Our New Garage Doors (the GARAGA Difference)

Sabrina
by Sabrina
$2000
4 Hours
Advanced
Did you know garage doors can account for almost 40% of your home’s facade? That’s a pretty large percentage, right! That means with just new garage doors alone, you can dramatically change the look and feel of your home.

Well, I can’t wait to show you what we did! We’re finally getting into the fun part of this outdoor project. I’m going to show you how we switched out the old garage doors for our new and improved GARAGA doors.
Let’s begin with the garage door trim (also known as the jambs). It’s quite common to see the jambs rotting at the bottom of the frame over time. You can see from the picture below, that our trim has started to crack and split which means water has begun to penetrate behind the paint.
There were a couple of options I could have done. 1) replace all the wood, which is the most expensive route to go; 2) I could use aluminum capping over the existing wood, which is a mid range expense; or 3) repair it and paint it myself, which of course, barely costs anything.
Being a DIYer, I chose to fix it myself. Since I didn’t have any damage or rot beyond repair, I knew I could salvage the wood and prolong the life just with a new paint job

Let’s begin with the garage door trim (also known as the jambs). It’s quite common to see the jambs rotting at the bottom of the frame over time. You can see from the picture below, that our trim has started to crack and split which means water has begun to penetrate behind the paint.
There were a couple of options I could have done. 1) replace all the wood, which is the most expensive route to go; 2) I could use aluminum capping over the existing wood, which is a mid range expense; or 3) repair it and paint it myself, which of course, barely costs anything.
Being a DIYer, I chose to fix it myself. Since I didn’t have any damage or rot beyond repair, I knew I could salvage the wood and prolong the life just with a new paint job
All I did was give the frame a really good sanding to wear down all the old paint. Use a wood filler to fill in the cracks. Prime the wood with a high quality exterior primer (PARA Paints, Exterior Primer, 750) and finished it off with exterior paint (PARA Paints, JoJo Whitewash,PF17) which was tinted to match our white window frames.
And voila, it looks brand new again. . .
For our home, we picked out two 8′ x 7′ black Standard+, Classic Mix garage doorswith thermopane windows. I chose this colour and style because I wanted our curb appeal to somewhat reflect the contemporary interior feel of our home. I also wanted to drastically change our curb appeal. Although, the black garage is a deep contrast against our red brick, I will show you in upcoming posts how I will pull together a cohesive look.
Installation
Although we are huge DIYer, we also know when it’s time to call in the pros. Winding the springs requires special tools and could be fairly dangerous, if you don’t know what you’re doing. We hired help for this one.
Door Panels
Polyurethane insulation and nylon rollers are the way to go (both standard features on GARAGA doors). The higher the R value, the higher the insulation and protection. Keep in mind, not all R values are created equally.  You also want to pay special attention to the construction of your door panels.  A well-made door means zero heat loss!
Springs
Garage doors get a lot of use. Standard torsion springs are usually 10,000 cycles, which can have short lifespan. GARAGA doors come with a torsion spring of 20,000 cycles, that’s at least 28 years of normal residential performance.
Durability
Steel garage doors are a great choice for homeowners. It’s sturdier than aluminum doors and it’s not as high maintenance as wood doors. There’s not much you need to do besides clean them down every once in a while.
Sabrina
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
  3 questions
  • Glori Glori on May 28, 2018

    Hello. I have a double garage door in the color brown. I was thinking of painting it white to go with the rest of the house. I was going to paint it myself. What do you think?

    Thank you, Glori

  • Valerie jones Valerie jones on Sep 01, 2018

    Have the black doors made it hotter in the garage?

  • Blessed Faithhopegrace Blessed Faithhopegrace on Oct 19, 2018

    I think it looks great! I noticed how you painted the front door black as well. I need to replace my garage doors. Do you mind telling us what you paid for yours? I also like how you painted your driveway. Can you tell us about that as well?

Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 11 comments
  • Danielle Odin Danielle Odin on Sep 01, 2017

    PVC is an easy to use product, but if it burns it gives off toxic fumes. Wood does not.

  • Eroque022810 Eroque022810 on Sep 04, 2017

    I can't wait to see you put it all together because right now the garage door make it seem so small. Please continue to post.

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