How to Choose the Best Replacement for Your Garage Door
Garage doors tend to last a long time. But they also tend to take a lot of abuse. So if you live in your home for a while, there’s a good chance that you’ll need to replace your garage door at some point.
When that time comes you’ll have many options to choose from. Sorting through those options and making a final decision can sometimes be a bit difficult. But essentially your choices for replacing your garage door will come down to one of three basic options.
Here’s a brief overview of those three options to help you decide which will be the best choice for your situation:
Stock Garage Doors
Going with a ready-made door right out of inventory, not surprisingly, is the least expensive option for replacing your garage door. But that doesn’t mean that your options are limited. You’ll be able to choose between wood, steel, aluminum, or fiberglass doors. You’ll also be able to choose from a variety of design options.
How much will a stock garage door cost? Expect to spend up to $600 at the high end, and as little as the mid-$300s at the low end. Having the door installed typically adds about $100 to the total cost.
Semi-Custom Garage Doors
A semi-custom door starts out as a stock door to which you add selected design features and add-ons such as glass inserts, different panel styles, and custom designs.
You’ll have the same basic choices of materials as with a stock door – wood, steel, aluminum, or fiberglass – but you may have more variations available within those materials. If you’re selecting a wood door, for example, you’ll have choices of wood types that probably won’t be available in a stock door – mahogany and cedar are two examples of varieties of wood that typically aren’t available in stock doors.
As expected, prices for semi-custom doors tend to be considerably higher than for stock doors. At the high end, expect the price of your semi-custom garage door to come in at around $3000 for a wooden door. Choose minimal add-ons for the basic stock door, and the final price can be under $500 for a steel door.
Custom Garage Doors
The final option – and, of course, the most expensive – is a completely custom garage door. Think of custom doors as designer doors. Custom doors are intended to do far more than just fulfill the basic duties of a garage door. Custom doors are expected to contribute to the aesthetic appeal of the design of your home. Many manufacturers, in fact, have a special name for custom doors: ‘carriage house selections.’
Costs for these doors are extremely variable, depending upon the many choices of designs, materials, add-ons, etc. Just know that if you’re on a tight budget, a custom door is likely to be out of your price range.
But if you do choose a custom door, you’ll be getting more for your money than just a pretty appearance. In general, custom doors are the highest quality doors on the market. They’re typically constructed of the best materials, and with top-quality workmanship. Accordingly, custom doors usually come with an excellent warranty – quite frequently, in fact, a lifetime warranty.
So if you can manage the cost, a custom door can represent an investment that will pay off in the long run in appearance, durability, and curb appeal.