Most people don’t pay their garage door any mind. As long as it opens and closes on demand and keeps prying eyes out of their garage, what’s the problem?
The majority of homeowners would understandably prefer to keep their costs down, and their garage door is often low on the list of priorities. It’s easy to rationalize this attitude. Houses can have bigger, more expensive and more immediate problems and costs to deal with, so it can be difficult to justify investing in a high‑quality garage door.
As long as the door closes and keeps the neighborhood kids from snooping through your tools and turning your garage into a playpen, you don’t need anything else, right? Why should you drop extra cash on a door that sings and tap‑dances?
However, a cheap garage door leaves you wide open for a whole range of problems and issues that you can mitigate, circumvent and even avoid all together with an investment in a higher quality garage door. It may cost you a little extra in the short term, but you can rest assured that the long‑term impact will more than make up for it.
Security
Any door into your home is a security concern. A low‑quality door, anywhere in your home, could be forced and give anyone entry into your home. You don’t want to wake up one morning and see your tv missing, and there’s no way you want to open your garage and see a puddle of oil where your car used to be.
An article on Instructables.com demonstrates that it’s possible to force some garage doors open in less than 10 seconds, and with very little effort. If your door is old and damaged, or just made of low quality materials, it could easily be forced open. Check this account of a series of garage break-ins in Chicago, where the door was forced and bent inside the frame to allow access to some thieves..
By investing in a high quality door, you can beef up the security of your home and protect your possessions. It might take a little effort, but it’s worth it.
It’s an Investment
While some areas of the house need semi‑regular to regular upkeep and upgrades, once you install a garage door, it tends to stay installed. They don’t need a lot of upkeep, beyond maybe a lick of paint a few times a year, and they usually look after themselves pretty well.
If your door rusts or starts to develop holes, then you can’t really let it get worse, you must get it repaired or even replaced. The better your door, the longer it lasts. A decent garage door, with some upkeep, can last up to 25 years. How many house necessities last that long and need such little work?
Additionally, a low quality door is no good at storing heat. If your garage is detached from the house, then you’ll have to deal with low temperature just to get into your car.
If your garage is attached, however, then it could easily allow drafts into the house and lower the temperature throughout the entire house. That forces you to pay extra in heating bills and makes the house more uncomfortable, even though it’s completely avoidable. Throw a little extra cash at your garage and keep the cold outside and the heat inside.
It Improves the Overall Look of the House
If your garage door is low quality, prone to rusting and full of holes, it looks nasty. This negatively impacts the rest of the house. The garage may well be the first thing people see. First impressions matter, and a rattly door sets a very poor and unfair standard for the rest of the house.
If you’re thinking about selling up and moving on, a good quality garage door can certainly help with that. Marty Dewald, a 17 year real estate veteran with record as a top agent for ReMax Unlimited in southwest Ohio, says that the curb appeal of a house is a critical factor in making a sale. If someone doesn’t like how the house looks from the street, chances are they won’t waste their time looking at the inside.
When asked, 75% of realtors stated their belief that a good garage door increases the value of a home. Almost half of them were of the opinion that an old or outdated door would detract from the home’s curb appeal and value on the market.
Even though it may cost a little extra, you should view a high quality garage door as more of a long‑term investment that will pay off multiple dividends throughout the years.
Add new comment