Impact of Garage Doors on Curb Appeal

Street facing garage doors can take up to 40% of a home’s front view and can have a tremendous influence on curb appeal. In an effort to lower the prices of houses, homebuilders resort to offering the ubiquitous white metal garage doors as standard in lower price and track homes. The builders' main focus was on offering design and value for the interior living space. 

As home construction became more competitive, homebuilders began to place more emphasis on the exterior architectural elements to enhance curb appeal and attract homebuyers. Homebuyers too began to be more selective when looking for homes. Today, home design/curb appeal is the most important house exterior issues cited by 60% of homebuyers in a recent Professional Builder Magazine survey. It was also cited as one of the most important buyer consideration when searching for a new house. According to a 2014 survey conducted by the Remodeling magazine, garage door upgrade is also one of the highest ranked home improvements for return on renovation investment. Out of thirty-five popular projects, an upgrade to garage door generated on average a return on investment of about 84% on the original renovation cost making it one of the top renovation projects in the study.

Amarr Classica low-maintenance steel garage doors provides this house an authentic carriage house look.

Today, homeowners have a wide selection of modern garage door designs to enhance curb appeal. The prices of garage doors vary depending on the door material used and design. Most manufacturers today offer stock “carriage house” design garage doors. Basic modern garage doors cost between $500 to $1,500. Doors in this price category are typically made of non-insulated and insulated metal core, and with different design options such as raised panels, garage panels stamped with faux stiles, cross-bracings, rails, and garage doors that are printed with wood grain patterns. Homeowners also have the option of adding modern and antique looking decorative hardware like door straps, handles, door knockers, and clavos to enhance the door appearance. 

Homeowners can also spend a lot more for premium high-end garage doors costing more than $2,500. These doors are typically custom made like a handcrafted wood panel or solid wood garage doors. Other premium garage door designs include contemporary glass panel doors with mirrored, frosted or tinted glass panels set in aluminum frames. The door design varies from a French door to Japanese shoji style screen to the look of a vintage gas station.

Overhead Door Aluminum Garage Door Model 521

Beauty of Wooden Garage Doors

Wood garage door is still considered a premium high-end door, and usually found in luxury homes. The downside of wooden doors is it requires regular upkeep as it is made of natural building material that will deteriorate with passage of time. Despite the downside, wood doors are still in high demand today because the natural beauty of a wooden door is hard to beat. A wooden garage door adds warmth, elegance, and character, and even a rustic curb appeal to a home. Wood is also versatile, and allows homeowners the ability to custom design their own doors to match the architectural elements of their home like matching the front entry doors or matching it to windows and shutters. There’s no other natural building material that offers countless combinations of design customization and visual appearances. This added benefit is especially true for homeowners of historic homes looking for architecturally or historical accurate garage doors which requires customization.

Wood garage doors are typically custom handcrafted from wood like mahogany, cypress, cedar, oak, redwood, Douglas Fir, hemlock, or spruce. Wooden garage doors are available in a wide variety of designs, from carriage style garage doors to a more traditional 4 to 6 panel style doors. 

Carriage Style Garage Doors

Custom wood doors can be made to look like carriage style garage doors with fold, or swing-out door designs of past gone era like the turn of the 19th century carriage house doors for sheltering a horse-drawn buggy or old carriage house slider types used in pre-WWII era houses. Although the carriage style doors may look old, they can be made to function like today’s modern overhead garage doors. Modern flush-style wooden doors can also be built with a layer of insulation to enhance energy efficiency. 

