“You get what you pay for” an old adage that is true for many things, often including garage doors. The risk of purchasing a cheap garage door ranges from simply not being an effective way to spend your money, to being a safety risk for your home and family.
When shopping for a garage door there are a few things to
keep in mind when deciding. One of the biggest considerations you should take
Is the cost effectiveness of the door you are looking at. Ask a member of our
sales team about the durability of the doors; for the most part, the more
insulated the door the more durable it is. A non-insulated door will be far
less durable than even the door with the least insulation. Non-insulated doors,
or vinyl back doors are not made to stand up to significant wear and tear. They
are composed of a single sheet of 25-gauge steel. Granted, the steel Clopay
uses is very strong, the 25 gauge is pretty thick for a door, and Clopay uses
only the highest quality 100% American steel. If you are looking for a quick
fix, or a door to improve the façade of a home you are hoping to sell or rent
out, it’s a great option. However, if you need a door for your long-term home,
we suggest going with at least the Steel front and back 6.5 R value insulated
door.
A non-insulated door simply isn’t built to stand up to the wear and tear of
long-term life. These doors dent easily and are often destroyed if ever hit
with a car. Significant dents can cause tearing in the steel, and if the doors
aren’t adjusted with proper technique and frequency, they can begin to warp.
The re-enforcing that comes with a triple layered door is much more reliable
for long term use. For instance, if a non-insulated door gets hit and
significantly dented at least one panel, maybe a few will have to be replaced
whereas if the door was insulated it may only suffer a minor dent. This all
depends on how hard the door was hit, and by what of course. Our team did this fun video to
demonstrate a non-insulated door being hit by a car. The video is a little
inflated because most of you probably don’t drive into your garages this fast,
but it’s still a good demonstration! Plus, it’s fun to see something big get
destroyed without any consequences.
Insulated doors are more expensive than a non-insulated door, but the
payoff can be significant in terms of the life and durability of the door
itself.
A damaged non insulated door:
A damaged insulated door:
Non-insulated doors pose a risk of not being very cost effective, but if installed correctly and in good condition they are perfectly safe. The risk comes when people purchase used doors from non-reputable sources. People will post doors on resale sites that they have taken off their homes and try to resell. To be fair, a lot of times people will replace doors that are in fine condition in favor of something else, maybe to change up the style of their home. Hung Right Doors even sells doors on facebook. We sell overstock doors that are either in good condition after having been installed and removed, or brand new doors that we’ve never installed at all.
If you’re looking for a great bargain on a door, make sure that you buy a door from a reputable source. You can call local garage door companies asking for doors that they have recently uninstalled in good condition. Reputable door companies will make sure that they will only give you doors that are not dangerous.
Bargain doors are out there; finding them will only take a little patience and diligence!