Will Insulation Help Reinforce Garage Doors
This really depends on the type of insulation your garage door has. Two types of insulation have drastically different contributions towards door reinforcement. Polystyrene foam panel insulation may be great for energy efficiency, but does little to reinforce your garage door. In fact, as the styrofoam panels age they can begin to absorb moisture contributing to panels sagging in the middle due to the increased weight.
On the other hand, polyurethane injected insulation drastically increases rigidity. Door manufacturers inject this type of insulation to the inner cavity of the door using foam in place, bonding it to the steel skin. Polyurethane insulation is significantly more dense than polystyrene which greatly reinforces the door structure. Lastly, urethane insulated doors usually have a protective interior steel skin. Polyurethane foam in place insulated doors are a superb choice for door reinforcement. This type of insulation must be ordered with a new garage door where as styrofoam insulation panels can be installed anytime.
Reinforce Your Garage Door In 3 Easy Steps
All garage doors should be reinforced with an opener attachment mounting bracket and horizontal cross braces called struts. These parts help prevent overhead door panels from bowing, cracking and splitting.
My first home purchase included a garage door that was so flimsy it seemed like a strong gust of wind would blow it right onto my car at any moment. Seeing this clunker of a garage door popping in action forced me to think of ways I could reinforce the door, saving myself a trip to the auto body shop. Fortunately for me I ended up taking a job in the door business soon after and received some great advice. In this post I will share with you the reasons garage doors need reinforcement, how to reinforce the door and why it makes economic sense to take preventative measures.
What Will Garage Door Reinforcement Cost
Garage door reinforcement is a cost effective way to prevent damage to your garage door considering new door panel replacement starts in the hundreds of dollars. Opener attachment reinforcement brackets range and price from $20 up to $30 depending on the style and size. Horizontal struts and perforated angle iron can be found at your local garage door dealer or hardware store for around $2 per ft. Self drilling screws can be found in small boxes for under $5. The work is easily done by most homeowners in under 30 minutes eliminating an expensive service charge. Hiring a garage door professional to do the work can be costly. Most door reinforcement service calls cost around $100-$200, depending on the work required and local market.
- Average Service Rate $75
- Strut/Punch Angle Cost $2 per foot
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Commercial Garage Door Experts
No matter what type of industry you work with, you can understand the importance of maintaining efficiency, security and lasting value. And with a sturdy commercial garage door, business owners can address these operating needs and improve their overall daily performance. At Markham Garage Doors, we have a large stock of Clopay commercial garage door products and accessories, including steel overhead doors, roll-up sheet doors and security doors.
A Tip Every Homeowner Should Know
Before purchasing a strut, its a good idea to know if your door can handle the additional weight of one or two struts. A common bathroom scale will provide you the answer.
FAQ
Most frequent questions and answersYou can also ask questions 24/7 by accessing our chat system on our online store
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Top Panel Garage Door Opener Bracket Reinforcement
The first step in reinforcing your garage door is to install a garage door opener reinforcement bracket. Obviously if you plan on manually raising your door by hand without the use of an automatic opener you will not need this bracket. Most garage door openers include a small opener bracket that anchors to the top panel center style. Unfortunately, this bracket does not evenly distribute the force of the opener pulling the garage door. This creates a situation where excess tension can rip the center style off of your garage door, damaging the top section especially during winter months when ice can freeze the bottom section to the floor.
An OEM adjustable operator reinforcement bracket can be installed on the top panel of your door to prevent the center style from separating from the base of the door panel. The bracket is installed the full length of the center style of your garage door to distribute the opener tension equally across the full height of the door stile. Opener brackets come in a variety of styles, colors and sizes to fit all types of doors. The opener bracket shown in the picture is a universal narrow adjustable bracket that can be adjusted to door sections measuring 18 24 in height. It also has a narrow low profile design to blend in with the garage door stiles it anchors to. For these reasons I believe it is the best option for all residential garage door opener reinforcement.
