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Before You Buy

A. If your garage door has operational issues, the door is a potential serious hazard. Do not try to repair the garage door! Contact a professionally trained garage door dealer. Doorsmith can advise if the garage door can be repaired or if it needs to be replaced.

Or you may want to replace your garage door to enhance your home’s curb appeal. According to the Remodeling Cost vs. Value Report, garage door replacement is the #2 remodeling project in regards to return on investment. The report states that replacing your garage door will return 84% of the cost at the time of home sale.

A. Each homeowner has unique needs for a new garage door based on the desired exterior material (wood, steel, composite & aluminum), garage door design, the level of care & maintenance required and energy efficiency.

(A) Determine the material that best suits the look you desire. Doorsmith offers garage doors made from wood, wood composite, galvanized steel and aluminum.

(B) Choose the door design that best complements the architectural styling of you home.

(C) Determine the level of energy efficiency that best suits your needs. If your garage is conditioned or you have a room above or adjacent to your garage, you may chose a higher R-Value option. Many of Doorsmith’s garage doors are available in multiple insulation options with R-Values from 6.5 to 16.8.

A. Carriage House Doors accurately replicates the look of doors found on carriage houses in the early 19th and 20th century. Carriage House Doors look like “old world” swing-type doors, but are actually overhead-type garage doors.

Doorsmith offers Carriage House Doors in rot resistant woods, wood composites, galvanized steel and aluminum.

A. All Doorsmith wood and composite garage doors can be built to just about any size specification. Depending on the specified product, most of our steel doors are available in special widths and heights.

A. Standard headroom applications require 13″ to 17″ of space between the bottom of the header and the ceiling. However, Doorsmith specializes in custom-built applications. A variety of special track options are available and makes it possible for many unusual garages to be fitted with garage doors. By using low-headroom track, it is possible to install a garage door with an electric opener in an area that has as little as 8-1/2″ of headroom (6″ in some cases).

Other special track applications include:

1) Vertical-Lift Track – Garage doors with vertical-lift tracks open vertically to the full open position. These doors usually require door height X 2 + 12″. Note wall mount motors are required in this application.

2) Follow-Roof-Pitch Track – As the door opens it follows the angled roof-line in lieu of opening to a horizontal or vertical position. Note wall mount motors are required in this application.

3) Hi-Lift Track – As the door opens it goes vertically for a distance then breaks back into the horizontal position. Standard trolley motors can be used to 24″ of high-lift. Note that wall mount motors are required for high-lift over 24″.

A. Windows are available in all of our garage doors. You might want windows if there is little or no other windows in your garage providing natural light. Windows also can provide a unique design element to the garage door that may be desired.

A. Traditional Garage Doors are garage doors that do not mimic carriage swing type doors. They are usually flat or raised panel doors that complement traditional architecture. Doorsmith offers traditional garage doors in wood, composite and steel designs.

A. Our Modern Garage Door line consists of uniquely designed products that complement contemporary, modern, transitional and industrial home architecture. Our modern wood doors are available in vertical, horizontal and diagonal patterns. We also offer flush wood doors, flush and ribbed steel doors and all glass door designs.

A. If a standard Liftmaster trolley electric garage door opener has been installed on your door, it is not necessary to have a lock. All Liftmaster trolley motors lock the door in place when in the closed position.

The Liftmaster wall mount motors have a standard electromagnetic slide bolt lock that engages when the door is in the closed position.

Doorsmith provides an interior slide bolt lock on all manually operated doors.

A. All Doorsmith garage doors are built in the United States. We do import some Canadian, South American and African lumbers that are not available in the United States. All steel for garage door track and hardware is from U.S. manufacturers.

Garage Door Safety

A. The garage door is the largest moving object in your home. Safety should be a concern when selecting a garage door. All Doorsmith garage doors are built with properly engineered track and hardware packages.  Our spring systems are calculated to meet a minimum of ten thousand open/close cycles. Liftmaster electric operators have been designed to meet UL325 requirements to reverse when safety eye is blocked or door encounters an obstruction.