Composite Wood Garage Door

Residential garage door manufacturers have introduced new door cladding material and technologies over the years to replicate the look of a custom-made real wood garage door. These products include wood grain printing on steel garage doors, cellular PVC wood boards, fiberglass, and composites made with recycled wood or glass fiber and polyurethane resins. However, until recently, none of these products were serious alternatives to natural wood because they lack the realism of real wood. The newer innovation using polymer composite faux wood chemistry utilized by Clopay Canyon Ridge faux wood garage doors and Ranch House Doors Elements Collection have resolved the wood realism problem of older technologies. For example, Ranch House Doors Elements Collection faux wood garage door has brought together the best of real wood’s beauty and polymer composite engineering. The Ranch House Doors Elements Collection faux wood cladding is molded from real wood to replicate the wood grain and texture of natural wood. Unlike other older technology composite synthetic or fake wood that are heavy and look unrealistic, the Ranch House Doors high definition faux wood panels are lightweight, and mimics most of the original wood details. It even mimics the natural imperfections of real wood like worm holes, pockmarks, cracks, wood knots, hand-hewn marks and wood decay holes up to 1/4 inch deep. Once the garage door is installed, the doors look like real wood garage doors. Another distinct advantage over other synthetic and composite material is weight. The Ranch House faux wood is significantly lighter than other composite doors. The lightweight advantage allows usage of cheaper door openers, tracks and other operating hardware.  

Faux Wood Garage Doors. Beauty of wood with added durability

One of the best features of faux wood is its durability. It does not have the inherent limitation of natural wood. Because wood is natural, it will deteriorate over time, and must be regularly painted or stain and sealed to extend the life of the door. Another limitation of real wood is it does not take dark colors and extended direct sunlight very well. Real wood doors are also not suitable in climates with high humidity and precipitation. Faux wood panel on the other hand can withstand high humidity and extreme temperature ranges. Another bonus of faux wood is it is environmentally friendly. The faux wood minimizes environmental impact by reducing the use of trees, especially the endangered wood species that the faux wood replicates. 

Faux Wood Garage Door Cost

Faux wood garage door prices are typically in the $1,800 to $4000 price range. However, the faux wood door costs depends on the garage door design, size and options selected. Faux wood garage door prices are not cheap, but the benefits of owning a faux wood door in the long run may outweigh the cost of and disadvantages of real wood garage doors.






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© 2015. Garage Door Journal. By Beverley Oxford. Reproduction of this and other articles in this blog is not permitted without permission from GDJ.

Pergola over garage

Climbing hydrangea adds charm to this house. Credit: Laurie

A Pergola is an excellent option to a garage door, and is a simple and easy way to enhance the entrance to a garage door. It adds charm, character and curb appeal to a home especially if it is covered by trailing plants. It gives a feel of a covered area or passage way and a third dimension to an otherwise boring entrance.

There are various options for pergola ranging from wood, vinyl and metal frame structures. A pergola does not have to be expensive to make it attractive. The pergola itself may not be the center of attention, but the addition of trailing plants and hanging floral pots will make the look more interesting and focal point. 

Credit: Fagan Door Corporation

Credit: Ranch House Doors Wood Doors (Nantucket, Cape Cod Collection)
 Elements Collection Faux Wood Garage Door

Lifestye's Garage Door Screen

Lifestyle garage door screen is a fully retractable garage screen door that works with existing garage door.
Photo Credit: Lifestyle Screens, Winder, GA

The Lifestyle Screens product is a great product that converts a garage space into a pest free zone for social gatherings.What's neat about this netting system is it is built into an existing garage door assembly, but acts independently, and can be retracted when the garage door is opened or automatically stored away when the garage door is closed. The Lifestyle method is a lot easier and more practical than other screen products that use hooks, loops, velcro or zippered opening.

The Lifestyle is built with 2" x 2"  aluminum coated with a durable paint finish. The Lifestyle screen has an independent tracks system which is similar to the existing garage door tracks. Lifestyle's spring loaded counter-balance system makes it easy to open and close the screen. Lifestyle's optional door-within-a-door feature allows for easy entry and exit. When in use, the Lifestyle screen occupies the same position as your garage door.

