Your garage door is getting older & you’ve been considering what to do with it. A new garage door is expensive. It never hurts to have to many options. You may choose to purchase a new door or it could be possible to make that old door last several more years, or make it like new again. Here are some ideas on how to bring new life to an old garage door.
Is The Old Garage Door Worth The Expense?
Everything wears out, especially anything that moves. A garage door should be replaced after so much wear & tear. Throwing good money after bad with repairs is postponing the inevitable. This is money that could of been spent on a new one. So weigh the time & cost of fixing to old one compared to buying a new one.
Most importantly you want panels that are in good to fair condition. A bent panel may be replaced if we know who the manufacturer is. Small kinks can be reinforced with a strut. We sell Clopay & Amarr. Color will fade on an older door panel so that must be taken into consideration. A wood garage door must be structurally sound, especially at the bottom corners. This is where the cables will pull the door up so there is a lot of pressure on these points.
With a metal door a three layer panel is desirable. A three layer panel is an insulated panel with steel on the inside & outside. A three layer panel is more structurally sound than a one or two layer panel. They will last longer, stand up to abuse & wear & tear better & look better on the inside of the garage. A three layer panel will also be quieter.
New Track, Rollers & Hinges
14 gauge hinges & ball bearing rollers are the best way to go. Standard grade hinges are 16 gauge. We can special order quiet hinges also. Usually by the time the track is bad the rest of a typical non-insulated garage door is also bad.
Garage Door Spring Replacement
Standard garage door torsion springs have a life of 10,000 cycles. If your door is ten years old it is good to replace them now. It will be cheaper to do it now rather than waiting until they break later. And at a bad time when your needing to go to work one morning.
New Paint & Weather Stripping
This will make the exterior look like new. Remove the old weather stripping first, paint & let it dry. Then install the new weather stripping so there are no unpainted areas around the edges.
When painting a garage door with a darker color you may consider a paint with a higher LRV, that is “light reflective value”. Different color combinations can be used to get any final color. The less black used the cooler the paint & door will be. Clopay will void the paint warranty if this isn’t done. This may not matter to most of us but most door panels have a lifetime rust through warranty.
If you have to have the paint mixed it’s a good idea to use a paint that will be cooler. Sherwin-Williams or any professional paint store will know what this is.
Here is Clopay Door’s paint & LRV information.
Wood Garage Doors
New wood garage doors are expensive. If you like the look of your present door this may be an option for you. Last year I restored two doors that looked like the picture at the top. She liked the 50s look. They put some new paint on them & they saved some money by not having to buy new ones. It just needs to be free of rotten wood & be structurally sound.
We are happy to answer any & all questions. Even those regarding you fixing your door your self! I service Nashville, Antioch, Brentwood, Clarksville, Dickson & all middle TN.
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If you are in the Nashville area Tier Restoration
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