Factors to Consider Before you Remodel the Garage Door
In a previous post we asked the question "can a garage door be remodeled?" The answer of course was “yes”. And then we discussed some ways the homeowner could go about changing the look and feel of their door. In this post we’re going to look at the question of garage door remodeling from a different angle. This time we’re going to touch on some things you’ll need to consider before you take the remodeling plunge. Take it from the #1 garage door service in Northglenn and Broomfield: remodeling the garage door can go a long way toward improving the curb appeal of your home. If you do it right. Take the below tips to heart and you’ll start off on the right foot. What you do from there is up to you.
Remodeling Tips from the Best Garage Door Service in Broomfield
Before you sink any time and money into remodeling your garage door take the following into consideration.
Your Budget
Remodeling projects have a nasty way of turning into money pits. You start out with the best of intentions but before you know it you’re swapping out aluminum panels for one-way mirrors, a single overhead carriage house light for state of the art LED rope lights that change color with the weather and galvanized metal hinges for titanium hinges and garage door springs. Northglenn and Broomfield homeowners can save themselves a lot of aggravation and cost by simply sitting down beforehand and devising a budget for their project.
The most important aspect of the budget however, is not actually composing it, it’s sticking to it once you’ve come up with one. The budget should be based on real world considerations regarding how much you can afford without putting your personal plans or other remodeling projects in peril. Any time you feel the urge to violate the budget take it out and think of all the hard work and consideration that went into it.
Material Choices
Remodeling the garage door isn’t like changing garage door springs on Broomfield homes. You have a wealth of material choices these days and custom remodeled garage doors often incorporate different materials in an effort to achieve a unique look. If you are going to go to the bother of remodeling your door the best advice we can give is not to try and do it on the cheap. Stick to your budget, certainly. But don’t devise a budget based solely on the cheapest materials you can find. Instead, invest in high quality materials that will stand up to Mother Nature and not need to be replaced 2 years down the road.
Panel materials alone run the gamut from vinyl to wood, steel, aluminum, glass (many different kinds), fiberglass and composite. In addition, fiberglass, steel and composites can be made to look like virtually any other material you choose. Likewise if you’re going to the trouble of remodeling the door the hardware you put on the new door should be able to stand the test of time. Stainless steel hinges, heavy duty cables and nylon rollers should all be in your budget and wind up on the door.
The Design of Your House
The garage door is the largest single component of your home’s exterior. But that doesn’t mean it will be able to stand on its own design-wise. Just the opposite. Because it’s so large it’s imperative that the design you choose for your remodeled garage door dovetails perfectly with the rest of the house.
If colors clash, proportions are out of whack or you use a type of glass that has nothing to do with the glass on the rest of the house, the door is going to look weird and so, by extension, will the entire house. The bottom line is that the design choices you make must integrate the door seamlessly into the rest of the house.
What You Want the Door to Do
If you use your garage strictly for storing the car, a couple of bicycles and some garden tools then the function of the door isn’t going to impact design much. However, if you have finished the garage to any degree and turned it into a mancave, home gym or even a home office then you’ll want the inside of the door to fall in line with the interior design of the space, while the outside should continue to reflect the exterior aesthetic of the house.
What’s going on inside the garage space will also affect your opener choices as well as who has control over the opener. If it’s your mancave or home gym you don’t want just anybody to be able to open the door whenever they feel like it. In such cases you may want to invest in a couple of deadbolts you can use to keep the door closed until you decide it’s time to open it.
The Bottom Line
Remodeling the garage door can be a very rewarding project but it’s not one you should undertake without input from your local garage door service in Northglenn or Broomfield. They can advise you regarding what’s feasible and help you contain costs by perhaps steering you clear of titanium torsion springs so you have the money to spend on other aspects of the project or on other related projects like that mancave or home gym. Call the pros at A Better Garage Door to learn more about remodeling the garage door.