A. No!!! Repair of garage doors should be completed by trained professional door installers ONLY. The cable, bottom roller carrier and spring assembly is under EXTREME pressure equivalent to the weight of the garage door. SERIOUS INJURY OR DEATH COULD OCCUR IF ATTEMPTED

Energy Efficiency

A. A garage door opening is very large. Insulated doors will help to reduce the transfer of heat or cold air into your garage. This is important for a number of reasons:

1) If your garage is attached to your home, air in the garage can travel through the doorway to your living area. An insulated garage door will reduce the transfer of air from the outside to the inside.

2) If you use your garage as a workshop, your comfort will be a top priority. An insulated garage door will help keep the temperature in the garage within a narrower temperature range as compared to the extreme range of the outside temperature.

3) If your garage is below another room in your home, air can travel through the ceiling of the garage into the floor of the room above. An insulated door will keep temperatures in the garage fairly stable to reduce the temperature fluctuation in the room above.

4) An insulated garage door is generally quieter and has a more attractive interior than a non-insulated door.

A. R-value is a measure of thermal resistance used in the building and construction industry. R-value is thermal resistance to heat flow.

The higher the R-value number, the better the insulating properties of the material. No matter the R-Value, an insulated garage door will reduce the amount of heat flow and improve energy efficiency of a home.

Steel Garage Doors

A. Steel garage doors offer strength, security, energy efficiency and the best value. Due to advanced manufacturing, steel garage doors are less costly than other types of garage doors and are offered in a variety of designs and colors to enhance your home’s curb appeal. Doorsmith steel garage doors are pre-painted in a variety of colors, providing homeowners peace of mind protection with multi-year to lifetime paint finish warranties.

A. No. The lower the gauge number, the thicker (and stronger) the steel. 20 gauge steel is almost 45% thicker than 24 gauge steel.

A. Steel doors may require less maintenance than a wood door although Doorsmith uses the most durable and rot resistant lumbers available. Doorsmith steel doors are pre-painted with a factory-applied baked-on coating or can be field painted to your exact specification. Doorsmith recommends an annual cleaning of the exterior of the door with a common household detergent and warm water at least one time per year. Doorsmith wood doors are unfinished and need to be primed/painted or stained. Doorsmith recommends visual inspection of the paint or stain finish on wood doors one time per year to confirm if another finish application is necessary.

A. Each Doorsmith collection of steel garage doors has its own unique color palette. Each collection has different color options depending on construction type. The overall color offering is: White, Almond, Wicker Tan, Sandtone, Terratone, Dark Brown, Gray, Black, Hunter Green, Oak Faux Stain, Walnut Faux Stain and Mahogany Faux Stain. A price up-charge will apply to special colors and faux stain colors.

A. Yes. All Doorsmith steel doors are pre-painted with a factory-applied baked-on coating that is suitable to be repainted. Doorsmith doors will accept a wide variety of commercially available latex exterior paints, when applied in accordance with the paint manufacturer’s recommendations. Do not use oil-based paints.

Wood Garage Doors

A. Since garage doors were first built, garage doors have been made out of wood because they offer the most personalized and decorative options. Wood doors provide security and insulation, but tend to be higher priced due to its individual customization in manufacturing.

Wood doors can be painted or stained to match the exact look you desire.

The challenge with wood doors is their tendency to expand and contract with changes in temperature. Because of these natural tendency, Doorsmith highly recommends western red cedar lumber in the construction of your garage door. 95% of the stain grade doors we produce are western red cedar. Western Red Cedar is the perfect wood. It offers very little movement, light weight, outstanding paint and stain adhesion and the very best rot resistance of all woods. Western Red Cedar shingles have been used in roofing industry for centuries.

