There are a number of ideas that you can pursue, with a little skill and ingenuity, which could see you finding it easier and cheaper to install your garage door and work to make it operate more effectively. This could mean just the methods you’ll need for installing your garage door, but it could also be adding automatic opening systems to your door, or even added insulation.
What people want from any garage door is ease of access, protection from the elements and security. Standard, cheap garage doors are going to be pretty ineffective at all of these areas, and besides the work involved in fitting your garage door into place, a lot more work is going to have to be put into retro-fitting the door so that it is an effective door.
Installing Automatic Opening Systems
To provide ease of access for any garage door, installing an automatic opening system is the ultimate solution. These aren’t really necessary for home-owners who like to use their garage as storage space, but for those of us that use them for their car, it can be very convenient. If the door is heavily insulated or offers security protection, the extra weight could be difficult to lift up manually, so that could be another incentive for automatic opening systems.
These automatic systems come with two components; the operator, and the motor. The operator is ready to use at purchase; it is essentially a bluetooth device which connects to the motor. The motor powers the movement system, which needs to be connected. This process is relatively easy, but is difficult to describe on account of the differences in models and the differences required by the opening system.
Repairing Garage Doors
Repairing damaged garage door components is something that everyone should be interested in. You find that the cheapest components often break the soonest, and spending £10 could extend the lifespan of your garage door by years, so it is definitely worth it. In order to repair garage doors, you need to have access to garage door parts and basic DIY skills.
- Buying Garage Door Parts – Many online garage door retailers will be able to provide you with the parts that you need, but if that fails then you should contact the manufacturer. Everything except the door is actually pretty cheap, so replacing hinges, nuts and bolts is definitely worth the time involved.
- Repairing It Yourself – If you think that the task is pretty straightforward then it probably is; there isn’t much differences in changing the hinge of a normal door and that of a garage door. When in doubt, look online for PDF’s of the garage door you’ve purchased for advice.
Making Improvements to Your Garage Door
If you buy a high end garage door, then there is going to be very little reason for you to improve your garage door; it is already fit for purpose; there are no improvements to be made. If you’ve done what the majority of homeowners have done though, by purchasing a cheaper garage door, then there are a number of things that you can do to make it into a door which is objectively as good as any high end model.
We’ve already talked about installing automatic opening systems, but this just touches the surface. There are still a number of ways to improve a cheap garage door with relatively little money or skill, such as;
- adding insulation
- adding draft excluders
- increasing security
which can be done with standard supplies that can be purchased very cheaply.
Improving Insulation
Insulation can be added to a garage door simply by adding insulation foam to the interior side of a garage door. This will add a significant amount of insulation, but for that extra bit, you should add a draft excluder too. Just like you find on the bottom of a front door, a draft excluder is either a line of foam or fibres which conform to the empty space found beneath the door and above the floor. You may also want to add an extra layer of wood to the outside of the insulation, as bare insulation foam doesn’t look very good (it could also help secure it).
Improving Security
Security improvements tie in very well with improving insulation. Instead of using wood to secure the insulation, use grated metal sheets, and finally a thin layer of steel. Another way to improve security is through more advanced locking mechanisms, but these are best gotten as part of your original garage door purchase, as doing it yourself is unlikely to save any money, and finding one which fits your garage door is going to be difficult/time-consuming.
With all of this extra weight, you should bear in mind that you may need to improve the opening mechanism so that the mechanism is able to cope with the added stress.