The Garage Door: A Fundamental Part of the Blueprint of a Home

If you fancy taking full advantage of the worth of your home, you’ll find garage doors are an easy and affordable method to increase your homes curb appeal. A good garage door will distinguish it from the rest of the neighborhood.

 

The most common types and those offering the widest variety of designs are sectional garage doors. They open and shut vertically, allowing cars to park very close to the door without keeping it from opening.

 

If you want a maintenance-free, durable, warp-free garage door, you need steel. Steel doors can also provide good insulation, when they are made of two or more sheets of steel alternating with a variety of insulating materials. They also come in a variety of styles, textures and shapes to suit your needs. Moreover, you can add windows, including the reflective type that obscure the view into the garage, as well as decorative hardware.

 

The garage door is a fundamental part of the blueprint, structural design and sanctuary of your home. It is a huge fraction of the overall expression of your house. It is the biggest door in the house yet many people tend to use it as the main exit and entrance to their homes; and no matter what you use your garage for, your garage door is one of the most important visual features of your home, representing up to a third or even more of the front.

 

One element that you have to consider before you choose style of garage door is your garage facelift. The existing garage facelift is essential for you to decide style, size and shape of your garage door.

 

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Now, here is a brilliant way to show the true strength of a steel sectional garage door. This video is brought to you by Drew-O and the Idiot Team.

Enjoy!

Evolving Door Styles for Garages

Some things do come back in style if you wait long enough. Think hip-hugger pants, shag carpeting and, yes, even wood garage doors. The wood garage doors of the 1970s are back in a big way. It’s one of many design trends that have come and gone.

The first revolution in garage door materials happened in the 1980s, when raised panel steel doors replaced wood ones. They continue to dominate the market today, mainly because they’re economical and low-maintenance. But for certain homes — especially custom homes or those with an Old World look — a big expanse of cold steel just won’t do. Frequently the garage door is a major part of the front of a home and people are finding that they can do something more interesting.

For this reason, wood has become the most popular option. But these aren’t the humble wood doors of two decades ago. These are wood doors in a carriage-house style that has an old-fashioned craftsman look, made of the finest wood, offering a much richer appearance.

Woodie Plank Door from 1st United Door Technologies

Just as wood is beginning to catch on, the next wave of garage doors is already approaching. If you have a steel garage door, there are ways to ramp up its curb appeal. You can select different patterns or textures and install windows; and there’s always the do-it-yourselfer’s best tool: paint or gel stain. But if you want your garage door to be a focal point rather than something to disguise, wood may just be worth its price tag.

Don’t Overlook The Garage When Getting Your Home Ready To Sell

There’s a lot of talk about curb appeal being the driving force drawing buyers into your home. It makes sense. If the house looks a mess from the outside, what buyer would want to set foot inside?

Well, maybe your house isn’t quite a mess. You have taken the time to fix-up the landscape, power-washed the house, and even painted the mailbox. But did you overlook what can be the biggest eyesore — the garage?

It’s the largest architectural element on the house. So it really, in this day and age, is impossible to dismiss the garage door as an important architectural element.

But the garage door is more than an architectural element. It can be a trigger point for buyers. They’re driving down the street in a tract-home neighborhood and suddenly they spot a carriage style steel garage door or a custom wooden garage door. It’s striking and different and often gives them reason to stop and take a closer look, maybe even come inside.

If you have a house that has a nice garage door, it sets the stage for the fact that everything else in the house is going to have attention to detail and it really does differentiate homes that are on the same street. With some exterior paint and a unique garage door, the house really becomes a semi-custom house.

Swapping out an old steel-style, raised-panel garage door that once was so very traditional is a huge improvement to a home. There is definitely an increase in the property value commensurate with the investment that you make in the garage door. And then there is the perceived value.

But not every garage door works with every style of home. You should really take a close look at your architectural style before you decide on the right garage door. Homeowners should match their home architecture to a garage door that is architecturally congruent. That way, you’re making the whole house just look that much more custom and fitted.

Whether or not you decide to replace your garage door, it’s important to make sure it at least is working properly. Besides the garage door looking good, it’s really an appliance on the house that has to operate efficiently, reliably, and without failure every single day. The key concept to remember is that a garage door shouldn’t just house your car and all your stuff that won’t fit in your home, instead it should help to entice buyers to want to see more of the house.

Your Garage Door Opener – Effect on Global Warming

Concerned about the effects your garage door opener has on global warming? Little need to worry…

Notable amounts of electricity are only consumed while the garage door is in motion – a period which consists of around 10 to 15 seconds. The majority of motors take as little energy as 100 Watts. Just how much energy are we talking? 100 Watts is less than or equal to your modern home computer.

The amount of power consumed while the door is in motion is of little consequence as the motor runs for a short cycle, the important figure here is how much energy the unit consumes during the remaining 99.9% of the time while the unit is in standby. Operators with low energy type transformers offer considerable savings in running costs. This can amount to a considerable saving over the lifetime of the operator and ensures that your carbon footprint is minimal.

Garage Door Check-Up

Too often, you don’t pay attention to their garage door or opener until something happens. And it usually happens at the most inopportune time. Like me. Here i’m in the industry and the last time I check on my doors, well it’s embarassing to say how long it’s been. Do what I say and not what I do. Your garage doors should be checked annually to ensure proper operation and replacement of any worn parts.

