Semi OT. Garage door recommendations

[stackie]

Only semi OT since one needs a garage door as photo backdrop for Paceline. :banana:

Seriously, due to a combo of a poorly operating remote control garage door and careless mistiming on my part, I backed my car into the bottom panel of my garage door. No bikes involved. I need to replace and upgrade anyway.

Looking for a nice looking garage door and an opener with a great remote control. I think any new opener might be better, but I'm happy to hear people's stories or recs.

WRT garage door. Wood out due to the coastal CA area. Too much maintenance. What brands are best? Steel vs Aluminum? Any thoughts on frosted glass to add a modern look to house? Literally have had two local installers recommend the reverse order of quality. Amarr>WD>Northwest>Clopay. vs Clopay>Northwest>WD>Amarr. Seriously? The exact opposite opinion?

Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom.

Jon

[Plum Hill]

I have an insulated steel Overhead Door with a Chamberlain belt drive opener. Opener is super quiet.
Sister’s house had openers that hang on the end of the spring shaft. It eliminated the bulky drive and beam down the middle of the garage. The model is also available with a battery backup.

[ScottW]

Shortly after moving into this house (11 years ago) I had a new aluminum Clopay installed and it has held up fine since then. It is insulated and has some low R factor, maybe 2 or 4, I forget. Didn't want any windows in it, because I don't need anyone snooping at what's in there and I have enough lights that I don't need the daylight getting in either. Definitely go belt drive on the opener as they are much quieter. Still have a 20-y.o. Craftsman chain drive that works okay (had to replace a bearing/shaft assembly once) but is kinda loud.

[Ken Robb]

I don't remember the brand of steel door I bought a couple of years ago but: I was convinced to buy one where the coil spring can be replaced rather than the entire mechanism because that makes replacement faster/cheaper and the springs will break sooner or later. 2 of 3 installers I spoke with recommended Chamberlain openers. I think they said the Genie brand were now made in China and not as good as they used to be. I really like having a keypad controller mounted outside because that eliminates the need to carry a mini opener in my pocket on bike rides. I laughed at the idea of paying extra for an insulated door because it doesn't ever get below 50F here. Now I know that an uninsulated steel door conducts a lot more heat into the garage than my old wooden door did. Since it faces due south and our bedroom is above the garage it would surely be cooler with an insulated door and the insulation might also make the opening/closing quieter too.
I kept my old opener with the new door for a while but its performance became erratic due to the circuit board cracking from years of use. I bought the Chamberlain replacement at COSTCO at the suggestion of the guy who had installed my door and he was happy to install it for a very reasonable price.

[rwsaunders]

Buy the door and the opener from a highly rated local installer so that when you need service down the road, they’re quick to respond and they don’t point fingers at the “other guy”. Wayne Dalton, Clopay, Overhead...they’re all pretty good.

[Blown Reek]

I can't help you on actual garage doors, but I recently replaced my opener with the Liftmaster 8550. It's belt drive so it's quiet, it has a battery backup, and most importantly it's wi-fi ready, so you can open and close it remotely with the app. Also, if you leave it open, you'll get a notification so you can close it. And, if you're into that type of thing, it's Amazon-capable, so if you have a delivery, they can deliver it into your garage.

[wallymann]

check out COSTCO offerings. fair prices and they stand behind the work. we got a really nice door + high-tech opener installed for less than what others charged just for the door!

i'll second the recommendations for an opener with: quiet belt-drive, battery backup, and wifi enabled.

[unterhausen]

get a liftmaster that uses the torque tube for the drive. No chain, belt or screw to mess up. They have upgraded the radio since I bought mine, but it's much like the current liftmaster 8500 model. I liked having it on the internet, but I had the older gateway and decided it probably wasn't secure. I also like the dead bolt. You have to have one with this style opener, but I live with some fraidycats and it offers more security than most openers. It's how I convinced my SIL not to lock the interior garage door. She doesn't live here, but visits often enough to make door locking an issue.

[dgauthier]

We installed a Martin door and Liftmaster 8550 opener a few years back. I would buy both again. Martin's high end aluminum doors are assembled from square aluminum framing that resembles real wood-framed doors (no "stamped sheet" look), without the upkeep of wood. https://www.martindoor.com

We got bids from Home Depot and several independent installers, and surprisingly Home Depot (of all places) really fought for our business with very aggressive pricing. Definitely worth a look.

[CAAD]

Existing steel door here. If I had to replace it I would go the same route. Recently swapped out the steel rollers for plastic and a Chamberlain belt drive opener with a battery backup. Oh so quiet now. Easy DIY project. I don't trust installers opinions. They will push whatever brand they are a distributor for. Do your own research and make an informed decision.

[pdmtong]

It's a minor thing, but also understand the capacity of the door opener to support homelink/opener devices. turns out my worm drive genie can only support 7 devices. I recently bought a replacement car, and when I tried to add the new car it knocked out the previous #7 device, which was my wife's car.

it's solvable by wiping the head unit clean, then adding cars first, then keypad, then one factory opener then one aftermarket (smaller) opener. took some calls to homelink and genie to figure that nuance out.

I believe liftmaster and chamberlain are the same company now

[stackie]

Lots of good info.

Thank you all for your inputs!

Jon

[Dekonick]

If it is new construction, I strongly advise getting a garage door that tracks to the ceiling, known as a high lift door. The motor is side mounted. It gives you much more room to work on your car, have a roof rack, etc...