The Lifestyle Screens are available in three colors (white, brown and sandstone) and in different sizes or can be custom made. The screen is made of standard fiberglass material that allows maximum air flow. An option upgrade to PVC coated screen for maximum durability is also available.

Company website and contact information: www.lifestylescreens.com, Advanced Screenworks, LLC.
955 Patrick Industrial Court, Winder, Georgia  30680.  Tel: 678-926-9700

TechFloor Tiles for Garages or Any Room

TechFloor modular flooring tiles.
Photo credit: TechFloor, Inc

TechFloor™ is a modular, customizable flooring solution made for garages and other spaces in a house or business. TechFloor's advanced manufacturing process produces an extremely rugged and low-profile plastic tile with attractive TractionSquares™ for wet-or-dry non-slip use, while the soft-touch underside offers incredible grip to virtually any floor.

Each tile has 2 edges with loops and 2 edges with tabs which quickly attach to each other by laying the tab of one tile over the loop of the next and snapping them into place. TechFloor™ is available in multiple tile sizes and border options to allow fast wall-to-wall installation without the need to cut or trim.

Price: from $2.99 sq/ft.

Photo credit: TechFloor, Inc

Photo credit: TechFloor, Inc

Photo credit: TechFloor, Inc

Video credit: TechFloor, Inc 

Grid-Loc Garage Flooring Tiles

Grid-Loc Diamond series interlocking tiles are engineered to withstand the harsh garage environments.  Constructed of high quality impact resistant polypropylene, the flow tiles are capable of handling extremely heavy rolling vehicle loads and are resistant to oil, grease, antifreeze, and many other household chemicals. These tiles are also stain resistant, odorless, slip resistant, and UV stable. Installation is as easy as snapping together adjacent garage tiles to form a beautiful and customizable garage flooring surface. These garage floor tiles also come with an industry leading 12 year warranty. 
 
Material:
Size – 12” x 12” 
Thickness – 1/2 Inch 
Weight – 0.83 Lbs. per tile 
Origin – Made in the USA 

New Garage Door Opener!

Here's a ingenious new garage opener from across the pond, in the UK.  Tired of having to constantly get off his motorcycle to open and shut his garage door, he simply honks his horn and the garage door opens automatically. Why didn't I think of that?

Credit: Not sure who to credit. I could not find any reference to the person who created the video.

How to Paint Your Boring Metal Garage Door to Look Like Real Wood

There is no question that a wood garage door will add a tremendous curb appeal to a home. If you are tired of staring at your massive traditional white garage door, but you are on a tight budget, faux wood painting may be an option for you. It is a lot cheaper than replacing your existing door with real or faux wood garage doors. Although faux wood doors are less expensive than real wood doors, the faux wood garage door costs will still set you back between $1,800 to $4,800 depending on the model selection and door size.

Before Faux Painting. Look at how boring the garage doors are. 

Photo credit & weblink: Faux-ever Doors, Grand Rapids, MI

After Faux Painting. These doors have curb appeal! 

Photo credit & weblink: Faux-ever Doors, Grand Rapids, MI

Before Faux Painting. 

Photo credit: Faux-Ever Doors Grand Rapids, MI

 After Faux Painting. Looks like wood garage door.

Photo credit: Faux-Ever Doors Grand Rapids, MI

Garage Door Faux Painting Techniques 

Pressure wash your garage door. Let it dry. Use Denatured Alcohol soaked in an a clean rag or wiping cloth to remove grime that have accumulated over a period of time on the garage door surface. Lightly sand the door surface with a fine sandpaper for better paint adhesion

Tools Needed: (1) A couple of good quality two and three inch paint brushes  (2) Four and six inch mini paint rollers  (3) Paint tray

Materials & Supplies: (1) Drop cloth (2) Masking tape and paper (3) Disposable gloves  (4) One quart Denatured Alcohol. (5) Outdoor UV protected paint base color with no gloss added (matt finish). A commonly used base color is Sherwin Williams Monarch Gold. Other brands can be used provided it closely match the Sherwin Williams Monarch Gold. One gallon to start. Quantity depends on size of door. (6) Sherwin Williams Woodsy Brown for overlay coat over the Monarch Gold color.

