It’s hard to make any plausible case that a solid block of vinyl enhances visual appeal, and the ease with which metal dents and deforms quickly makes metal garage doors look as though they have seen better days. By contrast, wooden garage doors are naturally attractive and retain their beauty with age. Scuffs and scratches actually lend them character and are anyway easily repaired if needs be requiring little more than basic handyman tips to deal with most situations.

It’s no coincidence that wood garage doors are still first choice among architects, builders and homeowners; solid wood garage doors always add a touch of quality in the same way that solid wooden window frames totally outclass aluminium and uPVC window systems. It is also much easier to match wood types and colours to existing architectural features such as the main doors and windows of a house.

As already mentioned, wood is easy to work and repair and when properly treated wooden garage doors can easily outlast so-called maintenance-free materials such as steel, aluminium, fibre-glass and vinyl (also called polyethylene).

Metal doors are prone to attracting dents and to buckling (even simply kicking a ball against a metal garage door can ruin its appearance), and while steel doors tend to be less susceptible than aluminium, steel is heavier and will eventually rust. Fibre-glass and vinyl, while being lightweight and initially robust will over time degrade and become brittle and crack due to exposure to ultra-violet light and they are not realistically repairable once that happens.

Classic wood garage doors also provide a useful lesson in simplicity of design. Using solid wood rails and legs with panels channelled into them and typically swinging outwards on hinges there is no complicated internal framework just waiting to fail or extraneous fastenings to corrode. Most metal and vinyl garage doors on the other hand employ either an “up-and-over” system or the more recent “carriage style garage doors” design that looks as though it might swing outwards but in fact is sectioned and rolls upwards.

In both cases, complex mechanisms using garage door springs are vital to the operation of the door. And it is a near certainty that, even if you regularly maintain the mechanism, you will at some point be required to adjust your garage door springs and possible repair and/or replace them which is not a trivial task.

Get behind any set of garage doors though and the full story is revealed. Only solid wood doors look good on both sides and are not just an outer shell concealing latch mechanisms on the inside. This is critically important to anyone considering using their garage as a secondary living space.

Not only do wood garage doors look good both from outside and inside the garage, they offer superior insulation and security characteristics – heat simply flies through metal and vinyl and neither material supports the sort of proven, quality locking mechanisms typically found in solid wood doors. Although it is relatively simple to add insulating panels to the inside of a metal door, the result is never especially easy on the eye and the result compares poorly against a pre-insulated wooden garage door.

For those looking for ultimate protection then high security wooden garage doors internally reinforced with steel are able to resist even the most determined attackers for a considerable length of time. These not only protect your property but can form the basis of a garage “safe room” to prevent intruders threatening or harming you or your family.

In summary then, wooden garage doors are not only the best looking option, but last better than the alternatives and are simpler, more environmentally friendly and score highly where security and insulation are concerned. There’s no escaping the fact that a wood panelled door is far and away the most expensive option, but there’s always a price to pay for quality and don’t forget either that wood garage doors can increase the value of your home.

Now, when it comes to security in the modern world, most people are familiar with the idea of taking sensible precautions to protect their home by fitting locking bolts to windows and deadlocks on entrance doors. Yet when it comes to the garage it’s surprising how many folk assume that the flimsiest security measures will suffice.

Not only do many people’s garages in fact contain items of considerable value, to a burglar they also often provide an easy route into the main house.

Even if you don’t keep an expensive car or several in your garage, you quite likely have a good stock of tools ideal for assisting a break-in and if your garage is integral to or otherwise adjoins your house it also provides excellent cover for anyone attempting a break-in to really go about their business completely unobserved. Most integral garages also provide an obvious weak link – direct access via the internal door to the house.

It should be obvious what the answer is: secure garage doors. Unfortunately, the majority of budget vinyl and steel garage doors just aren’t up to the job. They have woefully ineffective locking systems that the average person could defeat with a bit of effort and most burglars can dispense with in seconds. They are also of course made from materials that are either easy to deform or break.

Due to the more robust nature of wooden garage doors, these often have much better locks but are still no match for a determined intruder who is likely to deploy considerable force, using either a jemmy (a powerful steel crowbar) to pull at weak spots or simply kicking the panels in.

However, there are garage doors available that can withstand a prolonged attack from even the most determined intruder. In Europe the certification covering anti-intrusion (ENV 1627) specifies a number of classes, where for example a Class 1 certified door is resistant to attempts to break it down or the application of hook and traction from outside.

ENV 1627 Class 3 high security doors are guaranteed to resist a sustained attack from even the most experienced burglars using a variety of tools for at least 20 minutes. Being essentially still wooden these doors still retain their elegant appearance but contain high tensile steel inserts within.

High security garage doors are not only effective as a deterrent against intruders, but can also serve as a primary component for constructing a safe room. A safe room (also often called a “panic room” – a term originally coined to enhance the dramatic appeal of a film of the same name) is a well protected enclosed space that can be used to shelter people and/or valuables from attacks of various kinds (criminals, storms and so on).

