The average homeowner will own one or two homes in their lifetime and have limited experience with garage door styles and their impact on home value. With garage doors making up 30% of a home’s exterior, reviewing options with a professional is essential.
Whether embarking on new home construction or an older home renovation, let the experts at Garage Door Medic’s Palm Desert garage door services work with you to select the right door.
Factors to Consider in Garage Door Styles
Gone are the days when the garage faced the rear of your home. Today’s garage doors are focal points of the house and, in some cases, are primary access points and an integral part of daily function.
Some considerations:
- Home styles
- Door styles
- Door materials
- Door colors
- Insulation
- Door lifecycle
Selecting the right door means finding the combination of style, form, and function that works for you.
Home Architectural Styles
There are several popular home styles, and each one has a different framework for garages and garage doors.
Ranch homes are the most common single-level home, famous for their simple style and open concept. Garage doors for this home are of a subtle and classic style, with small glass panels.
A contemporary home is the most creative, with asymmetrical details and eye-catching elements. Popular doors for a modern home are minimalist doors, sleek and smooth while bold enough to grab attention on their own.
Tudor-style homes have smaller exteriors made of stucco and timber elements. Garage door styles will blend in faux or natural wood, including steel doors with painted wood tones.
A craftsman-style home is famous for its columns, covered porch, large roof, and versatile exterior. Almost any door would work well for this home style.
Farmhouse-style homes are large simple white homes with black trim, a covered porch, and many windows. In keeping with the farmhouse aesthetic, barn-like garage doors are popular.
Colonial homes are classic-style rectangular homes with simple columns. Any classical and modest door would work for this style.
Mediterranean-style homes have a plaster or stucco exterior that works best in certain climate conditions. Wood doors or doors with faux wood tones would work best with this design.
Garage Door Styles
Traditional garage door styles include customizable raised panels that look great without being too flashy. Conventional doors are color-matched with stain or paint to complement the home’s exterior colors.
Carriage house garage doors are standard in colonial and Victorian homes. This style of garage has customizable features, including exterior hardware, to match the home’s aesthetic.
Contemporary doors are simple garage door styles made of steel or aluminum combined with glass. These doors are customizable to take in natural light while allowing for privacy within.
Garage Door Materials:
Steel is the most common material for garage doors. Due to its strength and varying thicknesses, it is weather-tolerant in most environments, and durable, extending the life of your garage door.
Steel doors are also customizable with high-tech finishes to avoid rust, ultraviolet protection to resist fading, and enamel coatings that make them maintenance-free. They are effortless to clean and care for regularly.
Aluminum and glass garage doors are not as strong as steel doors; however, they are lightweight and highly weather-resistant. Unlike steel doors, aluminum doors work very well in coastal environments where saltwater in the air can create problems with rust.
Wood doors look beautiful and can add a lot of curb appeal to any home; however, they are cumbersome and expensive. They require a lot of time to manufacture and require a lot of care over their lifetime because they are more vulnerable to the elements. Lastly, wooden garage doors are difficult to insulate, and therefore it is challenging to protect vehicles or belongings stored in the garage entirely.
Garage Door Colors
The correct color for your garage door can significantly impact your home’s curb appeal. Garage door colors can be made to color match almost any color palette. The right color can change the overall appearance and feel of your home, attracting the attention of other homebuyers and making a personal statement.
A few favorite color options have proven to benefit the look and style of homes more than others.
White is the most common garage door color because it gives a simple effect. It is bright, clean, complementary to almost any home color, scheme, or style, and provides an aesthetic balance to the home’s appearance.
Light gray has similar bright features but blends in more with the other colors of the home.
Dark gray or black are unique and trending colors. While a homeowner has to be careful in how the colors are used and paired up with other home features, a dark gray or black garage door has a clean, smooth appearance that can hide any dirt, dings, or blemishes on the door’s surface.
Brown is a warm and inviting paint color blended in faux wood colors designed to match almost any home.
Beige or Taupe are popular colors that work best with brick or stone exteriors.
Garage Door Insulation
Insulation of your home and your garage isn’t just about keeping cold or hot air out of your home, depending on the season. It is also about holding in the heat or cold produced by your heating and cooling system. Energy bills are affected when your home system fights to maintain an ideal temperature despite poorly insulated walls and doors.
There are two commonly used insulation materials in garage doors: rigid polystyrene, otherwise known as styrofoam, and polyurethane.
Styrofoam is not quite as popular as it once was. Insulating with styrofoam involves gluing large sheets of foam to the inside of the area to be protected, and it is not as durable or flexible in its design.
Polyurethane is an injectable substance to fill the inside of a door or wall to provide insulation. This option is popular because of its flexibility to fill almost any shape or design.
Garage Door Lifecycles
It is not uncommon for many families to use the garage for direct entry or exit from the home, rather than just a storage space. The garage is a central hub for holding sports equipment, gardening tools, and keepsake storage bins for many families. For homes that use the garage less often, the garage door opens and closes once a day as the car exits for work and returns at the end of the day.
This difference can impact the requirements for your garage door’s lifecycle. A single open and close rotation of the garage door is considered one cycle of the door. Active families and homeowners may open and close the garage door multiple times each day. This use of the garage space requires that the garage door and the garage door opener be durable enough to handle increased cycles.
Combining Factors in Garage Door Styles
It can be overwhelming to contemplate so many options in new garage door installations or upgrades. The important thing is to find what works for your home and personal style.
Investing in selecting suitable garage door styles is worth it when you consider that it has one of the highest returns on investment regarding value and curb appeal.
Your choice in garage doors styles should be about what features and colors complement your home while choosing materials and insulation to protect the things within it.
Contact the garage door professionals at Garage Door Medics at (888) 997-2423 today for a consultation if you want to explore your options regarding garage door styles.