- Narrow Adjustable Zinc Plated
Why Reinforce Your Garage Door
The combination of heavy usage and large surface area can make garage doors a weak point on your home. On top of that most people use the garage door as the main entry way to their house, adding up to 1,000 cycles in just one year! The outer surface area doesnt help either with double doors having over 100 sq ft exposed to wind, hail and kids sports equipment just for starters. Winter climates are particularly hard on garage doors. The combination of snow, ice, wind and hail can severely damage weak garage doors. Often times your weather-seal on the bottom of the overhead door will freeze to the surface below. When the automatic opener is ran it attempts to lift a frozen door, causing the top section to rip apart. Reinforcements are a cost effective way to increase the longevity and performance of your garage door.
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The Home Depot: Home Improvement & Hardware Store In Richmond Hill
The Home Depot #7161 is located at 10885 Leslie Street, Richmond Hill in Ontario, Canada and offers all of Home Depots signature products, tools, and services.
At each and every one of our Home Depot store locations in Ontario, youll find friendly staff members eager to assist you in any way possible. Whether you’re looking for appliances, bathroom and kitchen remodeling ideas, patio furniture, power tools, BBQ grills, carpeting, lumber, concrete, lighting, or ceiling fans, our team of experts will take your style, budget, and product requirements into consideration.
Whether you’re looking to buy, or get inspiration for your next home project, visit our store today.
Reinforcement Before An Approaching Storm Or Hurricane
Garage doors are prone to damage during storms due to the high surface area on the face of the door. This is especially true for garage doors installed on pole barns and buildings where the pressure inside the structure can change drastically. Storms can actually produce negative pressure causing the door to be blown outward instead of being pushed in. The higher the surface area of your door the greater the chance of damage occurring during a storm.
Special vertical storm bracing kits are available that can be installed on the interior face of the door. instead of horizontal struts which goes side to side garage door storm kits have braces installed vertically down the center of the door attaching from the bottom of the door to the header.If you do not want to buy the professional storm reinforcement kit a rigid piece of lumber can be installed. If you intend to leave your vehicle in the garage during a storm, you can back the vehicle right up to the garage door so that your bumper pressing the board against the door. It is advisable that you unplug your garage door opener when installing the storm bracing as this will prevent somebody from operating the door during installation and also prevent you from running your opener with the bracing still installed causing damage to your opener.
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Its Nice To Know If Your Garage Door Breaks That We Are Just Around The Corner
We are locally owned and operated so you know if your garage door breaks, we are just around the corner.
We have the lowest hourly rate on garage door services and always give accurate quotes over the phone so that there are no surprises.
At Markham Garage Doors, we believe a garage door or opener is only as good as the installer. Rest assured our installers are garage door experts and your experience will be enjoyable.
Thanks again to all of our loyal customers, we look forward to seeing you soon.
Garage Door Materials For Every Look And Budget
Fibreglass garage doors are a durable option that gives you the look of wood at a lower cost. Steel garage doors are strong and durable but need to be powder-coated to avoid rusting. They can even be coloured to mimic wood. Wooden garage doors can be sanded easily and stained to match any design. Theyre easy to repair but are usually more expensive as they are heavier than most materials.
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What Is The Difference Between Home Improvement Store And Professional Grade Garage Doors
Many DIYers believe that they can go to Home Depot, or a local home improvement store, and buy a
garage door of the same quality as one they purchase from a garage door service company. The truth is
these items are often made of inferior materials when compared to professional grade garage doors.
First lets consider the gauge of metal used to manufacture the garage door panels. At your local home
improvement store the metal will be of a lighter gauge, usually 26, 27 or 28 gauge, while professional
grade doors typically start at 25 gauge with heavier gauges also available. Remember the larger number
the gauge the lighter weight the steel. Lighter weight doors tend to bend easier and are subject to a
shorter life span.
Next we will consider the garage door components. The first component is the hinges, hinges help
support the weight of the garage door and allow the door sections to pivot during the opening and
closing process. The hinges need to be made of material strong enough to withstand regular use without
failure. Most home improvement store garage doors come with very light weight hinges that will not
withstand regular use very well. Professional grade garage doors come with hinges made of a heavier
gauge steel that has been designed and tested for use on the heavy garage doors and under the
extreme conditions that can be present in your garage. Next consider the rollers. Home improvement
come with heavier tracks that will withstand regular use much better.
