Garage Door Sizes

If you live with a garage door then you have most likely noticed at least once or twice that your garage door is in fact a rather large piece of real estate, even when compared to your home. However large your home is, the front of it is typically broken up by things like windows, doors, or other architectural features. When it comes to your garage door though there are far less things to get in the way. Depending on your garage door’s design you may have windows to break things up, or some nice aesthetic accessories, but otherwise it is a pretty flat landscape of aluminum, wood, or some other material. What you then may also notice is that because your garage door is just that, a door, there is not a whole lot of support available for the actual door other than on the sides. This means that garage doors with greater widths can in some cases be more susceptible to damage than those with lesser widths. In order to frame this in a more relatable sense we can simply look at this from a customer’s perspective. When you are building your home or your garage or simply thinking about renovating, one of the decisions that you will have to make is about the number of garage doors to the number of “cars” that your garage is sized for. Obviously your garage can and most likely will hold more than just cars, but nevertheless the measurements you mostly hear are about the number of cars they could ostensibly house. When it comes to your garage size you will then need to figure out how your garage doors will cover the area and how you want to do so. This article will look at some of the options and the benefits and drawbacks of each.You can use this article to get a bit of an idea of what you may be looking for, but in most cases you will still want to talk over your opinions and prospective choices with a professional before committing. That professional may be a contractor or a garage door professional, depending on your needs and your worries.

The first option is the big one, the big garage door that spans the length of your garage. It’s great for a number of reasons, but mostly it gives you flexibility. Your garage can fit pretty much anything into it within reason. The more “cars” your garage can fit the more garage door space you have for whatever you need to be storing. This is a pretty obvious choice for those who have wider vehicles, large things to store or use their garage in some way other than the obvious car storage way. For traditional car storage it of course works, but is not necessarily the best choice. A wide garage door takes more energy to lift and when it gets wider and wider becomes more expensive and more susceptible to damage. If you move passed the two car garage size you are then looking at a garage door that might need to be custom ordered and will have to be wholly replaced if just one part of it is damaged. This garage door will also be be more susceptible to damage because it is wider and will not be supported very much. You will spend more on the energy lifting and closing it than you would on several smaller garage doors, but if it is truly what you need there is no denying its usefulness. In conclusion, it’s worth it if you absolutely need it but otherwise stick to one wide garage door for two or one car if you must.

The second option is the one door per garage port or “car” in the garage’s size. It is more cost effective for a number of reasons. The garage doors will be sturdier and less susceptible to denting because of their size and so for those that think extreme weather or other forces may be a problem, multiple garage doors may be the right answer. Multiple garage doors also allow you to only open the portion of your garage that you need at any given time, this saves your garage the wear and tear of being opened numerous times when it doesn't need to be. However, this also means that at the start when you are first purchasing your garage doors you will need to shell out money for more parts initially. Singe car garage doors also have the problem of being only for one car at a time. This means that if you are looking to fit in three cars when you only have two garage doors then you may find it near to impossible, whereas a wider door might allow you to squeeze in a third car with the same size garage. Along with being able to stand up to wind and force better the smaller garage doors will also be cheaper to replace because of their size, making them a great choice for high risk areas or home owners.

There are some of your points for and against both options of garage doors, but remember that you will get the best advice on a case by case basis from professionals. Garage doors may not be the most important part of your new home, but if given the chance it is a good idea to take into consideration the right factors and get things right the first time. If you have forgotten all that you read so far the main take aways should be that because your garage door is so large there are certain complications that can come from it being too large. However, if you need the flexibility of an extremely large opening for your garage then it may just be worth the extra investment because of the added usability. For most it is more of a question of preference than it is necessity, but if you have your own home it certainly does feel better to have it reflect your preferences.