Selecting a suitable garage door material is an excellent way to ensure your garage door complements your home for many years. Your garage door material can enhance curb appeal, door functionality, home insulation and property value. Your garage door is often a decades-long investment, and investing in suitable materials from the start can ensure it remains durable, efficient and appealing.
You want your garage door material to suit your home, budget and local climate while enhancing your curb appeal. Garage door materials like wood, steel and fiberglass can serve you in many ways. They can help insulate your home, make your garage door more durable and add to your home’s visual appeal. It’s also essential to consider how a particular material will complement your chosen garage door’s style.
By exploring various garage door materials and weighing their design properties and pros and cons, you can select a suitable material for your garage door and home. Here are common garage door materials to choose from:
Steel is one of the most common garage door material options as it can be affordable and durable. They’re rigid and lightweight, making them reliable for many years. Different steel garage doors can also require less maintenance, making them more economical. You can choose between insulated and non-insulated steel garage material designs and styles.
Insulated or galvanized steel garage doors can be more robust and make your garage door more durable. You can pick between various steel garage door options that can match your home’s design and boost your curb appeal. Insulated steel garage door materials are an excellent choice for enhancing your garage door’s life span and adding a sleek and traditional feel to your home. While steel garage doors may dent easily, insulated steel can be more wear-resistant.
Non-insulated steel material can be a more affordable option. You can choose between many non-insulated steel garage door styles and designs. You can also paint your steel garage door to match and enhance your home’s appearance. For example, accent wood tones on steel doors can offer your home a modern and sophisticated look. Non-insulated steel doors may dent easily and are less durable than insulated or galvanized ones.
One of the most significant drawbacks of both insulated and non-insulated steel is that it can corrode and rust easily, especially in climates that experience heavy rain and snowfall.
Weighing up the pros and cons of steel garage doors can help you make an educated decision when choosing a garage door material.
Here are some steel garage door pros:
These are a few steel garage door cons:
Aluminum garage door materials can be rust-resistant and offer beautiful contemporary designs. Aluminum is easy to shape and customize to match your design vision. You can add various eye-catching finishes and coat colors to your aluminum glass door to enhance the exterior of your home.
You can also accent your aluminum garage door with various glass door panels, inviting natural light into your home. Aluminum can offer a luxurious feel and help protect your door against rust and corrosion, especially in wet climates.
One of the drawbacks of aluminum garage doors is that they’re lightweight, making them more susceptible to wear from the elements. Wind storms, hail or heavy rain storms can cause damage like dents to your aluminum agar door. Significant damage can be challenging to repair and can require replacement, but you can add insulation to your aluminum doors to boost its strength.
By considering the pros and cons of aluminum garage doors, you can decide if aluminum is the best garage door material type for you.
Here are some aluminum garage door pros:
Aluminum garage doors cons can include:
Natural woods like cedar, fir and redwood offer natural insulation and attractive designs. Wood is also an eco-friendly and renewable material type. Wood can be easily customized, offering various styles to match your home’s exterior and enhance its curb appeal.
Warm wood tones and overlays can also give your home an elegant, timeless garage door design. Wood garage door designs are eye-catching and can be an excellent option for boosting your property value. With care, a natural wood garage door can serve you well and add beauty to your home.
One of the drawbacks of wood materials is that they can cost more upfront than other garage door materials. They can also be high maintenance and cost you more over time. Without regular maintenance, your wooden garage door can chip, fade, rot or warp, affecting your garage door’s durability.
It’s also essential to consider whether your local climate can suit a wooden garage door, as they can be sensitive to drastic temperature changes. Wood can swell and rot due to excess moisture and humidity or warp and crack in extreme heat. Natural wood garage doors can also be heavier than steel or aluminum doors, making them challenging to operate manually.
You want to assess all the pros and cons of natural wood garage door materials and weigh them against your climate, budget and preferences.
Here are several wood garage door pros:
These are some wood garage door cons:
Wood composite is a durable and affordable garage door material. Manufacturers use recycled materials like reclaimed wood and plastic fiber to create wood composite. You can get a long-lasting, durable wood composite garage door in various designs.
Wood composite garage doors have a wood frame situated behind layers of fiberboard. Various wood composite materials can resemble natural or genuine wood. These garage doors can have natural wood details like grooves, overlays and stains. Manufacturers can fill wood composite cores with polystyrene to enhance the material’s temperature-regulating properties. Wood composite materials can be suitable for various climates.
One of the drawbacks of wood composite garage doors is that they can be less durable than natural wood and can crack or chip easily. Wood composite can also require some maintenance, like waxing and washing, to keep up with your garage door’s appearance.
Consider wood composite’s unique properties and pros and cons before choosing it for your garage door.
Here are some key wood composite garage door pros:
One notable con of garage doors made from wood composite includes:
Fiberglass is a corrosion-resistant garage door material that looks and feels like natural wood. Fiberglass can be an affordable and durable garage door material. Manufacturers connect fiberglass garage doors to a steel frame for a more rigid design. Manufacturers can also fill fiberglass materials with polyurethane insulation to help strengthen the door and enhance insulation.
Fiberglass garage doors come in numerous designs and styles and can fit a traditional or modern home design. You can install a raised panel or carriage house fiberglass overlay to enhance your home’s appearance. A fiberglass garage door is also a less expensive alternative to natural wood. Unlike natural wood, fiberglass garage doors are resistant to warping, cracking and rotting. Fiberglass materials can also be more transparent, enhancing your home’s natural light.
One of the main drawbacks of fiberglass is that it makes it challenging to repair minor damages and can require placement. Fiberglass is also better suited for less windy and coastal climates. Strong winds can damage fiberglass and create a distracting rattling noise against fiberglass doors.
By evaluating the pros and cons of fiberglass materials, you can decide if fiberglass is a suitable garage door material for your home and climate.
Some fiberglass garage door pros include:
A few fiberglass garage door cons are:
Vinyl garage door materials are rigid and damage resistant. Vinyl can also be an affordable and low-maintenance material. Manufacturers secure vinyl garage doors against a metal frame giving them a rigid core and structure. Vinyl garage door materials also contain polystyrene insulation to reinforce the door’s strength and damage resistance.
Vinyl garage doors can be an excellent addition to your home, especially if your concern is preventing damage like dents from balls, bicycles and other impacts. Vinyl’s insulation also makes it an energy-efficient garage door material and can save you on heating bills in winter.
Vinyl garage doors come in various sophisticated designs to enhance your home’s visual appeal. However, one of the main drawbacks of vinyl is that once you pick a design and color, you’re stuck with it. Repainting a vinyl garage door is challenging, so settling on a timeless color and design is essential.
Understanding vinyl’s unique pros and cons is essential before settling on a vinyl garage door.
Some key vinyl garage door pros are:
One con of vinyl for garage doors includes:
