Many of today’s homes have a front facing garage door, which often takes up a large portion of the frontal view of what people see from the street. Because front facing garage doors can take upwards of 40% of a house view they have a tremendous impact on a home’s curb appeal. Using the ubiquitous white metal garage doors can make an otherwise beautiful house unattractive.
60% of home buyers chose a great design/curb appeal as the most important home exterior issue in the 2014 Professional Builder Magazine survey. It was also the most popular buyer consideration when looking for a new home. Garage door upgrade is also one of the top ranked home improvement projects for return on investment, according to a recent survey conducted by the Remodeling magazine. Of the thirty-five most popular projects, upgrades to garage doors ranked fourth in generating the biggest return on investment.
Homeowners have different overhead garage door design options to improve curb appeal. Prices of garage doors vary depending on the design, size and door material used. These days, most garage door manufacturers offer stock “carriage house” garage doors with curb appeal costing from $500 to $1,000. Garage doors in this price range are typically made of steel with different designs like embossed and raised panels, steel garage stamped with faux stiles, rails, cross-bracings and doors that are embossed with wood grains.
Homeowners can also spend $3,000 or more for premium high end garage doors that are custom made like a handcrafted wood garage door, wooden carriage style doors swing-out or slider types used on old carriage houses. Other premium garage doors include contemporary glass panel doors with frosted or tinted glass panels set in wood or aluminum frames.
Wooded garage door is considered the king of garage doors, and is often used especially in high-end homes to improve a home’s curb appeal as it matches well with other architectural elements in a home. There is nothing quite like the beauty of wooden garage doors. Wood garage doors add warmth, character, elegance, and even a rustic appeal to a home. However, wooden garage doors require regular maintenance because it is made of natural material that can deteriorate over time. Over the years, garage door manufacturers have introduced new products to mimic the appearance of custom-made real wood garage doors.
These innovations include wood pattern stamping or printing on metal garage doors, cellular PVC wood boards, fiberglass composite, and polyurethane wood fiber or glass infused composites. However, until recently, none of these innovations were serious contenders to real wood because they lack the realism of natural wood. The newer generation polymer composite faux wood technology used by Ranch House Doors and Clopay Canyon Ridge faux wood garage doors has solved the wood realism limitations of older technologies. Ranch House Doors Elements Collection faux wood garage door, for example, bring together the best of natural wood’s beauty and proven polymer composite engineering. The Ranch House Doors faux wood claddings are molded from natural wood to mimic the wood grain patterns and texture of real wood. Unlike other composite materials that are heavy and manufactured with unrealistic replication of wood grains and texture, the Elements Collection ultra definition faux wood is lightweight, and replicates most of the original wood details including imperfections of natural wood like pockmarks, worm holes, cracks, wood knots and even holes up to 1/4 inch deep. When installed, the doors are virtually indistinguishable from real wood.
The Elements Collection faux wood does not have the drawbacks inherent with natural wood. It is lightweight, yet very strong, more durable and easier to maintain than real wood. It can also withstand high humidity and extreme temperature fluctuations. Another benefit is the faux wood is environmentally friendly. The faux wood reduces environmental impact by reducing the utilization of trees, especially endangered wood species that the faux wood cladding mimics. Faux wood garage door prices are typically in the $1,800 to $4000 price range. However, the faux wood door costs depends on the garage door design, size and options selected. Faux wood garage door prices are not cheap, but the benefits of owning a faux wood door in the long run may outweigh the cost of and disadvantages of real wood garage doors.