Factors Affecting the Cost of a New Garage Door Installation

Garage door installers know that the final cost of a new garage door installation can vary significantly from house to house. Homeowners are sometimes surprised at this since many are under the impression that a garage door is a garage door. 40 or 50 years ago, when there was much less variety available in garage door designs, that may have been the case. But not today.

Today’s garage doors range from the plain, to serviceable, to dazzling and can end up costing anywhere from a few hundred dollars to several thousand. Below, we’re going to take a look at the various factors that affect the cost of a new garage door installation in Denver.

Garage Door Installers Discuss Factors That Affect Garage Door Cost

As the Denver area’s #1 garage door installation company we have seen it all when it comes to garage doors; from the ultra-simple to the ultra-complex and everything in between. What we’ve learned over the years is that there are 6 basic factors that affect the final cost of a garage door. They are, in no particular order:

• The Size of the Door - This one is sort of a no-brainer since it only follows that the larger a door is the more it’s going to cost. A two-car door is going to cost more than a one-car door simply because more material is required to make it. Likewise, the larger door will likely require heavier cables, larger springs, more robust tracks and a bigger, more expensive opener to handle the extra weight. Also, a custom-sized garage door is going to cost more than standard sized door models, because standard doors are mass-produced by the factory, which lowers cost.
• The Design of the Door - Time was when garage doors styles amounted to either painted wood panels that opened overhead, or painted wood panels with one row of glass panels that opened overhead. That was about it. Today, garage doors push the design envelope and may embrace any one of a multitude of styles, including hinged, folding, disappearing, horizontal opening and more. Any time you veer away from the standard overhead garage door design you pretty much ensure you’re going to incur additional costs.
• Materials - As we mentioned, in the past your material choices amounted to either wood panels, or wood panels with a row of glass panels. And that was it. Today, all bets are off and all materials are on the table, from various hardwoods, to aluminum, fiberglass, steel, titanium and bronze, to tinted glass, mirrored glass, and even bulletproof glass. Of course, most homeowners aren’t interested in a bronze door with bulletproof glass inserts, but the point is the material you choose, including the type of wood, is going to have a big influence on the final cost of the door. Keep in mind too that if you live in a cold climate you should get a garage door that is fully insulated.
• Special Features - Let’s say for the sake of argument that you are not interested in breaking new ground with your garage door installation in Denver. But you do want something that's fashioned from high-quality materials and has some distinctive features that allow it to stand out a bit from the garage door crowd. Those distinctive features may include custom hardware, etched glass, LED lighting, and special trim. If you want hardwood instead of pressed wood it’s going to cost you, and if you want an insulated steel, aluminum or fiberglass door it’s going to cost more than a single-face, uninsulated steel, aluminum or fiberglass door.
• Type of Opener - Standard roll-up garage doors require one type of garage door opener, while swing-open doors require a different opener type which is typically more expensive. Likewise, a small overhead door only needs a small opener, while a two-car overhead door is going to require a much larger, and more expensive opener. Roll-up garage door openers use either a chain drive, belt drive, screw drive or direct drive with the chain drive typically being the least expensive and the direct drive being the most expensive. Not coincidentally the chain drive is typically the loudest and the direct drive the quietest and smoothest. So it’s a matter of getting what you pay for.
• The Cost of the Installation Itself - The total cost of a garage door installation in Denver is determined by the cost of the above components, plus the cost of having someone physically install all those components for you. And make no mistake, hiring garage door installers to handle the job is the only way to go. Garage doors can weigh hundreds of pounds. That’s hundreds of pounds that will be hanging over your car as you enter or exit the garage. And hundreds of pounds that could come crashing down on a child or pet if they walk under the open door when it malfunctions. Don’t take that chance. Hire trusted garage door professionals.

The Bottom Line

Today’s garage doors offer homeowners an unprecedented number of design and material options and can range in price from the very affordable to the very expensive. If the time has come to install a new garage door on your home call Denver's best garage door installation company, A Better Garage Door. You can rest easy knowing you’ll get a fair price on your door and that it will be properly installed.