The aesthetic of your garage door will be critical to your home’s look and curb appeal. However, the type of garage door you have will depend on how you’d like it to open and how true to the style of the home you’d like to adhere to. So let’s talk about your options for your garage door entry.
Sectional Garage Door
The sectional garage door is the most popular garage door option in the United States. It’s a multi-sectioned door made of panels and hinges that use a track. The panels bend open and closed to allow the door panels to flow up and out of the way.
Often the door will sit parallel to the garage ceiling until it’s put down again, when it will move down the track and touch the ground as it closes. This puts all the panels back together and gives the appearance of a big door.
Typically sectional garage doors are made of steel, and they are low-maintenance doors. They come with different design options, including glass panels, textured panels, and various colors for the panel. Sectional garage doors are also available in insulated and non-insulated options, so you can customize these doors to whatever you need them to be.
Roll-Up Garage Doors
Typically, these doors are found in commercial settings, but roll-up garage doors could be the perfect option for a more unique and modern look in a home garage. They are made with two to three-inch steel slat sections that roll around a drum that sits above the door, hence their name.
They are heavy-duty doors that can withstand rough use and harsh weather. So if you have a clumsy teenager getting ready to drive, you might want to invest in one of these.
However, this heavy-duty feature makes it a bit more expensive to install in your home, and you’d need a tall enough garage ceiling to accommodate the drum that the door will roll around.
Slide to the Side Garage Doors
Slide to the side garage doors are exactly like sectional garage doors, except they move on a track that moves them, you guessed it, to the side of the garage instead of on the ceiling. This might be a fantastic option if your garage has low ceilings and would be impossible to use if the door took up more of the vertical space.
They come in just as many design and color options, and although they aren’t as popular, they could be the perfect fit for you.
Side-Hinged Garage Doors
These are the types of garage doors we’ve been using for centuries, except now we have appealing designs and various aesthetics to suit many different styles.
Side-hinged garage doors function like the doors we use, except it’s big enough to fit a car through. They have large paneled doors on either side of the garage opening that swing open just like a regular door.
Some are made of wood and come in lovely designs, while others are galvanized steel for more modern looks. These would also be great options for low ceiling garages or if you’re trying to achieve a more antique look for your home.
Tilt-Up Canopy Garage Doors
Tilt-up canopy garage doors are a solid piece of material that will tilt up and sit parallel to the garage ceiling. When they are up, they stick out from the house and would need plenty of space to do so without hitting anything around it.
Don’t open these doors while standing or sitting in your car too close, or you’ll likely get hit with them. The tilt-up canopy garage door is often used in more modern-style homes and comes in various colors, materials, and styles.
Tilt-Up Retractable Garage Doors
At first glance, these might look just like tilt-up canopy garage doors; however, these tilt-up and will sit entirely within the garage when they are fully open.
While they take up less space outside, they require more overhead room within the garage to accommodate the solid panel as it moves up and out of the way. Anything too high around the door will get hit while the door moves from one position to another.
These are usually more expensive to install, and they require a lot of unique configurations to ensure they work properly. Because of these possible headache-inducing issues, they aren’t prevalent and are not often used in homes.
Now you are more prepared to go shopping for garage doors! The way a garage door opens can be important for aesthetics and how it feels to pull up to your home after a long day.
