Curb appeal is your home’s first chance to impress your friends, neighbors, family, and potential buyers (remember that you should always consider your home to be one of your most important investments).  With up to 30% of homes in the US having a garage door that is a prominent feature of the front façade for easy drive-in, your garage door will likely be seen by not only your visitors but by everyone who drives by.

Before you think that choosing a garage door is an easy matter, remember that you are not just choosing a color, but also a window pattern and design.  There are literally thousands of combinations that are offered by some garage door manufacturers.

Thankfully, this is something that garage door manufacturers understand, and they have created a solution to keep you from becoming overwhelmed.  We like Wayne-Dalton’s Garage Door Design Center  which allows you to overlay a photo of your house with garage door designs.  Overhead Door Corp offers a similar option with DoorView.  If you have a particular brand of garage door in mind, it’s a good idea to get with your custom home builder or to call the brand directly to see what sort of tools they offer to assist you when choosing a garage door.

Types of Garage Door Construction

Single-layer garage doors are a lightweight and low cost option.  They are made of a single outer layer of fiberglass, engineered wood, or steel and have little insulating value.

Double-layer garage doors have an outer and inner skin with an interior of polystyrene board and an insulating value of R-4 to R-7.

Premium garage doors have an outer and inner layer of wood, fiberglass, or higher quality steel and an interior of polyurethane or polystyrene with insulating values over R-15.

The next thing consideration to be made is what is the best material for a garage door.  There are many from which you can choose but the pros and cons of each is important.  Your house’s location and the climate is important.  We will go over the types of materials for garage doors in our next post.