Question:
It is time to replace my wooden garage doors before they fall of the
track and hurt someone.
I have been to numerous garage door dealers, and of course each of them tell
me they have the absolute best product money can buy.
Anyone here have opinions of the best manufacturer? Is there a place I can
go to review ratings? I have visited many of the manufacturer's web sites.
Also, Is this not really a DIY job?
Answer:
Firstly, there is no such site that will give you the information your
looking for. I've worked in the garage door industry at all levels for over
35 years and I'll try and give you a few tips without being biased.
The current rage in garage doors is the urethane injected, thermally broken
steel door and for very good reason. They are incredibly strong, offer a
tremendous R value, (more later) and come with a factory applied baked on
finish.
Incidentally, all manufacturers claim that this type of door has an
insulating value of R16 (1 3/4" thick) and R12 (1 3/8" thick.) Although
they do have good insulating values, they are not this high. There are
changes coming in the overhead door industry within the next year or so that
will ensure the public are given correct figures.
The Overhead Door Corporation is a manufacturer with dealers all across the
country. Actually "The Overhead Door Corporation" was the originator of an
overhead door. A man by the name of C.G. Johnson from Detroit created the
first overhead door back in 1921. They are a good company with a good
reputation.
The new type of doors out there are stronger in some ways when they are of
sandwich construction (foam injected or glued in) but in my opinion some
manufacturers use steel that is too thin . See if you can find out the
gauge of steel that is used. I have seen some manufacturers us steel so thin
you can push (with your hand) a lead pencil right through the entire door
with little effort.
