Choosing a new garage door can be a difficult task and with so many options, sometimes the choice can be overwhelming. To help find your perfect garage door, Garador advises there are some key areas to look at:
1. What are the dimensions of the garage door opening?
The dimensions of the garage door you are going to buy are usually the starting point for buying a new garage door. Either the size of the garage door opening (existing garage) or the size of the garage door (new build garage) will dictate what size of garage door you end up buying.
The vast majority of people will have an existing garage for which they need a door, so the dimensions of the garage door opening (i.e. the hole the garage door fits in) will ultimately determine what size of garage door you need to buy (unless you are building a garage from scratch, in which case you can simply just build the opening to fit a chosen door size).
Choosing the correct door size to fit your garage door opening can be a tricky business, so Garador generally recommends asking for an experienced garage door fitter to ‘measure up’ your garage before placing an order. There’s a huge assortment of Steel, GRP and Timber Up & Over garage doors available in a range of Standard and Purpose-Made sizes, so finding the right Garador to fit your opening shouldn’t be a problem.
2. What is the garage going to be used for?
How you use your garage will be a big factor in determining what type of garage door you end up buying. Each type of garage door has its merits and some are preferable in certain circumstances. There are typically four types of garage door on the market, of which Garador offer a range in each type:
1.Up & Over garage doors
2.Sectional garage doors
3.GaraRoll roller garage doors
4.Side Hinged garage doors
Steel Up & Over garage doors are often the most popular choice for garages, as they are reliable, functional and offer great value for money. For garages where cars will be parked or where gardening equipment will be stored, this is often a good choice of garage door. For garages where the space a car has to drive through is tight, upgrading to Retractable Plus gearing for an Up & Over door can be a good idea, as the link arms are raised higher allowing your wing mirrors to pass through the garage door opening. If you are building a new garage to store a modern car, it is worth building it to fit an 8070 size code garage door or larger.
Up & Over doors are the most popular choice for normal garages, but with a short driveway, you may need to park right up to the garage door when GaraRoll or Sectional doors could be a better choice. If it is known that the garage will be used for a home office or as a workshop or gym, then insulation, security and access all become very important indeed. Garador’s Sectional Doors are recognised as the best engineered doors on the market and offer outstanding thermal insulation. If the garage might be used as a workshop or home gym, these doors will help to provide a clean and dry environment, with quality rubber seals on all four sides of the door helping to keep the leaves, dust, dirt and rain outdoors.
Garador GaraRoll roller doors offer extra space saving as this great looking door uses vertical lift to roll up into a compact box at the top of the door space. This gives maximum internal space and allows access to the roof, plus is perfect for short driveways as cars can park right up to the garage door.
Glazed windows can let in light while side hinged doors and side entrance doors can be a great assistance to help individual access. Garador’s Side Hinged doors give an additional option of personal entry into the garage without opening up the whole garage. The doors are equipped with two shoot bolt latches for extra security.
3. What colour and style can I choose?
So here’s the fun part… choosing a colour and style of garage door! When you consider a garage door often takes up a third of the frontal aspect of most homes with garages, the final choice here will have a real impact on how your home looks. Garador recently introduced the visualise your garage door feature on its website too, which enables you to take a photo of your garage, and then mock-up Garador garage doors over your existing garage door to see what they look like.
One of the most useful aspects of the garage door visualizer is that it enables you to choose a door in a style and colour that matches your property’s most prominent features. So if your property has white double glazing window frames, a white garage door is probably going to work well. If you have a stained timber front door and lots of timber cladding on the front of your home, then a timber-effect door, like the Sherwood, or a real timber door, like the Vertical Cedar, in a particular stain colour is going to complement the properties’ existing design nicely. Choosing a garage door that complements your home’s existing doors and windows is a good approach that will mean the garage door won’t look out of place.
Garador offers the widest range of colours as standard, including a choice of 18 colours on Up & Over garage doors and up to 6 stain colours on timber doors. For steel Up & Over, side hinged and garage side doors, Traffic White (RAL 9016) is offered as standard.
With regards to styles of garage door, there are different shapes, lines and metal elements to choose from. Some doors are minimalist in their appearance, such as the Linear Large sectional door or the Design Range 100 Up & Over door, whilst others are more traditional with panel pressings such as the Georgian sectional door or the Beaumont Up & Over door. Combining different colours and styles of door can, of course, have a different outcome, but choosing a style of door is an important decision that can help to give your property a superb impression to family, friends and neighbours.