Given the high level of primary protection that high security garage doors offer they are also ideal as the basis for creating a secure garage gun safe for example, or even converting your garage into effectively a large safe for storing all manner of valuables.

They are also very often one of, if not the, most frequently used entrance doors into your home yet considering fitting a secure garage door somehow seems to be low on most people’s list of priorities (that is, until after they are unfortunate enough to suffer a break in, by which time it’s a bit late).

On a related theme and especially if you use your garage door as the primary entrance to your house you would be well advised to consider insulation in order to help maintain the desired temperature in the house. You can either opt to specify this up front as many garage doors provide the option to fit integral insulation or add it later using a generic garage door insulating kit.

Then there is the balance of cost and quality – if you don’t plan on staying in your property more than a few years and/or don’t use the garage doors much then cheaper or budget garage doors could easily fit the bill (in both senses). However, if your garage doors get a lot of use and you would rather not encounter “garage door repair hell” when the inevitable happens then go for the best you can afford.

So there are a number of things to balance against each other then, but essentially your start point before proceeding further is to decide what exactly you want from your garage and hence also its doors. Is this a temporary makeover or a long term investment? Do you need to consider security? Ability to withstand strong winds and/or extreme temperatures? Once you are clear about the answers to these questions then you will understand how to judge specific criteria.

So what should you look for when considering installing or replacing a garage door?

Garage Door Types

First there is the material type. This falls into three basic categories:

• Metal garage doors are far and away the most common these days accounting for some 80% of the market in America and Canada. They are invariably either steel or aluminium – steel doors being cheaper but heavier. Both should be painted with a specialist outdoor metal paint and are otherwise relatively low-maintenance apart from the inherent problem that flat metal doors tend to dent and buckle easily, which can affect both their look and operation. However, metal doors provide a good platform for adding optional features such as insulation and reinforcement.
• Vinyl and fibre-glass doors have the advantage of being both low in weight and sturdy. Again they can be painted (though some are pre-treated to a specific colour), tend to be more robust where dents and scrapes are concerned and will last for as long as the material holds out against break-down from ultra-violet light. These tend to be occupy the budget section of the market for those who have minimal requirements where their garage doors are concerned.
• Wooden garage doors go back as far as “garages” and have a classic, timeless quality. Wood is a naturally attractive, versatile and easy to maintain material which may be painted or stained to match existing timber features such as entrance doors or window. As with all wood products, the quality varies according to the specific type of wood and whether it is a composite construction (compressed fibres and laminates) or solid wood. Hence the price can also vary quite widely, but as with most things in life, you get what you pay for and most people recognise that wood garage doors are best.

Wood garage doors can be anything up to ten times more expensive than a standard steel door due to the inherent costs of the material, a more involved and precise manufacturing process to assure against warps and cracks, and the simple fact that the additional weight requires the installation of much stronger (and heavier) rails and beams to support the door. This last point also effectively rules out DIY installation where wooden doors are concerned – you absolutely must invest in paying for professional installation.

The types of wood mostly commonly used to make garage doors are conifers such as Redwood, Hemlock and Cedar since these contain a high concentration of oil and thus resist condensation and rot well. It is also not unusual to find Oak used as a material thanks to it high strength and durability (slightly interesting related fact – the English navy established by Henry 8th was built using Oak).

There is however more to consider when choosing a material for your garage doors than simply issues of cost or appearance. For most people the debate usually narrows down to a choice between steel versus wooden garage doors. Sometimes the deciding factor may be out of your hands anyway though, because although wooden doors undoubtedly project an image of quality, can be reinforced to provide a high level of security (discussed later) and have good natural insulation properties, if you happen to live in an area that experiences extremes of weather (wild fluctuations in temperature or very strong winds) then you may have little choice but to opt for a specially strengthened and/or heavily insulated steel door.

Buying A Garage Door

Second you should consider where to source your chosen type of door. As with many major household items, a quality original product installed by competent fitters will ensure years of trouble free enjoyment. Accordingly, you would be well advised to check for references of previous installations and evidence that your supplier has been around a while, has a reputation worth protecting, carries full insurance, employs properly trained/accredited staff and offers reasonable warranties and after-sales support in the event that anything should go awry.

Garage doors can be purchased from large DIY stores, door and window companies and garage door specialists. Bear in mind though that the long term durability and reliable performance of your garage doors will depend crucially on the quality of the installation process as much as the doors themselves. Specialists who fit garage doors day in day out are far more likely to deliver a result that looks good and lasts from day one for many years to come.

Another reason to consider using a garage door specialist is customisation – you can have exactly what you want, in the style and size you specifically want rather than have to compromise to fit in with a standard product.

Garage Door Maintenance

Third, as with any long term purchase you need to consider the likely useful lifespan of your new doors and any maintenance issues. This is not just down to caring for the surface finish on the doors, but also bearing in mind that the mechanism for the garage door opener will need to be kept in good order.

