Archive for the ‘Garage Doors’ Category

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Modern Garage Doors – Styles and Functions

Thursday, July 22nd, 2010

Modern garage doors will benefit any residential, commercial or industrial application. They come in elegant and classy styles and designs that they will remain a timeless addition to your home exterior. They can be sectional, carriage house, raised panel or rollup style. And the ideas to further enhance the doors are just endless. For example, you can opt to place windows on the door to allow natural light to get into the garage while at the same time, make your door appealing to look at.

There is a wide array of modern doors offered by online retailers such as Clopay, Amarr, Lowes, Home Depot and Sears. Prices vary depending on the materials, styles, colors, sizes and finishes.

Model 9800 Sonoma Design:

The Sonoma design from Wayne-Dalton is constructed from fiberglass and available in many colors, including cherry, Honduran mahogany, oak, walnut, mahogany, green, white, clay, gray and red oak. This door looks like an authentic real wood when in fact the outer surface is made of fiberglass. The graining process is excellent, courtesy of the AccuGrain technology. It creates a look of a natural wood texture, appearance and pattern. This model is the best replacement for traditional garage doors because of its pinch resistant design and 7.6 R-value. It features vertical, v-groove and horizontal panels.

Garage Door (DG 001) from Jinhua Winsml Enterprise Ltd.:

The door has steel rib at the exterior of the panel. This industrial door comes with one set of door panels and accessories, including open opener, rails, tracks, hinges, shafts, seals, angles, springs and brackets. The steel thickness is 0.0326cm while the panel thickness is 40mm. The panel comes in white color.

Garage Door (GD2010) from Qingdao Shengjiale Co. Ltd.:

This garage door is constructed from color sheet steel. The interior and exterior of the door is wood grain finish. The door is also rustproof and a paint of baked-on polyester which give you an option to repaint. The 40mm door is insulated due to the injected polyurethane foam which ensures a high thermal capacity R-16 rating.

The solid mechanical overlap makes sure that the door remains tight whatever the weather condition is. The joint also prevents delamination. Product hardware includes flexible bottom weather seas, 14-gauge reinforcement steel plates, handles, electric opener attachments and hinges. The door also comes with heavy-duty and premium commercial hardware such s the galvanized 14-gauge steel rails with ten ball bearings.

Cotswold Side Hung Garage Door 7′ x 7′:

This door is finished in gloss white glass reinforced polyester, thus does not require maintenance and repair. It comes with Euro-style lock with multi-point latching and white steel frame that is prefitted. The frame comes with 38mm heads and 50mm jambs.

Chinfine Garage Door (CF-GD001):

This door is constructed with rustproof steel plates with filling in between for superior strength. All the hardware and tracks that come with this door are treated and coated to make them rustproof and super strong. The advanced sealing design of the door helps prevent sand, wind and rain from getting inside the garage.

Apache and Rawhide Series:

This steel sectional garage door series has a vintage design to give your home a decorative touch. The exterior is wood grain embossed with raised panel design. It features 2 inches thick of uninsulated steel structure, giving you exceptional value, beauty and durability.

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Tips on Buying Wooden Front Doors

Thursday, July 22nd, 2010

Exterior wood doors still considered as the most favoured material for making doors all over the world, since it is elegant and has natural warmth. Your choice of wooden door depends a lot on your likings, the place where the house is, the total architecture of the house and the finally your budget allocated for this reason. Some of the useful tips are given here that will guide you while choosing your exterior wood doors.

