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Publish by: Ace Garage Doors

This is an excellent time to consider buying or servicing your garage door.  Before summer vacations and after the winter wear-and-tear on our doors.

Because Southern Californa enjoys warm-to-hot summers, Ace Garage Door customers find summer a great time to consider insulated doors. Replacing damaged bottom rubber can also help keep your door updated and your door insulated.

Call us for our prices on new insulated doors.  We offer free estimates anywhere in San Diego County.

We also offer complete door tune-ups at very reasonable prices.

Publish by: California Coastal Garage Doors

If you want to maximize the value of your home, you'll find garage doors are an easy and affordable method to increase your home's curb appeal. A good garage door will distinguish it from the rest of the neighborhood. For something extra special, custom made garage doors can be designed to your specifications.

The most common types of garage doors are: Retractable, Canopy Side, and Hinged Sectional Retractable. Where limited space in your driveway is an issue, sectional garage doors are the right choice. They open and shut vertically, allowing cars to park very close to the door without keeping it from opening. Among the wide variety of designs, the most popular garage doors are sectional, upward acting, and self storing.

The Types of Garage Doors

Gone are the old manual doors. Today you'll find that remote controlled and motorized garage doors have produced a more usable garage. The most popular style is the overhead garage door.

The primary concern in planning your garage door is the material used. Selecting the best garage door materials for your needs will depend on a few things like the style of your home, and how warm you want your garage to be. There are 3 main materials for garage door construction: Wood, Steel and Fiberglass (GRP).

When you're planning to install a garage door, you must consider door type and materials. You can also incorporate into your plan such things as heated garages or unique window options.

The Most Popular Style is the Overhead Garage Door

Overhead garage doors are by far the most popular type of garage door available to homeowners. With automatic stop and begin features, people find overhead garage doors easy to use, with wonderful options and safety features.

Overhead garage doors work with a rolling system. The door rolls up and stores along the roof of the garage. Overhead door features to look for are that they are smooth, quiet and compact. Installing an overhead garage door is simple; do it yourself, or get help from the manufacturer. Popular garage door manufacturers include Garaga, Liftmaster, Raynor or DBCI.

The Appeal of Wood

Wood garage doors are preferred more for their appearance and affordability than for their durability.

You can select wood types like solid cedar for a durable garage door, which will last for years and look wonderful. Sections of roll-up wood doors may have either panel or flush construction. For panel doors, manufacturers fit several separate, rectangular panels into a wooden frame. Flush sections are made by fastening a plywood panel on top of a wooden frame.

The main disadvantage to a wooden garage door is that wood expands and contracts and can warp or crack as it weathers. It demands re-painting or refinishing every couple of years to keep it looking good and in top condition.

Steel Garage Doors Have Many Advantages

The main advantage to steel garage doors is that they won't warp, crack, or fall apart because of weather. With no painting or refinishing requirements, steel doors are a low maintenance possibility that will keep your home looking stylish. Nowadays most steel garage doors are made of hot-dipped galvanized steel that is vinyl clad or given a baked on polyester finish. They will not rust or require repainting like wooden doors.

Another important advantage of steel garage doors is that they achieve the look of wood without the maintenance. Some have grained steel skins that can be stained to look just like wood. A design mimicking carriage house doors has become quite popular for nearly a decade. Some manufacturers use composite or vinyl boards on the exterior of a steel door to make it look like an outward swinging door.

The only disadvantage to steel doors is that they dent and can be difficult to repair. A premium door is often 2 inches thick, filled with insulation, and clad in 24-gauge steel. Less-expensive doors are usually thinner and made of 28 gauge steel. So steel offers real benefits over wood; it costs less and it needs much less maintenance and with can look just like wood.

The Assets of Fiberglass

Fiberglass, sometimes called GRP, garage doors are chosen for locations where light is important or in salty ocean climates. GRP garage doors need only mild exterior cleaning to retain their quality finish. They generally they do not need to be stained or finished. The most popular style for a GRP garage door is the retractable garage door. Fiberglass is a tough and durable material which will keep looking good for years.

Conclusions

Each of garage door material has its own benefits: Steel up and over doors are sturdy and give great value for money; wood doors are insulated and have an appealing look, and fiberglass up and over garage doors are extremely low maintenance offering a timber effect without the maintenance of real wood. Which ever you pick you'll be sure that it will elevate the curb appeal and the value of your home, and increase your feeling of security.