Here’s what to look for.

1) Always test your door by hand. If you have a garage-door opener, disconnect it from the door by pulling down on the release rope. Run the door up and down, making sure that it is balanced properly (not too heavy to lift or to hard to pull down) and running smoothly with no binding on the door jamb or rollers binding in the track.

2) Check that all hinges and door hardware is securely attached to the door and there are no loose fasteners.

3) Lubricate all hinge points, bushings and roller axles using silicone spray lubricant.

4) Reattach the opener to the door and check the open and close travel limits as well as the function of the safety reversing systems built into your opener.

5) Inspect the inside and outside of your door, verifying the integrity of the paint finish; touch up or repaint as required. Wood doors need to be painted or stained on the inside as well as the exterior to ensure no dampness gets into the wood fibers causing the door to warp.

Temperature extremes (hot and cold) can cause door tracks to expand and contract, which can hinder smooth operation.

Garage-door springs are under extreme tension and can cause serious injury. Spring adjustments and repairs should only be performed by a trained garage-door service technician.

Company Employees Join Race for the Cure

Raising funds and awareness for the fight against breast cancer

First United Door Technologies employees are teaming up to share the experience and fundraise for the fight against breast cancer.

 

The “United for the Cure” team will be participating in the 16th Annual Komen Phoenix Race for the Cure^® on Sunday, October 12^th. This is the second year of participation in the annual event.

 
The Komen Phoenix Race for the Cure^® raises significant funds and awareness for the fight against breast cancer, celebrates breast cancer survivorship, and honors those who have lost their battle with the disease. Since 1993, the Affiliate has raised over $13 million to fight breast cancer for research and the local STEP grant program (Screening, Treatment and Education Program). Last year’s event had 37,000 participants and raised $1.9 million.

 

The Phoenix Affiliate is one of 125 Affiliates around the world. Since starting the breast cancer movement 25 years ago, Susan G. Komen for the Cure has transformed the clinic and the culture – how the world talks about and treats this devastating disease – and helped turn millions of breast cancer patients into breast cancer survivors. By the end of 2008, Komen will have invested over $1 billion in breast cancer research and community outreach programs, becoming the world’s largest source of nonprofit funds fighting the disease.

Door Prize

A garage door’s worth in increasing home values

 

If you look at the history of building over the last 20 years, there has been too much similarity in basic rooflines and elevations from community to community. From coast to coast, city officials are demanding changes on the design of the elevations in new projects. Home Builders, who faced the competing demands of limited lot sizes and buyers who wanted spacious garages, were left in a bind.

Once designed for function only, garage doors today can turn a dull expanse into an architectural statement. Working actively to create strong curb appeal and diversity, builders, architects and municipalities are aggressively specifying steel carriage doors for their projects. In fact, architects are designing more and more communities in the neotraditional style using nostalgic elements creating strong curb appeal. The character of a carriage house door fits the style which also enhances the home’s appearance. If the garage is going to cover a large percentage of the house, why not have something better-looking?

Today’s carriage house doors look attractively retro, helping us to recall the charm of that turn-of-the-century swinging barn-door style, but open overhead like any other modern sectional garage door. The door has created true excitement in the building community. With a reputation for their beauty, functionality and durability, their worth in increasing home values is the ultimate “door prize”.

Garage Door Advancements in Energy Efficiency, Safety and Curb Appeal

The cooling weather of Fall marks the time to rethink that garage door. This is the season when homeowners usually make efforts to seal up the biggest opening in the home.

It’s also a popular time for garage door replacement. It’s that time of year when weather has a distinct effect on the garage door business.

Steel isn’t a good insulator, so to compensate; manufacturers double up the panels and fill the space between them with polystyrene or polyurethane insulation. Polyurethane insulates better than polystyrene, but it tends to break down after a period of time, whereas polystyrene lasts forever.

Polystyrene is a flat, sheet-like material, similar to a Styrofoam cup. Polyurethane is pumped into a door as a liquid, then expands and fills the space between the metal sides of the door. There are some synthetic problems with polyurethane. It can dry erratically, leaving unprotected spots in the door. That problem is detectable when a homeowner sees granulated polyurethane draining from the door. A polyurethane-lined door, however, can often have a better R-value than the rest of the garage.

Insulation with polyurethane and polystyrene has made doors so efficient that there often is a 15- to 20-degree difference in a garage after new doors are installed. That can play a big role in heating costs.

While energy efficiency plays a big part in the selection of a garage door, safety is also a key consideration. Safety plays an increasingly important role in garage-door design. All new garage doors incorporate many new safety technologies and innovations such as easy-to-set torsion springs and advanced reversing mechanisms.

Garage doors are also more than just practical openings, they often make up the largest percentage of the front of the house and mean a great deal in the appearance of a property. It is, in fact, a home’s fashion accessory.

One of the most popular features is the carriage house design which originally was made with large hinges on heavy wood that gave the doors a striking presence. Manufacturers are taking these old traditional styles and providing fresh design choices. To enhance appeal, manufacturers introduce “high-definition” lines that feature more complex designs that give the look of texture and create shadow lines.

 

These days, garage door manufacturers, are up-to-date with the demands of the consumer, continually creating better looking and better functioning garage doors. So, no matter whether it’s a remodel or new construction project, and no matter how far out the ideas are for a garage.