  • Wood doors are available in a large number of colours, designs, styles and sizes.  The wooden door can be of a variety of material. This can be teak, mahogany, oak, chestnut, pine, walnut, fir and even cherry wood for that matter. Of the various types you can choose from the panelled one to the solid wooden door to one that has glass inset. A wooden door with panel made of stained glass allows in light. However, make sure that the colours of the stained glass are in sync with the colours of your house. When the designs are concerned, you can choose from a wide range that ranges from the Georgian, Victorian and also the era of the Tudor. Some are highly gorgeous while others have a minimalist look.
  • Most of the front doors have one of the following styles. They are usually single acting doors that are hinged on one side and open in one direction only. Again there are bi-fold doors that have two panels which folds in the middle. This style of door is applicable in places that have wider door space. The third kind is the sliding door which is popular with glass inserts.
  • The most important thing you need to be firm with is to choose a door that blends well with the complete look of your home. Your door is the first thing that a person notices. Thus your front door should cast a good impression on the visitors. Some people regard this as a style statement and a reflection of the lifestyle of who live inside the house.
  • However there are some facts about the wood door which you should know. The wooden doors are prone to damage by extreme weather that includes temperature variation, frost, rain and humidity. Wood is also susceptible to termite attacks, warps and cracks. This is the reason why the exterior wood door maintenance is necessary.

With Feng Shui and Vastu Shastra being popular worldwide these days, people are now aware of the various ways how the energy of a house can be increased and how to utilise it to the maximum. According to the Feng Shui principals, the front door should not made of a transparent or translucent material like the front door made of glass. The exterior wood door is greatly recommended keeping in mind the concept of security and safety. Again colours like green and red are extremely auspicious for the front doors. Hope these tips prove helpful while choosing the perfect type of wood front doors for your home.

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How to Paint Your Steel Overhead Doors

Thursday, July 22nd, 2010

Usually there are two basic concerns when painting your steel overhead doors is concerned. First thing is that you should make sure to use the apposite sort of undercoat and topcoat. These are necessary since you might have adhesion problems, which might lead to flaking and chipping over the time. Again since metal like steel is non-porous and slick, doing it by oneself can be tough and producing a finish with professional look can be tough also. Again painting your overhead steel doors give you the added difficulty of functioning against gravity and that might lead to some splatters and messy drips.

Here are some steps, tips and warnings that you might helpful while working on your steel overhead doors.

Step 1

Begin with spreading plastic drop cloth underneath your steel overhead doors and lay heavy-duty fabric drop cloths over the plastic drop cloth.

Step 2

Now using a metal putty knife or a coarse sand paper scrape away all the loose and peeling paint from your steel doors.

Step 3

With 80- to 120-grit sandpaper remove any of the remaining bits of loose paint. You can also use a power sander to remove bits persistent traces of your old paint.

Step 4

Now with a tack clothe wipe down the steel overhead doors.

Step 5

Any area of the door that you do not wish to paint, remember to cover it using the blue painter’s tape.

Step 6

Remember to apply alkyd metal primer to your steel overhead doors with a 4-inch oil-based paintbrush. At first apply only a thin coat in order to prevent any splattering and dripping and then allow the surface to dry for about two hours.

Step 7

Now clean the brushes with a mineral spirit.

Step 8

With the help of a 4-inch oil-based paintbrush apply polyurethane enamel. Again apply thin coat and never try to cover the door in one single coat.

Step 9

Allow two hours time for the paint to dry, and then apply the additional coats until your door is covered completely.

Tips

  • Since an amateur painter over-applies paint in the finishing coats he ends up with brushstrokes. If you apply several thin coats instead of one or two thick coats you can avoid having the brushstrokes. All it needs is patience and the look of your door will be enhanced greatly.
  • If you are painting a door that has not been painted before, you will need an etching primer to scrape the steel. This is an important step to promote paint adhesion, and if you skip this chipping and peeling over the time will be inevitable.

Warnings

  • The overhead steel doors are ill famed for dripping paint. Make sure that you do not use the plastic drop cloths alone, since it makes the paint to pool up. The same way, the heavy-duty fabric drop cloth will help in soaking the paint.
  • Again if you use a stepladder, always follow the safety instructions.

These are some simple steps that will prove quite helpful while painting your overhead steel door.