Publish by: California Coastal Garage Doors

Garage doors and lift mechanisms are fairly straightforward to install and BASICALLY,  you just need to follow the instructions furnished with the doors and lift mechanisms.  Unfortunately,  I find that even "professional" installers sometimes fail to adhere to the instructions and leave reliability problems for the homeowner.  Manufacturer's instructions are designed by their engineers to provide the necessary mechanical stability so that the door system and lift mechanisms will provide safe operation and a reasonable and troublefree life.  Failure to follow such directions may compromise all these goals.  READ the installation manuals for YOUR garage door and lift motor systems.  If your installer fails to "do it by the book" you should insist on knowing WHY and if any of the points listed below are the problem,  INSIST on them being put right.

Residential doors, (and particularly metal doors) can be made of metal as thin as 24 or 25 gauge.  This metal is formed so as to maximize stiffness but you can be sure if the designers (for the most part) could figure how to make a serviceable door with lighter gauge material they would do it.  As a result,  there are a few instructions that are not necessarily highlighted in the manual,  but are MANDATORY if you want troublefree operation of the door and lift mechanisms for the long term.  Here are some of the caveats to look out for when you buy or replace a garage door system.  Watch for these problems in NEW homes as well.

1) Most residential door installation instructions will tell you that you MUST install a 14 gauge or heavier 1.5" x 1.5" (or larger) steel stiffener along the TOP EDGE of the upper door panel if the door is to be lifted by an electric door operator.  (Some doors have this stiffener built in.  Your door installation manual will tell you if you need this item.)  Unfortunately,  many door kits do not include the necessary stiffener and require that you purchase it separately.  (Door manufacturers do not include this stiffener with the door kit because not all garage doors are fitted with lift motors.)  This stiffener omission from the kit  frequently results in a failure of the installer to install the required stiffener.  (Unfortunately,  this happens with some few "professional" installers so the homeowner needs to check to be sure the stiffener is in place when his door installation is complete.)  Failure to install this stiffener can result in the jerk of the electric lift unit slowly bending the top panel of the door until it jams the system.  Often this problem does not appear until the door tracks and wheels need lubrication and begin to drag.  I have seen this problem take years to occur and then the door is out of warranty and the owner has to pay for a service call to fix what is basically an installation mistake.  Make sure YOU do not let this "door installer's service call generator" happen to you!  (Photos HERE.) (And HERE)

If upper door panels are bent and damaged as a result of failure to have a stiffener across the top,  it may be necessary to use a 2" or 2.5" steel angle to provide the forces to bend the door back into "flat" and prevent further damage of the weakened panel.  (Photo HERE.)

2) The lift motor should be connected to the CENTER of the door,  not off to one side.  This is because an off-center attachment of the lifting connection tends to twist the door each time the lift motor starts.  This can cause binding of the door which can then cause bending of the panels,  and ultimately binding in the door mechanism.  There MAY be a tiny fraction of cases where the lift mechanism MUST be attached off center because of some structure in the way of a centerline mounting.  However,  every reasonable effort should be made to mount the lift attachment on the CENTERLINE of the door as this will provide the most balanced and troublefree operation of the door system. (Photos HERE.) (And HERE.)

3) Insulated panel doors are not essential unless you intend to keep your garage warmer (or cooler) than the outside air.  However,  there MAY be a reason why you should consider insulated panel doors even if you do not intend to heat (or cool) your garage.
    a) Insulated panel doors are slightly stiffer than uninsulated doors and will resist twisting and distortion during operation somewhat better than uninsulated doors.
    b) If your home has a common wall with the inside of the garage,  having an insulated garage (and garage door) can reduce the heat loss (or gain) of the adjacent room by moderating the temperature range of the garage interior.
    c) Insulated metal doors block noise coming from the outside (or inside) slightly better than uninsulated metal doors.

4) The selection of a lift motor system depends on many factors.  I have used chain driven,  and screw driven actuators and all have been satisfactory.  I personally like the chain drive units best for lightweight residential doors,  but others have good reasons for the other choices.  The reasons I like the chain drive units include:
    a) They have proved reliable and easy to service.
    b) It is much easier to SHORTEN a chain drive slider bar (if needed) than the screw types.  With a chain unit,  all you have to do is cut off the slider bar and tailor the end to fit the assembly and shorten the chain.
    c) Generally (personal opinion),  I think a 1/3 HP lift motor should be the minimum size used on an 8 ft garage door.  For 10 and 12 foot doors, I like to use 1/2 HP motor units.  Larger sizes of doors should have a motor selection based on the weight of the door and manufacturer's recommendations.

