One of the most commonly asked questions for homeowners with garages is deciding whether to repaint their garage door or replace it. Both choices have their respective pros and cons depending on whether your garage door is wooden or metal. The decision comes when the door is outdated in color, faulty in function or just aesthetically unpleasant & you would like a more modern look. Your home garage door is one of the biggest visuals of your home exterior and should be considered strongly when deciding what type of exterior you would like to show of your home.
Keeping in mind all of the above factors, we would like to make this decision a little more easy by laying down some guidelines and factors to consider when deciding to repaint or replace your automatic garage door.
When to Repaint & When to Replace:
As a general rule of thumb, the first step in deciding whether to repaint your automatic garage door is to inspect the door and the opening/closing mechanisms closely. If your garage door opens and closes perfectly and all of the moving parts are in good shape, meaning no grinding noises and no jams and it’s the appearance of the garage door that requires attention then by all means consider repainting it but safety is of the highest importance.
When deciding to repaint, you should consider the current color and ensure that the new color (if you have decided to change the color) matches the color palette of the existing color of the garage door.
If your wood door is faded and worn over time then what is happening behind the scenes may be of bigger concern and it would be advisable to bring a professional for assessment and professional opinion.
If your garage door is a “Sandwich” type with an insulted center then you can be sure that over the time the insulation has gathered moisture over time causing the door to inflate, split & become heavier then it’s time to replace your garage door as repainting it will not ensure smooth functionality.
In the case of steel doors if you observe rust on the door or on the hardware system, especially parts that are towards the bottom of the door where rust is more likely to build up you should strongly consider changing the door altogether.
Factors to Consider when Repainting
Repainting your garage door takes quite a bit of time though it is easy to do. You can choose the same color and should you decide to change the color you’ll need to ensure that the new color matches color palette of the existing color of your garage door.
You’ll need to ensure that you have sufficient time to do the job efficiently and completely. You’ll need to take into consideration the weather when planning to repaint your door as based on the paint type there will be various time factors for the paint to dry, factors such as humidity & the ambient temperature of both the interior and exterior of the garage doors. In all honesty, as with anything done unprofessionally is bound to look worse than it originally was.
When scheduling to repaint your garage door the ideal temperature should be between 60◦F & 75◦F (15◦C – 25◦C) and it’s always best to use a quality primer which will give the paint a richer texture. For metal garage doors that do not have any dents or major scratches, you can hire a painter to do the job.
If your garage door opener works well but the doors are just worn out, the doors can be easily replaced and you can save money on a new opener, the time and energy it takes to repaint a door and considering all safety and health precautions, a new replacement door may very well be worth.
Call Innovative Door Systems now for an estimate and an in-person consultation, because your home deserves to be safe & secure.