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How does a Garage Door Remotes Work

Thursday, July 22nd, 2010

Garages are a place where you park your vehicle. And opening and closing the heavy garage door from outside without even touching it would be just great. But did you ever felt curious about how this is possible. You just push one button in the remote control and the giant like door opens up. The technology behind this is quite simple and quite easy to understand. The mechanism and working of the remote is simple and you would be fascinated to learn about how it works and how you can benefit from it and how you can handle a situation if the door calls for repair.

Similar to all the other remote technologies, the devices that are specialised for operating the garage doors or garage door remotes are hold as the remote-keyless entry. Some of the gadgets key rings are also provided with a function the locks and unlock the car doors again some also have control car alarms for your safety and security reasons. The garage door remote and the remote-controlled home security systems all are categorised in one general security category.

Although simple a garage door remote might seem to you, this device actually acts as a radio transmitter and the receiver is its counterpart. The counterpart or the second piece of the device is usually located under the ceiling of your garage. Probably you will find the comprehension rather easy and their interaction simple to understand.

The counterpart or the receiver is usually a small box that receives the radio signal from the transmitter or your remote. This signal is generated when you push the button on your remote device. If your door is closed the signal will open it and if it is open the signal will close it.

When the garage remotes were making their first appearance there were several issues with their functioning. Opening the garage of your neighbour with your remote was quite common during the initial days. However, this had a grave problem with security and privacy of the homeowners. The manufacturers did some adjustment with the frequency of the radio signals to fix this problem.

Frequency is the vibration rate of a radio or any other types of vibration of the waves at a specific rate. The waves that have higher frequencies have shorter wavelengths. This means that a radio signal with higher frequency will be able to communicate with its receiver more accurately. This is the reason why you are now able to open and close only the garage they wish to operate.

The operation and the mechanism of a garage door remote can be quite easy to understand. The garage door remote involves a lot more than just pressing a button, however a little explanation makes it easy to understand. Although having knowledge is not necessary at all, you might just find it useful and also discover that knowledge in radio waves beforehand helps in your understanding. Since this is a technology that is utilized by many people everyday, this can help you very well in understanding the simple mechanism that is making your daily life so easy.

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A Safety Guide about Garage Door Parts

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

The garage door is a simple machine that provides priceless comfort to home and business owners as well as adds security and protection to the items stored inside. So be it your car or an old baseball that you have treasured since school. So when you consider to maintenance, there is nothing more important than checking on your garage door parts. Here are some of the few basic safety precautions and give you an idea of what to look for in order to avoid a problem.

Replacement of the garage door springs.

The springs are the most important and the most perilous part of the unit. The opening and closing of the door over a period of time will eventually wear them out. Get your door and the springs inspected by a professional if you happen to have an older model. Get them thoroughly checked and replaced if necessary. Just remember to replace the springs always in pairs, although there might be a problem with only one of them. That way you will be able to avoid as well as prevent any future problems that might be caused by the other spring later on. This ensures proper function and uninterrupted working of the garage door.

Checking the Cable

You also need to inspect the cables that connect the bottom brackets and the spring system on both the sides. A frayed or worn out cable can cause the danger of breaking and care should be taken to replace them immediately to avoid future injury. Since the high tension springs have dangers associated with the cables and the springs make sure to replace them by a professional technician.

Cable Safety

All make sure that your door with extension springs, should have a safely cable that should run through them and secure to the ceiling and the wall at each end. The safety cable can hold a broken spring in case the spring breaks, minimizing the probability of injury.

Tamper Resistant Brackets

Brackets present at the bottom are usually under huge tension since they are connected to the door’s springs. Whenever these brackets need maintenance and adjusted seek the help of a trained technician.

Replace Old Tracks

Never ever install a door on old tracks. Although you might be lured to save some money that way however, they might not be compatible and can cause enough problems while opening and closing each time

Maintenance and Services

The largest moving part of the house is the garage door. Since this is used almost everyday it is more prone to wear and tear than anything else. Remember to have an annual visit from a trained technician.

