April 5, 2017
You get what you pay for. There’s no real way around it. When it comes to pencils, headache medicine, or cotton balls, by all means get the cheap stuff! But when it comes to your home, you need to get the most bang for your buck. Your home is your investment. You need to protect both its value as well as your family’s safety. We want to share with you some of the pitfalls of cheap garage doors.
Inclement Weather
Your overhead garage door protect a significant part of your home’s interior space. Therefore, it’s just as important as your windows, doors, and roof. Having a cheaply made door can lead to all kinds of problems in bad weather situations.
Rain
Are you in a region that’s susceptible to flooding? If so, you need to make sure your bottom seal is ready to handle it. A poor seal will allow excess water easy access to your garage. Floodwaters of even a few inches will cause a lot of damage in a short period of time. Obviously anything on the garage floor will be ruined almost immediately, including storage items, lawn equipment, even furniture.
In addition, your house itself can be damaged by just a small amount of flooding. Right away the walls will have cosmetic damage. Standing rainwater will leave soil marks with just a short exposure time. If the water stands for longer, you can have problems with mold down the road. If it stands for quite a while, you can end up with major damage to sheet rock, drywall, insulation and more which will require major renovation.
Snow and Ice
Floodwaters aren’t the only precipitation you have to worry about as a homeowner. Snow and ice present a whole slew of other problems in addition to the moisture issues above. As snow piles up, it can cause damage to poorly made, cheap bottom seals leading to dry rot. Ice can also accumulate, freezing the bottom of the door to the concrete. Trying to open a door like this can cause damage to the bottom seal. Also, rapidly changing temperatures, or prolonged low temperatures can damage your hardware. The metal components will contract and become brittle. Fluctuating temperatures will cause rapid contraction and expansion. Both of these can lead to cracks which may even result in failure of the hardware. This can be very dangerous to anyone near the door at the time.
Wind
Those living near coastlines are familiar with the incredible damage caused by hurricanes. If you are in one of these areas, a cheap garage door option is the wrong one for your home. You need a high quality door with sturdy hardware and a high wind-load capacity.
Potential Living Space
Many garage owners are shifting away from traditional use of this space. Garages are becoming living spaces more and more. Current trends include:
- Office space
- Home recording studios
- Man caves
- Game rooms
- Home theaters
- Workshops
- Living quarters for teen or young adult children
A quality door becomes an even bigger priority if you are using your space this way. You need to make sure the door is properly insulated for both comfort and efficiency. Security becomes a bigger factor when the garage door becomes the only entry point to part of the home. You also want smooth, quiet operation of the garage door when you’re regularly using the garage as living space.
You don’t want to skimp when it comes to home repairs. You need long-lasting, quality parts like we can provide. Combine our industry-leading parts and equipment with our incredible customer service, and your choice becomes clear. Don’t go for cheap garage doors. Make a positive investment in your home and get the right door for you. We can help!