Painting technique is often referred to a faux painting. Google "faux painting" to learn the proper techniques to get an idea on how it works and learn tips and tricks. Always test paint on something resembling the garage like a MDF board on a small area on the back of your door. 

When you are satisfied with your painting technique and color start applying the base coat SW Monarch Gold on the garage door surface. Use paint brush and roller for this step. Let it dry completely 24-48 hours. Your garage door will look headious at this point as Monarch Gold is Orange in color.

The base paint must be completely dry before apply the next step. Using new a brush apply the Sherwin Williams Woodsy Brown onto a small section (2' x 2') at a time. Use a clean rag and lightly wipe down so some of the Monarch Gold to show up. This is where you have to decide how much of the Woodsy Brown color to wipe off. It will determine the final color of your door. Upon completion go on to the next section and repeat the process making sure that the transition to the next section match up to the prior section. Make sure the transition is smooth and there is no hard break from one section to the other. Some people apply wood grain using a wood graining kit like the Allway Tools available at Amazon.com and Homedepot.com. This is not necessary if do a good job in the faux painting steps.

Wait 24-48 hours for the paint to dry. Apply a coat of matt UV protected clear coat to give it the faux finish an added protection. Congratulations! Your garage door now looks like a wooden garage door. Although the finished faux painted doors will not be as good as a real or faux wood garage doors, it will save you a bundle of money. Real and faux wood garage doors costs are a lot higher than faux painting.


Faux painting is not for everyone. If you are not a DIYer, it is best to hire a professional faux painter with experience painting garage doors. Most faux painters are localized and will only service a limited geographical area. If you are in the Grand Rapids, MI area contact Faux-ever Doors. Check the Yellow Pages, Kudzu, Angie's List, craigslist.com or doodle.com for other areas. 

If you are a DIY type person, try it out. It will be a satisfying project that will be admired by your family, friends and neighbors. Check out Google and Youtube videos for and faux painting  tutorials.

_________________________________________________

Note: we have no affiliation with the companies mentioned in this article. There is no implied endorsement of their products or services.

Evergreen Carriage Doors Out-Swing & Sliding Carriage Doors

Founded by Richard Hampton in 2005, Evergreen Carriage Doors® specializes in manufacturing custom real out-swing and sliding carriage doors and barn doors. Richard "Dick" Hampton, has always loved homes with a history and began the tradition of excellence and personal service that characterizes the company. His legacy is being continued by Hampton's friend and master door builder, Cory Stratton.

Working with wood has also been one of Cory's greatest passions since he was a teenager. Thus he has had years of experience in woodworking and carpentry. He and his wife, Jamie, now run this family-based business on their farm in the beautiful Bitterroot Valley of western Montana. When they are not hiking, biking, or camping in the majestic mountains that surround them, their total focus is on each and every door they build, making sure that it receives the complete attention and meticulous craftsmanship that Evergreen Carriage Doors is known for.

Featured Door:

Door style: OL6L 
Door panel: V Groove panel 

Door rails & stiles: Vertical Grain Douglas Fir 

Design description: 

Olympic 6 lite with 3 vertical panels

Photo credit: Evergreen Carriage Doors, 

800-654-0750

Northwest Door Modern Classic Garage Doors

I love this beautiful contemporary garage door manufactured by Northwest Door. It has a clean, yet  stylish design. The Modern Classic is a stile and rail garage door made with an all-aluminum construction. The design can be customized to your specifications. Choose from glass or aluminum panels, painted or anodized finish. The panel width and height can also be reconfigured. 