Several of the homeowners hold enough pride when the DIY projects are concerned. However, since your garage door is an integral part in your home security make sure to take good care while installing the door and that to be a professional. Again ensure regular and proper maintenance and follow the manufacturer’s instructions carefully.

In case if you are looking to either replace or repair your old garage door parts each city has its own popular professionals who will help you with timely assistance and quality products along with excellent service. You can find such a professional if you search in any search engine.

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Choices and Options for Residential Doors

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

The residential doors are not meant for only for providing privacy. Other functions of the residential doors are to provide protection from the weather and also against intruders. The doors also provide additional light and air into your house and also serve as an entryway or corridor to the various rooms and the other areas in your property.
The basic design of a door involves a door pane that is made out of various materials and is hung at a certain angle with the help of hinges to allow it to swing. Some of the basic features include latching mechanism and handles. Popular designs available in the market are folding; sliding and recessed.

It is advisable to do some quality research work before deciding and buying a residential door for your home. You will have an advantage if you are armed with the knowledge of the various available styles and functions.

You need to understand that your home doors can be of two types interior and exterior. The interior variety, as the name suggests, are found inside the house at places like the bathroom, closet, kitchen and also the dining spaces. Likewise the exterior variant is found on the outside which include the garage, patio and also the front of your house.
Basic Functions of Various Door Types:

Garage doors:

The garage doors are there to provide shelter to your vehicles. However, with new innovations they have stretched their function out. The garages today also act as storage, an additional entryway to the house and boost the appeal of the house. Having a garage door that has an appealing-looking is a wise investment.

Patio doors:

A basic patio door made of solid panel of glass allows additional light and ventilation into your house. These doors are mostly transparent and have a metal frame that allows unobstructed view of both inside as well as outside of the house. You can also enhance and accentuate your patio door with curtains and blinds.

Front doors:

The front doors are the first thing that a person will notice when they first come to your house. So, when you have beautiful and appealing front doors the chances of having a good first impression of your house are increased greatly. The advances in technology and improved innovations have lead to the creation of various designs and styles that would complement any structural design. Again, several of the durable and heavy built doors, added with proper care and maintenance, could make them last a lifetime.

Screen doors:

A screen door will provide additional natural light and ventilation to your home at the same will keep the flying insects away. The screen door is a perfect solution to all of these queries.  They are mostly constructed out of a screen mesh that will prevents insects and bugs from coming into your house and also allow the correct amount of light and air to come through into your house. These doors are available in various durable materials and also available in various attractive designs and colours, which will not spoil the total appearance of your house.

Several of the online retailers will carry a large stock of numerous affordable residential doors in various different styles and designs that will suit your necessity and you can choose from.

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Top 3 Most Common Garage Door Repairs

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

A garage door is that one item that not only stores your car but is a part of the part of the house which is visible to the outside world. Most people forget this fact and do not care to offer proper maintenance to these doors. Due to lack of maintenance and over the period of years also these doors tends to break down or even fail. Thus your garage door repair might range anywhere from a very simple and cheap ones to some complex and expensive repair work. Some of the most common garage door repair work that is usually required is:

Springs

One of the major areas of concern is the springs, since these are mostly involved in the lifting mechanism of a garage door and is capable of negotiating a large amount of weight with very less amount of power. If you find your garage door a bit heavy when lifting or maybe it requires a lot of effort while trying to close it, then probably your springs need some repair.

Control your temptations is what is recommended. Work involving high tension springs should be best left to the professionals. The high tension springs are susceptible to major injuries and can cause damage to the system.

Tracks

The opening and closing of the door over a period of time might cause a large amount of wear and tear, and a damaged track is not surprising. The damage might occur from several numbers of things which even include rakes or shovels that get stuck in the tracks, or maybe your car bumping into it accidently.

Some important facts about tracks:

  • The tracks should be screwed tightly with one another
  • The loose bolts might disturb the alignment and break rollers
  • The tracks should be parallel and level to make the opening of the garage door smooth.

