Choosing the Material

Choosing Your Garage Doors: What Material Should You Use?

Like most things available for your home, there are many options available to you when you are selecting your garage door.  You can choose the standard overhead wooden door, side-scrolling wooden doors, electric/automatically powered or unpowered garage doors, metal “all of the above”, and just about anything else that you could think of.

The type of material that you choose should be dependant on a variety of factors, such as your climate, neighborhood, desired level of security, and peace of mind.  Most people will find that the standard wooden door will work just fine, and hey, “if it aint broke, don’t fix it”.  However, wooden doors are also prone to weather wear, damage, fire, and are less structurally stable than their metal counterparts.

What kind of material is right for you?

GRP Garage doors
GRP (Glass Reinforced Polyester) is a light but exceptionally strong laminate that replicates any mould in exceptionally fine detail, and not only can you choose from various colour and styles, but you can also choose from a wood finish.

Pros:
• Easily to maintain and look up
  
• No painting required
  
• Very strong
  
• Offer options of small glazed windows
• ; Range of colours and wood finishes
• Automatic motors optional

Cons:
• Colour can be more limited, but choices do include wood finish.
  
  

Wooden garage doors
This is the material used on 90% of the garage doors out there. This is partly because of the fact that wooden doors have been available much longer than metal doors, and also because most people find that a wooden garage door provides enough functionality and security on its own.

Pros:
• Usually less expensive than metal doors.
• Easy to customize and paint.
• Easy to repair.
• Are often sectional and hence easier to maintain.
• Replacements are less expensive than metal doors.
• Available in a variety of decorative styles.

Cons:
• Less rigid than metal doors.
• Easier to damage.
• Paint can flake or become worn easier.
• Are often heavier than metal doors.

Metal garage doors
Not necessarily a new product, metal garage doors have been around for a number of years.  The primary advantage of a metal garage door is that they are stronger and more durable than their wooden counterparts (assuming you buy a high quality metal door) and are also available in different styles, such as a cascading or folding door.

Due to the nature of the doors they can be more expensive to replace and paint, though they have proven to be more durable than wooden doors.

Pros:
• Stronger and more durable than wooden doors.
• Different types of paint can be used.
• More secure and harder to damage or compromise.
• Are often sectional and hence easier to maintain.

Cons:
• Usually more expensive than wooden doors.
• Cheap, flimsy metal doors do exist.
• More expensive to paint.

Metal garage doors are a bit more universal in that the properties and strength associated with metal are easier adapted for different styles, forms, or uses.  A cascading garage door, for example, is not possible when using wood- the wood would crack under the stress.