Model shown: MC 44

• Material: Aluminum
• Windows: 800 Series Full Views
• Window Top: Standard
• Glass Type: White Diffused Laminated
• Door Finish: Black Anodized

• Manufacturer & Photo Credit: Northwest Door, Inc - Northwest Door®

Faux Wood Garage Door Costs

One of the common question I have been asked a lot is the costs of faux wood garage doors. The short answer is a typical 8'x7' faux wood garage door costs around $1,800 and upwards to $4,800. The longer answer is it depends.  Unlike common metal garage doors that can be bought at Home Depot or Lowes, faux wood garage door costs are dependent on the size of the door and the options chosen.

Like real wood doors, faux wood are typically custom made to specifications. The model selection will will also affect the cost as it depends on the amount of faux wood material that is used in the construction. The faux wood cladding is typically 1/2 inch thick, and if an overlay is chosen, it is 1/2" base cladding material plus another 1/2" of overlay faux wood being applied on top of the base cladding material resulting in a 1" thick faux wood material.  The more sophisticated the design, the more overlays will be used, and hence the cost will increase.

1. 1.Faux wood composite overlay. 2. Faux wood cladding
2. 3. Steel metal skin. 4. insulation and 5. Metal skin. Credit: Clopay

The faux wood is adhered to the surface or skin of a metal insulated garage door that is usually 1-7/8 or 2" thick. The faux wood cladding is attached to a base metal door for rigidity and to provide insulation so the choice of the type of metal door will affect the faux wood garage door costs. Customers can choose between a polystyrene or polyurethane core insulation. A garage door panel with a polyurethane core is more expensive, but it provides better insulation and has a higher R-Value (about R-19 for 2" polyurethane insulation core).

Other options include whether is window is included in the design. Although garage doors with windows are pretty to look at they  provide little insulation so if you live in a cold climate, the better solution is to go with a windowless garage door. It is also easier and cheaper to manufacture.

The best way to determine the faux wood garage door costs is to call the manufacturer (clopay.com and www.faux-wood-garage-doors.com or www.ranchhousedoors.com and get a price quote. Let them know the size of the door, the quantity, the model and the options selection.

Faux Wood Garage Doors

Wooden garage door is the king of garage doors as it provide homes with the ultimate curb appeal especially to homes with front facing garages. Because of its high cost, wooden garage doors are niche products typically reserved for higher end homes. To broaden the appeal of custom wood garage doors, manufacturers cut costs by using wood paneling over flush metal garage doors instead of relying on thicker wood construction. The wood panels are also lighter and require less garage door supporting equipment. However, the use of wood panels have resulted in a shorter life span when compared to a solid wood construction. The thinner wood panels are more prone to warping and rotting over time especially in humid climates. To solve these issues, synthetic cladding material designed to look like wood have been introduced. However, the first generation cladding material made of fiberglass, resin-wood fiber-infused composite, plastic composite decking and fiber cement material were not only heavy but not realistic compared to real wood. The newer generation rigid polyurethane based composite material have resolved the weight issue. It is also looks very realistic as the cladding material is molded from real wood. It mimics the wood grain and even has the feel of real wood. A couple of companies have introduced faux wood garage doors including Clopay's Canyon Ridge (www.clopay.com) and the Elements Collection by Ranch House Doors (www.faux-wood-garage-doors.com).

Clopay Canyon Ridge faux wood garage doors add curb appeal to any home.
Photo credit: Clopay.

The biggest advantage of faux wood garage door is it looks almost identical to real wood but without the upkeep required of natural wood door. It adds realism and beauty of real wood.  The cladding material is lightweight but durable. The faux material has insulation properties and when attached on an insulated steel garage door, the combined product provides exceptional insulation qualities to save energy costs.

Credit: Ranch House Door Elements Collection Faux Wood Garage Doors

Companies offering faux wood garage doors:

Clopay – Canyon Ridge (www.clopay.com)

Ranch House Doors – Elements Collections (www.faux-wood-garage-doors.com)

Both companies offer custom real wood garage doors as well.