Now if you notice some problems with the tracks, it is again advisable to consult and hire a professional who would ensure finding and solving the problem rather than just attending to the symptom.

Rollers

To determine if the rollers are your source of concern and are the reason why you need a garage door repair the process is rather easy. If the door does not roll smoothly, then you need to check if the roller is broken and if it can be replaced. However, if your roller is not broken then the roller and track both might use some lubrication.
These are three basic repairs are include an overview of the various garage door parts that require frequent repair. The best way is to hire a trusted professional and to know for sure what is wrong with your garage. They are skilled and have the expertise to identify a problem and offer simple fix solutions. A rainy day or even a heavy grocery reminds you how useful a garage is however, it is easily forgotten and taken for granted. But this is that one part of your house that needs regular maintenance!

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Aluminium Sliding Doors- To Choose or Not

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

The aluminium doors are popular in the home building industry. There has been an evolution in the style and designs of the aluminium sliding doors with the change in time. Although, the interests in these doors have declined, it still has several advantages which could only be provided by an aluminium sliding door.

The Aluminium sliding doors are a great space saver. These doors are of great use when space is an issue. In a room where fixing a hinged door is an issue the aluminium door offers a solution. These doors do not obstruct the pathway with swinging doors. As a matter of fact these sliding doors run along a track which remains hidden and the door vanishes inside a pocket made inside the wall. The further need of installing a hinged swinging door is no longer necessary. These doors do not require a lot of space to be opened, and the pocket effectively hides the door inside the wall and is an effective replacement for a standard door.

The Aluminium sliding doors is also an effective alternative to the usual vinyl, wood or plastic doors. The aluminium doors are thought to detain the trend of the future home designs along with the use of glass and other metals.

However, there are several downsides to using these doors though. One disadvantage of using these doors is that they cannot be used at places where the temperatures are extreme. Aluminium has a character of adapting to the temperature of its surrounding. It will not be effective in neutralising the cold or heat inside a room.

Again unlike wood, glass and fibreglass doors, aluminium does not tend to blend in with most of the popular architectural designs. They would not go well with the Victorian Style inspired homes. These doors are however pretty common with the conventional contemporary houses which use steal panels and other metals in decorating the house.

With the Aluminium doors you cannot play much with colours on these doors. Normally some homeowners have to settle and be content with the metallic look of the door. In fact the natural aluminium surface looks quite impressive. For people who love colours however, these are not the best option.

Another disadvantage of using these aluminium doors is that they somehow reflect the feel of the larger kitchens. Since these doors are usually associated with the kitchen cabinets and doors of most of the restaurants. Then again, the aluminium doors might not be as bad most of the times since most people are creative and appreciate something built with love and creativity. In that case you can create your own style and magic by creating a certain atmosphere in your house that grows from the kitchen and covers the whole house, all contributed by aluminium metals.

If you are planning for some renovation or restyling of the house then the sliding aluminium doors might offer you a solution to that much needed change of yours. However in an industrial settings these doors might become the mainstay.

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Aluminum alloy Garage Doors Vs. Steel

Saturday, June 26th, 2010

With the invention of automobile, the concept of garage and consequently, the garage door, has evolved to meet man’s needs. There has been an evolution in the variety of garage doors and they are being made out of a variety of materials. The two of the most popular materials are steel and alloy aluminum alloy. Both of these have its own advantages and disadvantages.

1.Types

Numerous different garage doors are available in the market. The two of the most popular types of doors are the tilt-ups and the sectional roll downs. The sectional roll downs are conventionally quite convenient in most of the situations but the tilt-ups are less expensive. Most of these styles are available in either aluminum alloy or steel.

2.Steel

When strength is considered the steel doors are incomparable. They are several times much stronger than the aluminum alloy ones. The garage doors of steel can have wooden-grain patterns, which will give them a wooden door like appearance. And the best part about steel doors is that that you save the maintenance of a wooden garage door without owning one. These steel garage doors stay tough even in harshest of the weather and last quite long with only a little maintenance. However repairing dents in steel is not easy.