4. Which types of material are best for my garage door?
The type of material you go with is probably going to be quite heavily influenced by three aspects: where you live, the size of your budget and what the garage is used for. So here’s some food for thought.
If you live in a coastal location, then a GaraRoll roller garage door is going to be the first choice due to its corrosion resistant properties. The GaraRoll is constructed from high-grade aluminium insulated laths and is available in a range of colours. PVC Up & Over garage doors are also worth a look; with their specific non-rusting properties they are also ideal for coastal areas. UV-fast low gloss white PVC doors are also perfect to match existing white PVC doors and windows.
If you live in an open, rural location which is exposed to the elements and lots of wind and rain, such as on a hill, then a sectional door is probably a good call as it has rubber seals on all sides and the door panels aren’t likely to get blown about easily by the wind. If you live in a suburban area, with a block of garages that need to match then an Up & Over door is probably the best choice with ribbed designs such as Carlton and Horizon that are easy to install and will work giving a reliable performance for years to come.
How much money you have to spend on a garage door will also influence the style of door you buy. Garador’s Up & Over doors come in a variety of materials and designs which vary in cost, from ribbed steel doors at a lower price point through to Design Range steel doors which offer a contemporary look at a slightly higher cost. Timber Up & Over doors manufactured by Garador use real cedar wood and are therefore more expensive, but with the right maintenance can last a lifetime so are potentially a worthwhile investment.
Depending on the size of the garage door, a sectional garage door isn’t necessarily that much more expensive than an Up & Over. For example, you can purchase a Garador linear medium sectional door (7066 size code) in Traffic White with a woodgrain texture (classic uninsulated door) for £693.00, whereas a Garador Ascot Up & Over door (7066 size code) in Traffic White is listed at £586.00. Both doors have a similar appearance, with long horizontal profiles, but are of course different types of door (all prices referenced are from Garador 2016 price list).
The use of the garage will likely impact the decision on what material to use, as a home office will prefer a sectional door as it is insulated. See section 2 for more details here.
5. Are there any other things to consider, such as security, insulation and options?
Having a secure garage is one of the most important issues to consider for some homeowners, where crime is a major issue. Three Garador garage doors are covered by Secured by Design (SBD), a security standard set by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) to deter break-ins and theft. These doors form the ‘Garador Guardian Range’ and are comprised of three models; the Salisbury, Carlton and Horizon steel Up & Over garage doors.
Fitting a garage door with an electric operator can make it more convenient to access your garage and more secure to store your belongings, with built-in anti-burglar device. New bi-directional technology is used on automatic opening devices to offer the highest levels of security. This technology is built into GaraMatic operators, making it extremely difficult for anyone to copy the signal on the hand transmitter used to open the garage door.
If you are looking for a front door to match your garage door, check out Garador’s FrontGuard entrance doors which have been engineered to offer exceptional thermal insulation (46mm thick) and great security (RC2 certified equipment available). You can easily order your garage door and front door in one place! The FGS 700 front door and Design Range Up & Over door complement each other well.
Garador offers a selection of insulated garage doors; its sectional door range comes in two styles: Classic (uninsulated) door and Premium (insulated) door. The premium door is 42mm thick and filled with rigid PU foam, for great thermal insulation. As previously discussed, choosing an insulated door is likely to be a more important consideration when the garage is integral to the house (i.e. it’s part of the building), or when the garage contains equipment that needs to be kept warm and dry.
Options for garage door types vary depending on the door types you choose – there’s different types of lifting gear (which operate the door), different styles of windows, different colour options and even different surface textures on some types of door.
Hopefully, this article has covered a lot of the points you have been thinking about when looking to buy a new garage door. To find your nearest Garador garage door stockist and installer, and to view the full range of garage doors currently on offer please visit www.garador.co.uk
Specification:
Dimensions: Please refer to Garador price list.
Material: The full Garador range consists of a range of doors constructed using materials such as steel, PVC, timber, aluminium and GRP.
Colour: 18 colours on steel Up& Over, side hinged and personnel doors, 1 colour on PVC, 6 timber stain options, 11 colours on aluminium roller doors and 9 GRP colour finishes.
Special features: Options vary by door type. Please refer to Garador price list.
Suitability/ use: Suitable for domestic/ home use.