Viable Garage Door Strut Opions
To extend the life of your door, a 22 gauge or thicker galvanized steel strut is your best option. You can contact a local professional garage door repair company and have them install a one-piece 16 or 18-foot long strut. The price will range from $200 to $400 depending on who you call. If you have a Menards close by and the means to get a 16-foot strut home safely, that is an option. If you have a power drill, this is a relatively easy D.I.Y. job. For around $100, you can extend the life of your garage door for several years.
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Quality Residential And Commercial Garage Door Installations And Products
Markham Garage Doors provides the largest selection of residential and commercial garage door products and accessories throughout the Markham area. Our team of friendly and experienced garage experts provides individualized attention to all of our local customers recommending the highest-quality products from leading manufacturers like Clopay® and LiftMaster and finding unique solutions that suit your specific needs, improve your daily conveniences and fit your budget.
The Best Markham Residential Garage Door Services
At Markham Garage Doors, our team is dedicated to always providing Markham homeowners with attractive and dependable garage door products. All of our Clopay garage doors are crafted from the finest quality steel, aluminum and wood available, and extensively tested against the harshest climates to ensure lasting durability and beautiful appearances. Our residential garage door products are safe, easily maintained and energy-efficient.
Along with quality construction, these doors are designed to feature todays latest visual aesthetics, including a variety of colour and stain options, hardware and window texture options.
For every new garage door installation, well also help maximize your doors performance and efficiency with a state-of-the-art LiftMaster garage door opener. We stock the latest opener models featuring the most advanced upgrades available today, including Wi-Fi connectivity and MyQ, Security+ 2.0 with rolling door codes, timer-to-close and battery backup.
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The Convenience Of A Garage Door Opener
Enjoy the convenience of hands-free entry into your garage with an automatic garage opener. installation from The Home Depot Canada. No matter what the weather, being able to effortlessly open your garage from the comfort of your car or home with a wireless garage door opener remote is a welcome convenience. Wi-Fi enabled openers allow you to monitor your door while youre away from your home and seamlessly integrate with your smart home to make things even easier.
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Instantly Add Curb Appeal With A New Garage Door
A brand-new garage door can give your home an instant face lift and boost your curb appeal. White garage doors, black garage doors or even new custom garage doors can be just what your looking for to refresh the outside of your home and make it look new and trendy. You can even get it installed for you by our licensed and insure Home Depot installers.
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Why Do Doors Bend
When a door opens and closes, the door panels twist ever so slightly from the torque the opener and j-bar create on the door panels. Over time, the twisting back and forth will bend or cause the panels to crack. If the door is out of balance or has broken rollers, spring, or a broken cable, the strut will help protect the door panel.
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Reinforcing An Existing Door
If you already have a door installed there are steps you can take to reinforce your existing door. The top section of your garage door is under the most stress since it likely has an automatic opener attached to its center stile pulling and pushing during door operation. The bottom section is also under a lot of stress since the torsion spring system tension is being directed through the bottom corner brackets. The bottom section also sits closest to the ground and makes hard contact with the ground if manually operated.
During my time as a service coordinator at least 75% of damaged panel house calls involved the top section. Due to the high percentage all top sections on garage doors should have horizontal and vertical reinforcement.
- Opener Reinforcement Bracket
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Not Always The Right Fix
Though a garage door that is sagging from a broken panel can be fixed by using a strut brace, it is possible that either the damage is too extensive or too many panels are damaged for this to be an ideal solution. In that case, it is best to replace the garage door panels instead.
If your garage door is sagging or the panel is damaged, or you are just generally want to add garage door strut braces to your door, you can contact Spectrum Overhead Door if you are in the Houston area. We have repaired garage doors in Houston since 2006 with award-winning service. Call us at 281-748-9542 to schedule your appointment.
Installing Opener Reinforcement Brackets
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What Are My Garage Door Strut Options
We have seen some creative options over the years, from 2 x 4s to hockey sticks. One D.I.Y. recommended Perforated angle iron on a YouTube video. Many people see an easy, cheap fix as the best solution only to discover its only slowed the problem down. You may think, of course theyre not gonna recommend perforated angle because it hurts their sales The truth is the majority of our sales are to customers who tried angle iron and realized it did more harm than good. Ask yourself, if perforated angle iron worked, why do No door manufacturers use it or recommend using it? Yet, there are people gullible enough to think if it works for them, it will work for me.