5) Smoke detectors,  light fixtures,  power outlets and other items should NOT be mounted  in the garage ceiling near the centerline of the garage doors unless care is used to insure that they will not interfere with the installation of the electric motor lift system.  Avoiding such obstacles is often the reason that garage door lift motors are mounted off center in a particular garage.  In particular,  light fixtures are often mounted on the centerline of the door and if so,  they should be carefully mounted far enough from the door so that they will not interfere with the door lift motor assembly.

6) Never use nails to mount ANYTHING associated with the garage door or the garage door motors and accessories.  This means use LAG SCREWS or other large screws to mount any necessary wood blocks or mounting hardware to the ceiling or walls.  The use of nails will often result in the nails pulling out over time due to the jerking and vibration of the motor.  Nails pulling out can cause loose motor or actuating arm supports which  can cause jamming of the door mechanism or worse.  Make SURE that the door tracks,  motor and front slider arm support and everything else is screwed to WOOD STRUCTURE or otherwise securely connected to the garage structure.  Toggle bolts and such holding tracks or other items to sheet rock or screws into thin plywood cannot hold the loads which will occur in a door operating system.

7) Make sure the liftmotor attachment is positioned and adjusted so that it presses the rubber gasket on the bottom of the door to the floor so as to keep rain from coming under the door when it is down.  Usually about 1/4" to 1/2" of downward "overtravel" after the rubber gasket first touches the door is about right.  More and the door can be overstressed, less and you may not have a good seal.  You need to measure this overtravel at the TOP panel of the door.

8) Make sure the counterbalance system is adjusted so that the door will "stay put" about every foot as the door is raised.  If the door is disconnected from the lift motor,  the door should neither "slam down" if let go, nor should it spring upward.  Caution: Counterbalance springs or torsion bars can be dangerous.  Do not try to adjust these unless you know what you are doing.

9) When assembling the panels,  make sure they have the tongue and groove edges positioned properly in accord with manual instructions to prevent rain blowing in and to prevent  binding of the door.

10) Above ALL,  follow the manufacturer's instructions for mounting the door and the lift motor system.  The vendor's engineers prepared the instructions as a MINIMUM guideline to follow for safe and reliable operation.  Cutting corners may result in a door system that works,  but usually the price is paid later in maintenance costs and inconvenience of having to get the system repaired.

11) Be sure to TEST the safety shutoff features as directed to insure that the door will turn around if it encounters some obstruction.  Typically, the door should stop and reverse if a one inch thick by four inch wide board is placed anywhere along the gasket area under the door as it is closing.

12) SAFETY NOTE:  The linear and torsion bar springs used on garage doors store a LOT of energy! If you do not know what you are doing, do NOT try  adjusting these items.  They can cause severeinjury and even death to the unwary.

Publish by: California Coastal Garage Doors

If you're tired of manually opening your garage door every time you come home, then you should invest in a automatic opener. There are a few things you need to consider when buying garage door openers. Some of these things include remote, drive system, and power. This article will give you a few tips for buying garage door openers.

Remote

One of the first things you should consider when buying garage door openers is the remote. Some remotes only have one button, while some can have two or more. If you have a two-door garage, then you should look for a remote that has two buttons. These garage door openers will allow you to control each door separately so that you don't have to open both at once.

Drive System

One of the next things you need to consider when buying garage door openers is the drive system. Screw-drive systems use a lifting mechanism have fewer moving parts, so they require less maintenance. Chain-drive systems use a metal chain to move the door along the tracks. These garage door openers are usually less expensive, but can generate more noise than the screw-drive variety.

Power

You will also need to think about power when buying garage door openers. You can choose between a design that has 1/3, 1/2, or 3/4 horsepower. You will have to make your decision based upon the weight and type of door you have. If you have a double door garage, then you should look for garage door openers that have a minimum of 1/2 horsepower.

Speed

One of the next things you should think about when buying garage door openers is speed. More expensive designs will open the door quickly so that you don't have to wait as long. However, these garage door openers will still close at slower speeds for safety reasons.

