The garage is one of the most important components to any home. It houses your cars and protects it from thieves as well as the weather and also enhances the look to your home. The security you get depends on the type of doors you have. Additionally, each of these types has their own replacement and repair costs. If you want to have a garage door repair or replacement that suits your needs, it is better that you acquaint yourself with the various types available. For most kinds, you can choose to automate it or stay with manually operated ones. Automated doors would cost more but in the end it affords you more convenience since you don’t need to leave your car to open it all the time. One of the most important factors to look at would be the design and size of the garage.

One of the most common types is the Panel Door. This type consists of 3 to 6 panels that would slide up and over the garage’s ceiling using a fixed track that can easily be automated. You may need more headroom for this type of door, but the best thing about it is that it doesn’t need space outside of the garage to fully open, thus it is perfect for narrow or short driveways. It is also readily available in today’s markets in different tints, colors and materials which allow you to make it as classy as you’d like.

Roller doors on the other hand also consist of rectangular panels or sections but they are not fixed to a track like the Panel type. This type would roll up like a carpet on the ceiling of the garage. It uses a barrel of the same length as the panels that help in rolling it up thus it is the most important part of the garage door. Having a broken or rusty barrel would mean a costly garage door replacement. You can also automate it and it usually has lower maintenance costs than the Panel type. To check if your Roller type garage doors needs repair, put it into manual mode and lift it up halfway. It should not creep and rolls up smoothly, but if not, you can try cleaning the tracks with a silicone-based spray that you can purchase at most home stores.

Swing Hung Doors: swing hung doors closely resemble traditional doors in their appearance, and require much space in the front of the garage to prevent it hitting vehicles etc. Lastly and the most varied type is the Tilt Type Doors. As the name suggests, tilt doors use a collection of power arms and pulleys to tilt it to one side to allow the car into the garage. It is also highly customizable since it has few mechanisms and usually only uses one panel to lock up your garage. The three main types of tilt doors are: Jamb Type, Track Type, and Counter-weight Type doors.

The jamb type uses a power arm that is attached to a jamb, and it lifts the door outward. It leaves half the door protruding outside of the garage and needs a little more space in front of the driveway to fully open.

Track type doors on the other hand adds horizontal tracks on top of the garage and gives it a much easier operation thus this type is the best for adding a garage door opener.
The cost of a new garage doors may vary from type to provider, depending on what materials were used in their manufacturing.

Before requesting for estimates, a good idea would be to get a better understanding of the types of garage doors available. In that way you’re more knowledgeable about the mechanics, functions, durability, and costs involved with owning a specific type of garage door.