Pros and Cons of Different Types of Garage Doors

types of garage doors

Is it time for you to replace a residential or commercial garage door? Either way, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to see how many different types of garage doors exist.

You’ll be able to get access to whichever kind of garage door you would like for your home or business. But before you pick one, you should always carefully compare each and every garage door option. It’ll put you in a much better position to decide which type of garage door would be your best bet.

In this article, we’re going to break down the pros and cons of different types of garage doors. It should give you a great overview of the garage doors available to you and ensure you end up with the right garage door when everything is all said and done.

Discover more about the various types of garage doors below.

The Pros and Cons of Different Types of Residential Garage Doors

When you’re installing a new residential garage door, there will be a few different types of garage doors that’ll await you. From sectional steel garage doors to wood garage doors to specialty garage doors, it would be worth seeing what each option can bring to the table.

Here are the pros and cons of the different types of residential garage doors.

Sectional Steel Garage Doors

After you install a new residential garage door, you won’t want to have to worry about replacing it again anytime soon. Fortunately, you won’t need to do this when you invest in a sectional steel garage door. These types of garage doors are among the most durable garage doors on the market today.

There are also many other benefits of sectional steel garage doors. For instance, these garage doors will look amazing when you put them into place. They’ll also be very easy to maintain.

Sectional steel garage doors come in a wide range of styles, too. Here are just some of the ones you may want to install in your garage:

  • Clopay Classic Steel
  • Clopay Modern Steel
  • Clopay Canyon Ridge Modern
  • Amarr Lincoln

The only real downside to a sectional steel garage door is that you may accidentally dent it or even scratch it if you aren’t careful, especially if you buy one of the hollow metal doors for your home. You’ll need to try your hardest not to scratch these types of garage doors since it could result in rust setting in.

But otherwise, it won’t take you too long to fall in love with a sectional steel garage door. It’ll stand strong for many years to come and look incredible in the process.

Wood Garage Doors

While sectional steel garage doors will be an excellent addition to any home, you should also give consideration to wood garage doors. Wood garage doors will provide dent resistance that you won’t always get from their steel counterparts. They’ll also add more warmth to your home than metal garage doors will in most cases.

Additionally, you’ll like that wood garage doors will come in many different styles. You can go with everything from a roll-up wood garage door to a flip-up wood garage door. Some of the wood garage doors you might want to investigate further will include:

  • Clopay Classic Wood
  • Clopay Reserve Wood Custom
  • Clopay Reserve Wood Modern
  • Americana Panel Wood Door

There are some wood garage doors that will require their fair share of maintenance. You might see that as a drawback if you’re not interested in working to maintain a garage door.

But outside of this, you’ll find that wood garage doors will inject class and elegance into your home from the second you first have them installed. It’s a big part of the reason why they’ve become so popular over time.

Specialty Garage Doors

Wouldn’t it be cool if you could sit inside your garage and look through your garage door so that you could see what was going on outside? You’ll be able to do this when you buy certain specialty garage doors like full-vision garage doors.

These garage doors are made almost entirely out of glass in most cases. As a result, they’ll give your home a very modern look and set it apart from all the other homes in your area. Options like the Clopay Avante and AllumaDoor Full View will enhance your home’s appearance in a way that other types of garage doors won’t be able to.

You will, however, often need to prepare to pay more for specialty garage doors than other types of garage doors. Something like a garage door repair might also cost more when you have one of the many specialty garage doors versus one of the sectional steel or wood garage doors.

The Pros and Cons of Different Types of Commercial Garage Doors

Homeowners aren’t the only ones who are going to be able to choose from a bunch of different options when they’re shopping for garage doors. Business owners will also get the chance to pick from lots of different types of garage doors when they need to invest in them.

Here are the pros and cons of the different types of commercial garage doors.

Rolling Doors

When you look at a set of commercial rolling doors, these doors aren’t always going to be all that aesthetically pleasing. They aren’t necessarily designed to improve the appearance of a commercial building.

But what you will find is that rolling doors are going to be great options for those business owners who take their security seriously. You’ll be able to pull down rolling doors quickly or have them motorized to go down to close off almost any space within your business, including your garage. These rolling doors will stand strong and won’t let anyone work their way through them.

These are some of the rolling doors you might want to consider for your business:

  • Standard Duty Doors
  • Heavy Duty Doors
  • Thermal Guard Doors
  • Climate Guard Doors
  • Aluminum Grille Doors
  • Steel Counter Doors

Some rolling doors are solid while others are see-through. But regardless of which type of doors you choose, you’ll love how strong they are and how safe they make you feel when it comes to your building’s security.

Sectional Overhead Doors

If you have a garage with a smaller opening on it, a rolling door should get the job done when you’re looking to cover it up. But if you have a garage with a much larger opening on your commercial building, this might be when you’ll want to consider going with sectional overhead doors.

When you decide to go with sectional overhead doors, you’ll be happy to hear that you can buy doors made out of steel, aluminum, and other materials. You’ll also be thrilled to hear that you can pick out either insulated or non-insulated doors. You can essentially customize these doors to fit the needs of your commercial building.

Some of the best sectional overhead doors for businesses will be:

  • Clopay Industrial Series 520/524/525
  • Clopay Energy Series 3200/3220
  • Clopay Energy Series 3150/3154/3155
  • Clopay Architectural Series 904

The installation process associated with sectional overhead doors can be tricky. You’ll need to work with the best garage door installation company possible to avoid unnecessary overhead door repair jobs later.

Installing sectional overhead doors can also be costly since these doors tend to be on the bigger side. But unlike some other commercial garage doors, they can make your commercial building look better while also enhancing its energy efficiency if you select an insulated option.

Fire-Rated Doors

Is there an increased chance of a fire breaking out in your commercial building because of the industry that you work in? If so, you might want to think about buying fire-rated doors for your building.

As their name would suggest, fire-rated doors will stop a fire from spreading within your commercial building. They’ll be constructed out of primed steel or stainless steel that’ll make them more durable than other types of garage doors for commercial properties.

Fire-rated doors won’t always be the most beautiful garage doors. They’re also going to require extensive commercial door repair and maybe even replacement if they’re ever involved in fires.

But this will be a small price to pay for the peace of mind that you’ll get from fire doors. They’ll make your commercial building so much safer than it would be under other circumstances.

Which Types of Garage Doors Do You Like Best?

Now that you know about some of the pros and cons that come along with different types of garage doors, which garage doors do you like the most? Whether you’re shopping for a residential garage door or a commercial one, you should be able to select the right choice for your home or business.

R&S Overhead Door Company can set you up with the types of garage doors you want. We can also provide many other products and services, including garage door repair, automatic gate installation, access control, and more.

Contact us today to get more information on the types of garage doors we have available.