The work begins before the door is ordered
Most of what determines whether a garage door performs well for twenty-five years is settled before a single section is delivered. The opening must be measured accurately. The framing must be sound. The door must suit the house, the climate, and the way the household uses the garage. Installation itself is a day’s work. The specification is where the judgment lies.
We divide the subject in two. This page concerns doors going into openings that have never had one, or that are being built afresh: new construction, garage additions, and detached buildings. Where an existing door is being exchanged for a new one, our page on garage door replacement is the better guide.
Measuring the opening
Five dimensions govern what can be fitted.
| Dimension | What we measure | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Width | The finished opening at the top, middle, and bottom | Openings are seldom perfectly parallel. The door is ordered to the narrowest point. |
| Height | Floor to header at both sides | An out-of-level floor is corrected with the bottom seal, not by forcing the door. |
| Headroom | Header to ceiling or the lowest obstruction | Standard track requires roughly twelve inches. Less than that calls for low-headroom hardware. |
| Sideroom | Jamb to side wall on each side | The vertical track and spring bearing plates need a few inches of solid mounting. |
| Backroom | Opening to the rear wall or any obstruction | Door height plus allowance for the track and operator |
We also examine what the door will fasten to. Jambs should be plumb and in plane with one another. The header should be straight, and there must be solid blocking at its center for the spring anchor. In new construction, these are usually in order. In older detached garages, of which Hartland’s village streets have a good many, they frequently are not, and it is better to correct the framing than to hang a new door on it.
Choosing construction and insulation
A steel sectional door may be built in one, two, or three layers.
A single-layer door is a formed steel skin with no backing. It is light and economical, and it suits an unheated outbuilding where temperature is of no concern.
A two-layer door adds a panel of polystyrene insulation behind the skin, usually with a vinyl facing. It is quieter and somewhat warmer.
A three-layer door encloses the insulation between two steel skins. With polyurethane foam injected between them, the section becomes a rigid, bonded panel. These doors resist denting, run quietly, and insulate far better than either of the others.
For an attached garage in Waukesha County, we recommend the three-layer door in nearly every case. A garage that shares a wall with the kitchen, or sits beneath a bedroom, is part of the thermal envelope of the house whether or not it is heated.
The specification is where the judgment lies. Installation is a day’s work.
A word on R-values
Manufacturers publish R-values for their door sections, and the figures are useful for comparing one product with another. They describe the section, however, and not the installed door. Heat is also lost at the joints between sections, around the perimeter, and through any glazing. A well-sealed door of moderate R-value will often outperform a poorly sealed door with a higher figure on the label. We give the seals as much attention as the sections.
Matching the door to the house
Hartland and its neighboring villages have an unusually varied housing stock. Within a few miles, one finds Victorian and Craftsman houses near the village center, mid-century ranches, shingle-style lake homes on Nagawicka and Pine Lake, and a great deal of recent construction in a modern farmhouse idiom. No single door suits them all.
- Carriage house Overlaid boards and decorative hardware that recall swing-out doors. Well suited to farmhouse, Craftsman, and shingle-style homes. See carriage house garage doors.
- Raised panel The established classic, at home on colonials and ranches alike. See raised panel garage doors.
- Contemporary Flush or grooved faces with long horizontal lines. See contemporary garage doors.
- Wood Cedar, fir, or mahogany, built to order. See custom wood garage doors.
- Glass and aluminum Full-view glazing in slender frames. See all-glass garage doors.
- Windows and trim A glazed top section, in a pattern taken from the home’s own windows, does more for a facade than almost any other choice.
Color is applied at the factory and is far more durable than site-applied paint. Wood-grain finishes on steel have improved considerably and are now convincing from the street.
