Should Your Next Garage Door Be Metal, Wood, or Fiberglass?
Is a new garage door in your near future?
If your old door is, well, old, then a new door may be needed soon. And as with most buying decisions, you’ll have a number of choices to sort through in selecting your new door.
Many of those choices will revolve around features such as style, colors, number of windows, etc. But one part of your decision process will be about addressing a very basic question: Of what type of material should your door be constructed?
The answer to this question will impact many variables including price, appearance, durability, and more. So it’s an important question. Here are some of the considerations you’ll want to keep in mind when making that decision for yourself:
Wooden Garage Doors
If appearance is of great importance to you, then a wooden door may be your best choice. Wooden doors offer a level of aesthetics that just can’t be matched by doors constructed of other materials. They also tend to offer more flexibility in design, making it easier to find a door that will complement most any architectural style.
But wooden doors also come with some negatives. On average, wooden doors are more expensive than any other kind of door. A wooden door will also require more care, maintenance, and upkeep during its lifetime. And even so, a wooden door may not last as long as doors of steel or aluminum.
(A tip: if you’re looking for a compromise between the beauty of wooden doors and the costs of metal or fiberglass doors, consider a door constructed of wood composite.)
Steel Garage Doors
The most durable garage door you can buy? That would be a steel door. Steel doors also tend to be relatively low-cost, and demand little maintenance.
Most people don’t consider steel doors to be as attractive as wooden doors. (But before you make come to that conclusion, be sure to check out some of the newer doors that mimic the appearance of a finished wood grain.)
If you decide to shop for a steel door, be aware that they’re available in a number of different gauges. Higher gauges equate to thinner steel. The lower the gauge of steel used in the construction of the door, the more durable the door is likely to be.
Aluminum Garage Doors
An aluminum door may be to a steel door what a wood composite door is to a wood door – it offers some of the benefits at a lower average price. But aluminum is a softer material than steel, and so aluminum doors aren’t as strong and durable as steel doors.
Aluminum doors, though, offer just as many design options as steel doors. Perhaps even more. And aluminum doors are very popular because of an attractive balance of price vs. benefits.
Fiberglass Garage Doors
In most cases fiberglass doors aren’t a great choice unless price is the overriding factor in selecting a door. Fiberglass doors simply aren’t as durable as other doors. And over time the fiberglass will degrade, impacting the appearance of the door in spite of maintenance efforts on the part of the homeowner.
For coastal homeowners, though, fiberglass can be a great choice. That’s because fiberglass is far more resistant to the corrosive effects of salt air than either steel or aluminum doors.