Western Red Cedar garage doors are an excellent choice when you want the natural, warmth and beauty of wood to match your entry door and home. To date, Doorsmith has never replaced one of its western red cedar doors due to movement, rot or any other issue. The product performs to the full expectations of our clients!

A. Doorsmith recommends our wood doors be painted with a high quality exterior latex or exterior oil based paint.

Doorsmith highly recommends Sikkens Cetol Window and Door stains. Sikkens is a very simple three part process. It is the most durable stain we have ever been associated with.

A. Refinish of our stain grade doors depends greatly on sun exposure on the garage door. We recommend Sikkens Cetol Window and Door stain due to its durability in all situations and ease of refinish when the time arrives.

Overall wood doors are 35%-50% heavier than an insulated 24 gauge steel door. Every wood door we manufacture includes an exact spring counterbalance system that perfectly balances the garage door. Doorsmith will alway specify the proper electric motor for each installation.

Wind Load Garage Doors

A. Wind affects all homes. If you live in an area that is prone to strong winds, especially hurricanes and windstorms,you will need a garage door that is engineered to meet building code requirements. Doorsmith can determine the appropriate Wind Load door for your area.

Most of our garage doors can be built to meet windloads up to Florida hurricane standards.

A. Doorsmith offers windload certified and impact certified windows on many of our products.

Installation

A. No. Doorsmith track and hardware packages are specifically designed for the weight and design of the Doorsmith garage door. In addition, replacing your track is an inexpensive way to insure that your entire garage door system is as safe as possible. By replacing your track you also ensure that your door warranty will apply, in the event that you have a problem.

A. Doorsmith will take down and haul away your old door(s) for a small disposal fee. Additionally, Doorsmith will reconnect your existing electric operator assuming it is in good working condition and is code compliant.

A. Installation times vary greatly based upon quantity and type of garage doors. Take down of existing doors also will increase the installation time of our garage door systems.

Doorsmith usually staffs our projects with enough manpower to complete all jobs within one working day.

A. We highly recommend that you purchase the garage door operator from us so that we can determine the proper motors application for the selected door. Liftmaster professional line motors are significantly better designed than the retail store electric operators.

All Liftmaster professional line motors include a one piece structural steel rail assembly and full chain/belt drive assembly. The retail stores have three or four piece stick together rail assemblies (for retail store space savings) and some have cable assist drive assemblies that may not be of sufficient strength for our garage doors.

Doorsmith will not warrant customer purchased electric operators.

Garage Door Openers

A. Many garage door openers can be repaired and may be a less expensive option. However, there are times when opener replacement is recommended. LiftMaster, the leading manufacturers of garage doors openers, recommends that all garage door openers manufactured prior to 1993 should be replaced, rather than repaired. Most garage door openers prior to 1993 are not equipped with infrared sensors or other external entrapment protections devices and do not meet today’s standards for garage door opener safety.

A. When installing an electric garage door opener, the top section of the garage must be reinforced with a strut or angle iron spanning the length of the top section.

A. Garage door openers have different systems that open a garage door. A chain drive uses a chain as the mechanism to help open/close a door; a belt drive a belt mechanism; a screw drive a corkscrew rod; and a direct drive attached directly to the torsion bar to help open/close a garage door. All systems do the job and are typically equal in performance.

The new Liftmaster DC electric operators are the quietest motors available. They are offered in their Contractor Chain (Model 8160), Premium Chain (Model 8360), Elite Belt (Model 8550) and Elite Wall Mount (Model 8500).

A. DC stands for direct current. This allows the opener to only run when it is in use opening and closing a garage door, resulting in additional energy efficiency for the home. Additionally, DC openers have soft start and stop features to help smooth the travel of the door and significantly reduce motor noise and vibration.

A. Doorsmith can provide new transmitters for most electric operators. All are usually in stock.

A. Depending on the type of garage door opener and the year purchased, a keypad entry should be available for your garage door opener. Contact us for purchase.