Lighting

One of the final things to consider when buying garage door openers is lighting. Some designs will include a security light. The light will activate whenever you open the garage door. Some remotes can actually turn on the light without opening the garage door.

These are a few tips for buying garage door openers. Screw-drive systems have fewer moving parts, so they will require less maintenance. If you have a heavier door, then you should look for garage door openers that have a minimum of 1/2 horsepower.

Publish by: California Coastal Garage Doors

It's not every day that you're in the market for a new garage door. So if you think you know what to expect when shopping for a new one or feel that current models are the same as your 15-year-old door, you're in for a surprise. Today's doors are stronger, more secure and better insulated, and they require much less maintenance than their predecessors. And you've never before had such a range of choice in materials, styles, colors and window treatments. Selecting a material. Most new garage doors are made of steel backed by rigid-foam insulation. Panels made of 24-ga. steel are the strongest (26- and 28-ga. steel is also used); most are produced with an embossed wood-grain pattern or with a smooth finish. Look for a model with a baked-on primer and polyester topcoat for maximum rust protection. Warranties for steel doors start at 10 years; limited lifetime coverage is not uncommon. Once the mainstay garage door material, wood has taken a backseat to other materials in the middle of the market. To a great extent, this is due to the added maintenance and regular painting wood doors require. Most wood doors are constructed with a hemlock frame and hardboard panels. But custom doors are often made from solid Douglas fir. The typical warranty for a factory-made wood door is one year; many custom doors are backed for 15 years. Plastic doors are fairly new to the scene, and they might eventually be the door of choice. Like steel, plastic doors offer lightweight durability without routine upkeep. Unlike their metal and wood counterparts, they're corrosion- and rot-free, and they operate almost silently. Because they contain UV-resistant additives, light-colored versions can take sun without fading. Gadco's polyethylene door is made from the same high-density plastic used for truck-bed liners. Overhead Door's Renata model, made of color-through PVC, offers a selection of panel designs that go well beyond the basic rectangle. Plastic doors carry 20-year or longer warranties.

Publish by: California Coastal Garage Doors

Is your garage door sagging, almost impossible to lift, or just generally falling apart? If it is, maybe now is the time to replace it with a new one that’s easy to operate and maintain.

Not only can a new garage door provide safe, secure, and easy access to your garage, but it also can renew and refresh your property’s overall appearance, particularly if it can be seen from curbside. Garage doors are made from steel, wood, fiberglass, and aluminum. Though each of these has its benefits, steel and wood doors are by far the favorites.

Where to Shop for Garage Doors

Most people find a dealer by looking up “Garage Doors & Door Operating Devices” in the telephone directory or on the Internet. Though some companies manufacture their own doors—particularly wood doors—most buy door sections from large manufacturers.

Some local dealers sell only one manufacturer’s doors; others sell a variety of makes. It pays to do your homework before talking with dealers by contacting major manufacturers and requesting product information so that you can compare features. Then contact dealers in your area.

Though some garage door companies have showrooms, most will send a salesperson to your home to discuss your needs, show you brochures from the lines they carry, and measure your old door.

Some home improvement centers sell a few makes of garage doors that are designed for do-it-yourselfers to install. If you buy a door to install yourself, be sure that it comes with complete and easy-to-follow instructions. Also be sure that the door comes with an extension- spring containment kit in the event a spring snaps—without it, such an eventuality can pose a serious danger.

Publish by: California Coastal Garage Doors

First impressions, curb appeal, best foot forward: Your garage door does it all when it comes to the appearance of your home. That's especially true of suburban homes built in the last several decades. Designed for drive-right-in accessibility, many have in-your-face garages that occupy up to 30 percent of the front facade.

Small wonder that upgrading a garage door is a popular home improvement project. According to the 2010 Cost vs. Value Report from Remodeling magazine, a garage door replacement is the only project in the survey that recorded an uptick in value compared to the previous year.

Dazed and amused
If you're ready to scout out styles and options for your new garage door, take a deep breath: There are so many choices you'll be seeing garage doors in your dreams for weeks. Wayne-Dalton, for example, boasts 12 design options, 10 window patterns, and 15 colors for its Model 9700 door alone. Let's do the math: That's a possible 1,800 combinations! Exhale!