like I think it should, per the instructions. I can't figure out whether the vertical track is supposed to be truly vertical, or if it's supposed to lean back slightly from the door opening, from bottom to top. I'll have to study it more. If anyone knows, please chime in. As far as Holmes and Clopay, the Holmes warranty card has Clopay on it, so yeah, I'm thinking they're the same.

 

[nova65ss]

Well, I made a bold start to hanging one of the doors, but didn't get very far. For some reason I'm having trouble getting the track to behave like I think it should, per the instructions. I can't figure out whether the vertical track is supposed to be truly vertical, or if it's supposed to lean back slightly from the door opening, from bottom to top. I'll have to study it more. If anyone knows, please chime in. As far as Holmes and Clopay, the Holmes warranty card has Clopay on it, so yeah, I'm thinking they're the same.

It will lean back as it goes up, that is why they make different # hinges. There should be an inch or so gap between the track and jamb at the bottom and about 2" or so at the top.

Jimmy

 

[NEPA_Z]

Cheap-door advantage:

When I built my home a couple years ago I specified two very good 16x7's. What got delivered by accident were two 'builder grade' doors which are lightly insulated but otherwise inexpensive with an unsealed lap joint instead of T&G. No one spotted it until they were installed, so the builder credited me and offered to exchange them whenever I wanted.

After one winter I realized it was actually a good thing. My previous garage was very tight with a very good (Raynor?) door, but because of that I had a moisture problem when putting snowy / slushy cars inside. You had to crack one or more windows and the storage attic door to avoid fogging the glass, etc, when everything melted - a real headache throughout the winter and something I hated when the daily drivers were parked alongside the 'toys.'

Because these cheap doors leak, I never have a moisture problem in the new garage despite it being tight otherwise. Everything dries out nicely. I only heat it when I'm working in it, so the heat loss isn't a problem.

Just something to think about... I would definitely buy 'cheap' doors again.

 

[tomas21]

Well we finally closed escrow on the house and are now planning to get a door. I found a local company Precision Doors which installs all different brands. The two manufactures that we are looking at are CHI and Marathon. We like the long panel style with window inserts for our ranch style house. Our door is 15X7. I am debating between the Liftmaster belt or screw drive. CHI paint is baked where Marathon is dipped so the paint looks better and seems to last longer on the Marathon. Anyone delt with Precision Doors and or either one of these manufactures?

 

[Junkman]

If you go with the Liftmaster door operator, they now offer a new door opener switch panel. It has a passive infrared panel mounted in the switch, that will turn the garage door opener light on when you walk into the garage. I like this because it gives me enough light to get around the garage, if I don't want to open the door. Many times I go to the garage to get soda that is stored there. I no longer have to remember to turn off the light, since the door opener light will go off in 5 minutes or less. I got mine on for about $18.00. They also make some other items such as a garage door monitor, that will tell you if the door is open or closed, from inside the home.

 

[tomas21]

If you go with the Liftmaster door operator, they now offer a new door opener switch panel. It has a passive infrared panel mounted in the switch, that will turn the garage door opener light on when you walk into the garage. I like this because it gives me enough light to get around the garage, if I don't want to open the door. Many times I go to the garage to get soda that is stored there. I no longer have to remember to turn off the light, since the door opener light will go off in 5 minutes or less. I got mine on for about $18.00. They also make some other items such as a garage door monitor, that will tell you if the door is open or closed, from inside the home.

Junkman, where did you get your 98LM Premium Motion-Detecting Control Panel for $18?

 

[LiftMaster3265]

Ok, now heer is what i would suggest, you go with a Wayne-Dalton 9600 insulated door a verry good make and either a LiftMaster 3280 Belt Drive or a LiftMaster 3265 Chain.. i have 9600 doors and liftmaster 3265 chain drives i have a private dealer that comes to my house and does my installition... Of coarse i did a lot of the installitions.

 

[NOMAD]

tomas21 or others,

I'm in SoCal and I'm looking for a garage door as well. 15x7. Haven't gotten any quotes yet. What are prices coming in at? I'll probably call up a local company and go to Lowes as well for an initial estimate.

I'm just looking for a basic garage door that will replace the ugly wood one on my house. We've been here a year and it's time that door went. I hope to reuse my genie opener as there is nothing wrong with it.

Any insights?

 

[JCByrd24]

Another vote for Raynor, found them cheaper at a local garage door specialist than a similar door at Lowes or Home Depot, plus the dealer had tons of spare parts and stuff in stock. If you are installing yourself I would stay away from Amarr, I helped a friend install and the instructions were pretty bad compared to my Raynor, they didn't have words, just pictures, and they were applicable to several door styles and sizes so you didn't need half the pages and the ones you did need you had to look at all the pictures to figure out which one you needed to look at. I found it annoying. Also, can't say enough about the Liftmaster 3800 jackshaft opener. This thing is so quiet and easy to install.

 

[NOMAD]

So far, price for a Martin basic door installed with opener is $1200 or thereabout.

I really don;t see the need to get a new opener as mine works fine and if it ever breaks then I can go get another. They said the Martin door installers will not hook it up to any other openers but the Liftmaster they sell for $300. Theirs is 1/2 HP and so is my Genie so I don't see the issue.

Any comments?

I'll also look up Raynor.

 

[dipper]

I went with a Buildmark door for my garage. I got it from a local garage door place as they had them on last summer/fall. I went with a better door, the sandwich steel; insulated was $630 out the door; I was going to install it myself. As i was building my garage; it got a little late in the year last november and ended up having it installed which was a few hundred more. But it's a great door, and if you are going insulated, get the steel on both sides; it looks just as good on the inside as the outside.

 

[NOMAD]

Looks Like I'll opt for a local garage door place. They have a steel front, insulated with vinyl back (I have a kid and don't want dents) for $750ish fully installed. I'm not looking for a fancy door so I think this will do just fine. I'm tempted to install it myself but for the time and hassle I'll let them do it. I wanted to keep it under $1000 and this will give a little money towards an outside storage shed.

Thanks for the info all. We'll see how it goes.

 

[DynoDave]

Don't be afraid to call around and see if anyone has some takeouts.

When I bought mine, I saved a ton of money on the small door. The small, local family owned store had done an install on a new home in Detroit for a builder. Bills were sent, but never paid. After several months of no payment and no returned calls, they drove back down there and took the doors back out. They happened to be the larger (9x8) size I wanted in a color I wanted. Between a sale price they offered to lock me into on my larger door, and the money saved on the small door, I was able to pay for them to do the install, which was a nice time/labor saver for me.

 

[sneezer41]

Try equal door out of canada, real cedar doors.

I bought an 18x8 ~6 years ago for about 2500 bucks delivered. Looks like they have changed to a distributor arrangement, but still worth a try
www.equaldoor.com