Garage Door Maintenance For First-Time Homeowners

Posted on: 23 September 2021

Garage doors come in diverse configurations. They open differently and use distinct materials. You may be wondering what is best for your home if you're looking for a new door. Consider the following reasons for choosing a roller door.

Compact

One of the best attributes of a roller door is the compact way it rolls up to open and close. For this reason, these doors are ideal if you have a small driveway or if your garage is close to the street. A roller door moves vertically upwards, and it doesn't extend outwards like a tilt door or a swinging hinged model. Thus, you can park close to the garage before opening it. If several cars use the driveway, a roller door will help minimise congestion as it will stay out of the way when it opens. Bear in mind, however, that the corrugated sheet rolls into a bundle at the top of the garage entryway. And the building will require enough headroom above the door to contain the bundle.

Resilient and Strong

Roller doors are made of ribbed metal that comes in different profiles. They typically use either aluminium or steel. Steel is often stronger than aluminium and less likely to dent. However, a door's strength depends on its specific construction. 

Aluminium naturally resists rust, and it's ideal if you live in a coastal region. However, steel features different alloys that protect it from rust, such as a zinc coating. The powder coating process also covers roller doors in hard polyester paint that further shields them from corrosion.

Colour Choices

The powder-coating technique also covers the door in a decorative finish in a range of colours. You can thus coordinate the garage door with the house, paving and garden. You might opt to match the garage door to the house roof, for example. Often, roofing contrasts with the external walls, so the garage door will also offer contrast. However, if your house has numerous details, such as contrasting shutters or canopy awnings, you might want to blend the garage door with the external walls so that it fades into the background. 

On a heritage red brick home with terracotta tile roofing, you could install a green garage door. On a modern home painted in cool grey, you could go for a charcoal door, depending on the rest of the facade. One way to narrow your colour options to help you reach a decision is to consider whether your home's facade mainly consists of cool hues like blues and grey, or warm shades, like reds and orange-tans. Then, choose a correspondingly warm or cool shade for the door.