Many DIY’ers believe that they can go to Home Depot, or a local home improvement store, and buy a
garage door of the same quality as one they purchase from a garage door service company. The truth is
these items are often made of inferior materials when compared to professional grade garage doors.
First let’s consider the gauge of metal used to manufacture the garage door panels. At your local home
improvement store the metal will be of a lighter gauge, usually 26, 27 or 28 gauge, while professional
grade doors typically start at 25 gauge with heavier gauges also available. Remember the larger number
the gauge the lighter weight the steel. Lighter weight doors tend to bend easier and are subject to a
shorter life span.
Next we will consider the garage door components. The first component is the hinges, hinges help
support the weight of the garage door and allow the door sections to pivot during the opening and
closing process. The hinges need to be made of material strong enough to withstand regular use without
failure. Most home improvement store garage doors come with very light weight hinges that will not
withstand regular use very well. Professional grade garage doors come with hinges made of a heavier
gauge steel that has been designed and tested for use on the heavy garage doors and under the
extreme conditions that can be present in your garage. Next consider the rollers. Home improvement
stores typically only have the plastic rollers with no ball bearings, compared to professional grade doors
that come with nylon 11 ball bearing rollers. The plastic rollers are simply builder grade that wear out in
3-5 years while nylon 11 bearing rollers will last 5-10 years if properly maintained. Next are the tracks,
again home improvement stores provide very light weight tracks while professional grade garage doors
come with heavier tracks that will withstand regular use much better.
Finally we need to consider the spring system available from each. Home Improvement stores typically
will only offer extension springs for the DIY’er. This is an older and less reliable system that can also be
dangerous if a spring breaks. In this scenario the broken spring can become a projectile that can damage
property and cause serious injury even death to people. Professional grade doors typically come with
newer and safer extension spring system. The extension spring system contain the spring on a spring bar
that prevents the spring from becoming a projectile if the spring breaks. Garage door springs work as a
counter balance for the weight of the garage door and achieving perfect balance is the goal for the
garage door spring. Torsion springs are easier and better for balancing a door than the older extension
spring system.
Many home improvement stores sale the garage door and some of the components separately, which
push the price over what you would pay for a professional grade door that is installed by a garage door
technician. Many home improvement stores require you to purchase a separate ceiling mounting kit
that consists basically of punch angle that is included in the price of an installed professional grade
garage door. Professional grade doors of all sizes also include a strut preinstalled on the top panel of the
garage door. Struts provide added support and rigidity to the garage door section. This is particularly
important on the top section as the automatic garage door opener attaches to the top section. Garage
doors available from a home improvement store may not include this strut as a standard feature and
require the consumer to purchase it separately.
As stated earlier, the cost of a professional grade garage door installed by a garage door technician, is in
many cases less expensive than purchasing a lighter weight door from a home improvement store and
installing it yourself. Home improvement stores will also have a limited number of styles and colors
available with long wait times if the garage door is not in stock. When purchasing a garage door from a
garage door service company, the styles and options available will be greater, and typically are in stock
or a shorter weight time for special order garage doors.