3.Aluminum alloy

The garage doors made of aluminum alloy is quite popular among the homeowners. They have some of the advantages similar as steel. They also include the facility of the wood-grain appearance. The aluminum alloy garage doors are comparatively much less expensive, are not as heavy as steel and the best part is they do not rust. The only disadvantage of an aluminum alloy door is that dents appear much easily.

4.Cost

Since the aluminum alloy garage doors are priced much lesser than the steel garage doors, they are much affordable. Nevertheless, the steel garage doors are of higher quality and much durable. Usually a steel garage door costs between $750 and $1,200, while the average cost of an aluminum alloy garage door is between $400 and $700.

5.Mechanics

Mostly the typical garage door operates on tracks and rollers. The extension springs or torsion springs balances the weight of the garage door. In the torsion system, when the door is raised the springs unwinds and winds up as the door is lowered. In the extension spring system, the spring counterbalances the garage door with the cables and pulleys. Most people are these days opting for the mechanical garage door, since the garage door can be operated with only a touch of a button. The materials used on the garage door either aluminum alloy or steel have a little bearing on the mechanism of the garage door. As a door made of alloy aluminum is lighter than the steel door the springs need to be adjusted accordingly.

So if you are thinking of remodeling your home, you can make a considerable change by putting up either steel or an alloy aluminum garage door. They offer stunning addition to your garage and your home, lending style, elegance and beauty to the exterior of your home. All you need to do is think out of the box and be ready for a beautiful change.

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Rolling Garage Door

Saturday, June 26th, 2010

We all are aware that the garage doors can be of several different types. One such door is the Rolling steel doors. Since these garage doors made of steel roll in the upward direction they are so named. These doors have numerous uses which include the commercial, residential and even the industrial sectors. Here is some detailed description about the rolling steel doors.

Types of Roll up Steel Garage Doors

The roll-up steel garage doors are mainly of two types. The first one is the sectional door that usually consists of four or more horizontal panels that are attached together. These doors roll up whenever you open them. The other category of the doors is the rolling steel doors. The doors in this case roll up and they rest at the top of the garage door on being opened.

The Kind of Materials used

The material most commonly used in case of most of the type of rolling garage doors are steel, wood, fiberglass and aluminum. Steel is the toughest material of them all.

The Benefits and Problems of the various Roll Up Doors

If you consider only the cost factor of a roll up door, then it is definitely going to be expensive than others. Nevertheless, they are popular because of the fact that they are convenient to use, durable and secure.

Another advantage of these roll up garage doors is that they ideally suit different types of homes and even house that have space constraints and also those that have narrow driveways. Now if you choose the nice natural aesthetic appeal then you can opt for wooden doors. However, the only problem with the wooden roll up garage doors is that they warp easily and they crack easily. They are prone to extreme weather conditions and even to the termite attacks as well. So the option would be to go for the garage door that is made out of steel. These doors are definitely sturdier and durable than the wooden doors. Again they are more resistant to the variation and changes in the weather. They even do not rust easily and are heavy duty enough to be safe.

The only disadvantage with the steel door is that they come at a higher price. The steel roll up doors are much costly than the wooden doors and they might make noise when being opened. Again steel is most durable and is relatively easy to maintain and is more resistant to the changes and variation in weather and is best suited for daily use. If you choose a door made of steel then you have several options to choose from. One is with vinyl cladding, the second is with rolled-on finished and the third is with wood-grain embossing. Another problem with steel made doors is that they dent very easily.

No matter which roll up doors you choose, they all should be attractive enough and easy to use since the garage is that part of the house which is visible to the outside world. Try doing a little market research before choosing a garage door. Take into account your interests and your likings and then purchase a garage door that suits best. Obviously when checking the prices of the various options available, you should always keep in mind the price of not only just the roll up doors but also for installation, hardware and maintenance.

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