Many people forget that although the door panel itself is the most visible element it is only one part of the overall system – “part” being the operative word. Garage door opening mechanisms use quite a few parts (springs, rollers and so on) that need to all work smoothly together otherwise the door will cease to open and close as it should.

Like many things, a garage door is only as good as its weakest part and if even a quite trivial component should fail then the whole door is compromised. How long any given part will last is measured in “cycles” where one cycle is one opening and closing of the door. Cheaper parts are often rated for 5,000 cycles, which assuming an average of 3 uses of the door per day (or roughly 1,000 cycles per year) effectively limits their life span to about 5 years.

So roughly every 5 years you can expect to call out a garage door repair specialist – or more likely suffer a spate of call outs since it won’t just be one part that has reached the end of its working life. Be aware also that adjusting garage door springs and potentially repairing or replacing door mechanism parts can be both difficult and dangerous and you should check carefully that anyone who comes to repair your doors is properly covered by valid liability and workers compensation insurance.

In the event that anything goes wrong you need to be sure that insurance will cover both damage to property and personal injury, otherwise (it being your property) you could find yourself liable and facing ruinous costs. Also, asking for proof of insurance is a good way to weed out the cowboys since reputable companies will not hesitate to provide this information if asked.

On the other hand, you could insist on parts where testing was discontinued at 80,000 cycles since they just wouldn’t fail and then you can expect quite literally a lifetime of pretty much trouble free operation. Ask your supplier to provide (in writing) the manufacturers’ cycle ratings for the parts that will be installed with your door – this is little different really to asking a car dealer about mileage.

And talking of “lifetime” it is worth understanding what many so-called “Lifetime Warranties” really mean. For example almost all steel garage doors are sold with a “Lifetime” guarantee against rust-through which is where a door rusts so badly that you can actually see through it; but in practice most people cannot stand to look at a rusting door and will paint the door long before the rust totally eats through the metal with the result that no-one in fact ever claims for rust-through. It is a worthless warranty and in reality just a sales ploy to reassure the naive and unwary.

Finally, it might be obvious but do be sure to ask about all aspects of your new garage doors before you buy and if anything doesn’t feel right then look elsewhere till you find a supplier/installer you feel comfortable with. It’s your property and your money after all.

There are pros and cons on both sides, but whichever you type you eventually decide upon, bear in mind that this is a long term decision since both steel and wooden garage doors can last easily a couple of decades or more according to the amount of use or abuse they’re subjected to and how well they are maintained.

Of the two, steel garage doors are more abundantly found in most typical domestic installations, thanks mainly to lower initial purchase cost and wide availability of suppliers, door designs and finishes. On the subject of door finishes, many garage door suppliers offer different warranties according to the selected finish, since some last significantly better than other (as with all things, the decision comes down to higher purchase price versus reduced maintenance costs).

As a rule steel doors are quite a bit lighter than solid wood but are prone to collecting dents and suffering deformities due to twisting and strains imposed by the opener mechanism. As a consequence you are more likely to find your self in need of a competent garage door repair services outfit at some point.

The most commonly found styles for steel garage doors include both raised and flush panel designs and in recent years any number of variations on “carriage style” garage doors, which mimic traditional carriage house doors but in fact are sectioned to roll up vertically. It is not uncommon these days to also find insulation offered as an option for steel garage doors, which not only helps render the garage a more habitable space but provides additional insulation for any walls shared with the house, saving on ongoing heating and/or cooling costs.

After steel, wood is the next most popular material for garage doors. Wood garage doors are on the whole more expensive and whereas a paint finish is optional on other materials, for wood it is mandatory and must be maintained to ensure the doors last properly. The main benefits that wood has over steel are:

• better looking;
• more customisable and hence more versatile;
• better intrinsic insulation properties;
• more robust and able to withstand knocks etc;

The ability to customise wooden garage doors to precisely match existing architectural features is in fact a major attraction for many people.

Wood garage doors, especially solid timber ones, are of course heavier than steel doors. However, there is an alternative that is lightweight, cheaper than solid wood, and environmentally friendly. Composite wood garage doors are manufactured from a tough amalgam of recycled wood and resin that is moulded to shape. The result has many of the benefits of a solid timber door but is considerably lighter – both physically and on the wallet.

Then there are considerations of physical security and insulation i.e. keeping out unwelcome visitors and weather. There is no doubt that “out of the box” wood panelled garage doors win out here; they are inherently more robust, thicker, heavier and provide decent natural insulation. However, if you’re looking for serious garage door security or heavy duty garage door insulation then a steel door might be the better bet.

Because of their basic strength coupled with inherent light weight, there is more scope to add additional reinforcement and insulating panels to a steel door. It also relatively cheap and easy to do as an after thought. This is not to say that you cannot achieve this with a wooden door, just that in general it will be more expensive and you will need to invest in a new wooden door that has already been factory fitted with internal reinforcing steel bolts and insulation.