Our Littleton garage door service team fields a wide variety of questions from future customers every day, a fair percentage of which relate to garage door installation matters. With this in mind, we decided to create a permanent resource on the topic - in the form of a FAQ: a blog post dedicated to questions we are asked about the installation of overhead doors in domestic properties. We hope you find the information it contains to be of some use and we welcome calls and messages if you need any more details.
Overhead Door Installation FAQs
Below, we have listed as many FAQs as we have time for today, along with detailed answers that were written by the professionals at Arapahoe Garage Door Service.
Can You Install a Smart Garage Door in My Home?
A lot of people want to know if they can take advantage of recent technological advances and have a smart garage door installed, i.e. one that can be remotely operated with a smartphone, tablet, or other Wi-Fi enabled device that's hooked up to their existing smart home system. The answer to this question is yes: it is perfectly possible to have a new garage door installed that can be connected to your central smart home system. For more details, including pricing estimates, please feel free to call and speak to our garage door sales team in Littleton (if you live in the area).
Is DIY Garage Door Installation a Practical Option?
Given the financial struggles that many people have endured in recent years, it is hardly surprising that more and more of us choose the DIY route when planning new home improvement projects. However, unless you have specific experience with the installation of overhead garage doors and plenty of it, we would not recommend taking the DIY approach on this occasion. What we suggest to most people who are considering a DIY installation is to think carefully about their decision, to do plenty of research, and to request quotations from local overhead door installation specialists. Armed with all this information, it should be easier to make the right choice.
What Will It Cost?
One of the most important factors to consider when you're planning to have a new door installed is the overall cost, which is probably why we are asked this particular question daily. Unfortunately, it's not possible to provide an accurate answer without knowing details such as the size and style of the garage door, the type of property in which it will be installed, and whether any special features are required. For this reason, we invite all residents to call and speak to our garage door sales team whenever convenient. One of our garage door experts will be delighted to tell you everything you need to know about new installation costs and will prepare a formal quotation on request.
How Many Years Will a New Door Last?
If you are going to the expense of having a new garage door installed, it's only natural that you will want to know how many years of service you can expect from your investment, and you are not alone. Many of our customers want the answer to this question before they decide whether to buy a new door or not, and we are always happy to provide the required information. Different manufacturers have different ideas about how long a garage door should last but, in general, we see figures from 15 to 30 years quoted by leading brands. However, these figures are based on normal care and usage so the actual number of years you can expect a new garage door to last will depend to some extent on how well you treat it. A door that is never maintained could deteriorate to the point of no return in as little as a decade. On the other hand, overhead doors that are well maintained by careful owners will sometimes last a lifetime.
Is My Garage Door Covered by My Homeowner's Insurance?
Unfortunately, there is no simple, one-size-fits-all answer to this question either. If you would like to know whether your garage door is covered by your homeowner's insurance, for accidental damage and storm damage, you will need to look at the terms of the policy. If you read the terms and you are still not sure, we recommend contacting your insurance broker (or the insurer) for clarification. It is very important to ascertain whether the cover is in place as the cost of a replacement door will not be insignificant (in the event the existing door is damaged beyond repair).
Can I Refinish My Garage Door?
Almost all types of overhead garage doors can be refinished. Unless you have a high-end model made from exotic materials such as carbon fiber and titanium, you should easily be able to refinish your garage door and transform its appearance in the process. If you have a door that is made from solid timber, you can sand the varnish off and apply a new coat whenever it starts to look a little shabby. For a more dramatic transformation, you may wish to consider applying a different color stain to the surface of the wood, before applying the new coat of varnish. If you have a door that is made from metal panels, you should be able to paint over the existing color quite easily. We recommend preparing for a new coat of paint on a metal door by cleaning it with a good-quality degreaser, before lightly sanding the surface and then wiping it down. You will need to apply at least two coats of the new paint, possibly more if you are painting a lighter color over a darker one.
How Much Care and Attention Does a Modern Garage Door Need?
If you are planning a new overhead door installation, it's a good idea to find out how much future maintenance will be required before you commit to your purchase. As with questions about cost and longevity, it is difficult to give a precise answer to this question without knowing what type of door you are planning to install and how frequently it will be opened and closed. However, we can tell you that the majority of modern garage doors require very little in the way of regular maintenance. We recommend occasional inspections of all moving components, listening out for strange noises when you open and close the door, and lubricating the aforementioned moving parts whenever required.
How Long Will My Garage Door Installation Take?
Many of us lead very busy lives these days, which is why we want to know how long all types of home improvement projects will take to complete. We are especially concerned about the length of time it will take to complete projects that could disrupt our normal lives, such as the installation of a new garage door. For a new build, i.e. an installation for a garage that currently has no door installed, it may be possible to finish the job in as little as 2-3 hours. A like-for-like replacement job can normally be completed in four to six hours, while more complex installations could take a whole day or more. For a more precise answer to this question, you are welcome to call and speak to one of our advisors during normal business hours. Alternatively, please feel free to send us a message at any time of day or night.
Still Have Questions? Call Our Garage Door Repair Pros!
If you have any questions about the installation of overhead doors that do not appear in the above list, please do not hesitate to call or message us. We will be delighted to answer your questions and we may even include them in a future FAQ article, with your permission of course.