I'm going to have to replace the wood door this Summer. I don't want another wood door. I want it insulated, and would need a nice looking residential door. My garage has 2 X 6' Insulated walls, and extra insulation in the ceiling, so it keeps warm from the engine blocks.

 

I bought a door from Raynor door 2 yrs ago. They did an excellent job with the install of the door and and the Raynor lift operator. It is an insulated steel door. I would buy again...but hopefully not for many years...

 

I've bought 3 OH garage doors from HD. They are Clopay brand. (clopay.com) They come in several "quality" levels. I have the premium series: white embosed steel outside-2" insulation-white steel inside. I hung them myself, pretty easy to do. They look very residential. Look in my User's Gallery and you can see the 9' wide X 7' tall one behind the truck. I also have a 8' X 7' and a 10' wide X 14' tall, custom order from HD. It looks like the other 2, except taller .. So far they work great and insulate well. (R19 walls and R38 ceilings in the garage.) The garage doors are rated about R9 by Coplay.

Fran

 

I'll second the high-end Clopay doors. My parents garage has 3 of them. They are the Steel-foam-steel doors. These are made of heavy gauge steel and resist dents well. They also have the double pane glass for better insulatoin value.

 

clopay good! I like the one with metal on both sides. made a big difference in the winter

 

Recently replaced our wooden door with a Clopay from either Lowes or Home Depot. We chose the premium door with insulated glass. Keeps the garage much warmer than before in the winter. Very pleased.

 

Wow. Great news for Clopay.
Our garage door supplier switched from Wayne Dalton to Clopay many years ago because WD was headed down hill. We've had 100's of Clopay doors on our houses and have had no complaints. Including mine!

A Clopay 8x18 will be going on my new Garage this summer.

 

Well I finally got my new garage door. Its a Clopay 4050 steel on both sides and insulated. The windows are single pane, but it will be easy to put plexi storms up. It seals up so tight you couldn't stick a cat whisker in it, very quite, too.

 

I purchase a Clopay door two years ago, and the only problem I have with it is small dots of rust on the bottome panel which showed up in less than three months. I contacted Clopay and told them about this. They sent me a fingernail polish-size jar of touch up paint. What in the hell am I supposed to do with that? They said to touch up the spots. I told them that the entire bottom of the door is covered with the spots! They said they're sorry, but the guarantee only covers rust through. Now I've got to paint the entire door. I'm sure it'll look great when the paint wears off at the edges from meeting the weatherstripping. I was hoping they'd send me a new bottom panel, but no luck. Clopay... No way. Next time(if there is a next time) I'll find another manufacturer.

 

I have been installing garage doors for about 25 years and have owned a garage door company for about 15. If you would like to contact me with some of the specifications and wants for your new door I will try to steer you in the right direction. Have a great day, Mike

 

I used to hand doors for a living, we used Ankmar doors with absolutly no problems. They make an insulated door called the RP138 (raised panel, 1-3/8" thick), it's a very solid door. In fact we ended up with 2 extra sections (8') that i used one day to load my mustang on my trailer after i forgot the ramps, try that with a Clopay door !!!!!

Duane
Southeast Kansas Coordinator

 

I have to do some structural work to my garage because my 2 car attached garage has the center beam sinking. I am thinking of modifying it so that it is all one door. Since the opening is about 8' wide (-trim width) and 6' 10" or so high (-trim again) now I can't quite pull my expedition in. I can pull it in if I fold the mirrors but that is a pain and one day I'd end up taking one off.
Anyone know if I make it 1 door if I can get HD to have clopay custom make a 17' wide door for me?

 

You would have to mortgage the house and sell the children to afford a custom door from Home Depot. Maybe selling the kids......... I am assuming you want to remove the center post between the doors and place a the single door in the opening.

This is usually a process that can be done. But, (there is always a but) you may have problems with the door header. Usually their are two headers in the garage you describe. If so to install a single door a one piece header spanning the new opening needes to be installed. This isnt to bad of a project assuming the old headers can be removed with out damaging the exterior of the garage. Additionally, if the wall with the doors is load bearing you must put in temporary bracing to prevent nasty building collapses.

There a number of companies that make a door like you described. They cost a bit more than a standard Clopay 4130/4150 door from Home Depot. But they will be a hell of a lot cheaper than a custom door from the boys in orange. Another thing you might want to consider; If you have enough clearance on the sides of the door opening, install an 18' door. You will only need 6" or so on both sides. It also makes the garage real hard to be broken into through the garage door. An 18' door from the evil orange men will be quite a bit more expensive than a 16' door and a bunch cheaper than a custom door. Home Depot is not a value priced shopping experience when the word "custom or special order" is mumbled.

Contact me at oldfatandtired@yahoo.com and I can get you the name of distributors of custom doors. Depending on the region in which you live there are a number of manufacturers. Typically smaller companies provide the odd sized doors. Most people have never heard of these companies (they dont have a giant advertising budget or Home Depot accounts) but they are a bunch of great door companies out there.

Have a great day

Mike

 

I would stay away from HD or other stores that use sub-contractors too install for them. I got an ear full when I went to HD trying to get them to come out and measure. Never was able to get them to the house for this, and they would not take my word on the measurement. I went with an independent. The sales lady was out the next day and she had a tech stop out that afternoon, to check the beam over the door. They have to come back to readjust, replace trim and for a tiny scratch. I'll let you know how their service turns out. They were cheaper than HD, as they didn't charge for the tear down and haul away.

 

Being an independant garage door dealer, I totally agree with your story and experience. I have been business for almost 25 years and have seen many home improvement retailers come and go. I still offer the same service that I did all those many years ago.