Garage Door Makeover | How To Install Carriage Door Hardware

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With so so so much construction at our house these past 2 years because of the lightning strike/house fire, everything in our yard and driveway is just gross. I couldn’t take it anymore!!! So when I won a $250 Instagram giveaway gift card, I knew exactly what I was going to buy…a pressure washer!! (I’ll go into greater detail about which pressure washer we bought towards the end of this post!)

Meet Our Garage!

First off, I feel my garage needs a little introduction! My house is an 1886 Victorian, so it’s old! The garage is detached and has the cutest little walkable crawl space underneath it, accessed by barn style doors. But, again…you guys, it’s old. Obviously sometime in the last century, the powered, metal garage doors were added, but rather than focusing on style, it just added function.

Here’s a photo of our cute garage a week after the fire…the crews were there hauling all of our stuff out of our home.

Solving A Problem:

If we stay at this house for a while and not decide to move (I think I have a gypsy soul, we had bought 4 houses in 4 different states in 12 years time), we have big plans for this cutie pie of a garage. We would plan to turn it into a wood workshop for my hubby and change out the doors to real wood carriage doors, add a cupola to the room and possibly cedar shaker the siding…and of course, my dream, window boxes full of flowers!

But at this point in the game, we’ve only lived at this house 8 months out of the 29 months that we have owned it…so the jury is still out! haha. So, keeping it simple and not spending a lot was just what the doctor ordered. My process was super easy and fast! Here it is in a nutshell:

1. I knew it needed to wash the metal garage doors! Ugh! It was disgusting! Full of dirt and moss

2. Next up, I wanted to add carriage style hardware

3. If you have any leads on a cupola or weather vane, hit me up!!

Supplies Needed:

• Sun Joe SPX3000 Pressure Washer
• Carriage Door Hardware Kit
• Ryobi Impact Drill
• Impact Rated Drill Bits
• Center Punch
• Hammer

Why The Sun Joe Pressure Washer?

I assigned my husband the task of finding me a pressure washer with one stipulation; it could not be gas powered. We have had both gas and electric pressure washers before and the gas ones are super hard for me to start. Think pull string push lawnmower…you practically pull your arm out of the socket trying to get it to start!

However, on the flip side, a lot of the electric pressure washers don’t have a very high PSI, making them less efficient.

This is where the Sun Joe SPX3000 comes in. It is electric! It has a great combination of PSI and gallons per minute for the price! Has 30,000+ reviews on Amazon with a 5 star rating. Check, check, check! So we ordered one, because our local Home Depot didn’t have any in stock, and I am thrilled with it!

• Super easy to set up
• Portable; wheels help making the transport extra easy
• Has multiple tips for different spray angles
• Did a great job cleaning our garage door and sidewalk

Let’s Transform My Garage Door Together!

I suited up in my rain jacket and Crocs, and got busy!

I assigned my husband the task of finding me a pressure washer with one stipulation; it could not be gas powered. We have had both gas and electric pressure washers before and the gas ones are super hard for me to start. Think pull string push lawnmower…you practically pull your arm out of the socket trying to get it to start!

However, on the flip side, a lot of the electric pressure washers don’t have a very high PSI, making them less efficient.

This is where the Sun Joe SPX3000 comes in. It is electric! It has a great combination of PSI and gallons per minute for the price! Has 30,000+ reviews on Amazon with a 5 star rating. Check, check, check! So we ordered one, because our local Home Depot didn’t have any in stock, and I am thrilled with it!

• Super easy to set up
• Portable; wheels help making the transport extra easy
• Has multiple tips for different spray angles
• Did a great job cleaning our garage door and sidewalk

Pressure Washing Metal Garage Doors

I suited up in my rain jacket and Crocs, and got busy!

Once the garage door was clean, it was time to install the carriage door hardware I had bought. I installed two sets of these at my last house and totally loved them!

I chose to go with the permanent hardware that you attach using screws. There are magnetic hardware options…but…let’s be real for a second. I know that anytime someone bumps those babies, they are going to be crooked and drive me nuts – kind of like messed up eyebrows! {bahahaha, seriously this is like one of my biggest pet peeves and fears! Yes, yes, I am weird!}

So…the permanent option was the only way in my mind!

Attaching the hardware is actually super easy and doesn’t take very long to do!

Tips For Installing Carriage Door Hardware

Because I’ve done this now a couple of times, I have learned a few tips and tricks along the way that will be helpful for successfully installing your own hardware.

1. Start with a clean slate – I can’t stress this enough. Clean your garage door BEFORE installing the hardware! Also, paint it or use touch up paint BEFORE installing the hardware. For real, no one wants to have paint on their brand new hardware or tape around their brand new hardware to paint. Make your life easier, and get this all done BEFORE!

2. Figure out your design – before I bought my carriage door hardware kit, I took a photo of my garage door and then mocked it up in PicMonkey. I played around with 1 set and 2 sets (at my last house, my garage was large and needed 2 sets to look right)

2. Mark your holes – with a pencil before ever drilling any holes! Pencil marks can be removed, holes can’t!

3. Use a center punch – this is basically just a metal rod with a sharp tip used for making a dimple in the surface you are drilling in, so that the point of your drill bit centers on that dimple and doesn’t “walk” all over. This is particularly important on hard, flat surfaces like metal. This method can be used on wood, but is not necessary. Using a hammer and your center punch, place the sharp tip where you would like to drill. Tap on the handle of the center punch multiple times until you have made a dimple in your surface.

4. Pre drill your holes – before attaching the metal carriage door hardware, pre drill your holes to ensure a clean install!

Once you’re done, step back and admire your amazing work and be proud of yourself! This $20 carriage door hardware kit was worth every penny!

Our garage still needs a lot of help – like a paint job to match the new color of the house and areas that need to be fixed because of construction damage. … but in the meantime, I’ll cover all of that with flowers!

Garage Door Makeover!! by GatheredInTheKitchen on Jumprope. @GatheredInTheKitchen on Jumprope.

· In: Crafts/Projects, Exterior, Featured Article, Fire & Rebuilding Updates, Home Projects, Our Homes