Posted by Jessica Mend on Thursday, 03 May 2012
Tags: Paint, Garage Door
One of the quickest ways to add curb appeal to your home is to update the look of your garage door.
And getting a nice looking garage door does not always require buying a new door you may very well be able to make the door look nicer by just giving it a new paint job.
The first thing you will need to do is determine the type and material of garage door you have. Older doors are usually wood and newer ones are usually Aluminum, Steel. No matter the material as long as it still sturdy you will be able to accomplish this task in one afternoon.
After determining the material of your door head to your local hardware / home improvement store and talk to the sales people in the paint department they are usually friendly and will steer you in the right direction.
Step 1) First you will want to make sure the door is super clean. Its strongly suggested that you first use a wire brush to remove all loose paint and debris.
Step 2) Use a fine 130 grit sand-paper to smooth out any differences between the old paint and the places where paint was removed by the wire brush in step 1 above
Step 3) Use a damp, but not wet, towel to remove all dust and any dirt that may interfere with the paint adhering to the garage door.
Step 4) Apply painters tape, newspapers and drop-cloths to all areas close to your garage door you do not want paint to get on.
Tip: its worthwhile spending extra time on this task as it will save lots of time later trying to remove unwanted paint.
Step 4) Apply a primer base coast, this will protect your door and will allow the new garage door paint color you chose to show without the need for many coats of paint.
Tip: Applying "primer" is common among professionals being that its also more affordable being that primer is less expensive then the paint.
Tip: Your best bet is using a spray gun instead of a brush, as a spray paint usually is applied more evenly provided you follow the instructions for your particular gun (usually 6 to 9 inches away from the surface of the door)
Step 5) After your primer has fully dried this can vary from brand to brand please see manufacturers suggestions on the paint can. Apply your paint first coast, this may not look exactly as the color you had selected and that's normal, you will need to wait an hour or two depending on the paint to apply your second coat, you will repeat the wait and apply for the third coat.
Tip: You may apply as little as 2 coats and as many as 4 its all based on your preference and the brand and quality of the paint.
Tip: Don't forget to paint in the joints and the top as these areas are easy to miss and tend to trap water.
6) Once all the paint has dries you can remove the tarps, tape and newspapers and inspect your new garage door, if you missed spots you may be able to touch it up with an artists synthetic brush, if the spot is larger you may want to re-tape around the area ans re-spray the missed spot, note: you must do the same amount of base and coats as you did on the rest of the doors to make it match correctly.
Bonus, In addition to now have a great looking garage door the new paint will protect the metal or wood from corrosive elements. It will help increase the lifespan as well as the aesthetic appeal of your door.
Posted by Sam Wise on Tuesday, 29 November 2011
Tags: Garage Door, Garage Doors, Garage Door Opener, Garage Door Repair, Garage Door Replacement, Garage Door Installation, Garage Door Service, garage door prices
There are many kinds of double decker /extra tall vehicles out on the road these days: big U-hauls to bring people’s belongings from place to place; giant sixteen-wheelers that cart various products (including produce!) all across the country; trailers or mobile homes that can serve as nice vacation or adventure vehicles for families; double decker transport buses or tour buses; even some super souped-up pickup trucks might actually count as “double decker” if their shocks are high enough.
So what does a homeowner with this type pf vehicle do when they want to park it in a tradition or custom garage? the answer is 1 either purchase a home that can accommodate this type of vehicle (you will be surprised they are in-fact quite common.but being that most garages and garage doors are made for sedans, or two-car sports cars, or sports utility vehicles. Or minivans, convertibles, or motorcycles even. which should do just fine with a standard sized garage and garage door.
But for people with large garages who want to store large vehicles, be they rv's and motor-homes, buses, trailers, trucks, or even something like horse transportation trucks, they’re going to need not only a garage that can fit such a behemoth, but a door that will let it pass through!
Getting your hands on a non-commercial double tall garage door isn’t easy. And truth be told, many of these doors don’t come in all the same fun variations as a standard sized door. For example, carriage-style double deckers are rare, and so are wooden ones. (Unless you live on a farm and have a barn house, but then that’s not a garage anymore.) Most will likely come in aluminum, alloy, or poly-blend types.
So make sure that if you’re going to invest in an over-sized vehicle, that you’ll have a place to store it! And if you plan for that place to be your garage, make sure you have a door that will fit it.
You may want to check out our custom garage door selection here.
Posted by Sam Wise on Friday, 25 November 2011
Tags: Garage Door, Garage Doors, Garage Door Opener, Garage Door Repair, Garage Door Replacement, Garage Door Installation, Garage Door Service, garage door prices
Technologies certainly add a whole lot to people’s homes in this day and age- new innovations have allowed for leaps and bounds of improvement in the realm of safety and home planning. Therefore, continuing our week's general theme of technological improvements on the standard garage door, today we will discuss a wonderful creation called the automatic exterior light system. Now, some people's homes come equipped with these, but others can have them installed separately, or with a garage door system.
Have you ever come home late at night and had to wait agonizing, dark moments to find the correct light switch so your garage and driveway were bright enough to see? This can be a very frightening experience, causing an elevation in heart rate and a spike in adrenaline? Have you ever been creeped out in the dark, knowing that dark conditions are far more dangerous?
This can lead to distrust in your neighborhood. Do you ever hear a bump in the night from your bed, and go to the window to see what it might be, only to be greeted by a vast swath of dark? This is definitely something that will stress you out and make it much harder to sleep at night. Well, in this day and age there is a better solution than “go grab a flashlight and investigate that dangerous-sounding disturbance”. It’s called exterior lights, and when they’re properly wired up to a motion sensor, they will turn on when anything approaches your garage door.
This will definitely deter any unwanted visitors you might have, be they robbers, neighborhood teenagers, or spunky raccoons. If you adjust the intensity of the light, they can be very effective in chasing away wildlife, and making you sleep safe at night. And then the next time you hear a sound coming from the driveway, you can just check out the window because the light will already be on. Most likely it will be nothing, but it is always far better to be safe than sorry.
You may want to check out our line of lighted garage door openers here.
Posted by Sam Wise on Thursday, 24 November 2011
Tags: Garage Door, Garage Doors, Garage Door Opener, Garage Door Repair, Garage Door Replacement, Garage Door Installation, Garage Door Service, garage door prices
Often during the holiday season we like to report on festive decorations that have adorned garage doors across the nation, celebrating our wonderful autumn and winter traditions.
This year there have been many gorgeously decorated thanksgiving homes, with big turkey paintings, beautiful leaves arranged in particular ways, still-life of pumpkins and other harvest produce. Garage doors have been painted with foliage colors, in the likeness of a gobble gobble turkey, and some have been sporting gorgeous fall landscapes.
Autumn decorations are a little less light-heavy than winter ones, and depend on beautiful afternoon sunlight and crisp fall air. This makes them as fleeting and ephemeral as the season itself- fitting.
And thanksgiving decorations in particular are a celebration of bounty and plenty- extravagance, on thanksgiving, is okay. It is the day we cook and eat for hours and give thanks for it, the day that we express our gratitude towards friends, family, and nature for providing us with such wonderful lives.
However, not everybody gets to celebrate such a heartwarming last November Thursday. It’s very sad to stop and think about, but unfortunately, most major cities in the United States have lots of impoverished families that don’t get to enjoy the warmth of a good stuffed turkey, or enjoy some nice, tart apple cider, or bite into a hot pecan pie and watch the filling ooze out. These families have to make do with the same usual cheap food, or can’t afford heating, or may go hungry altogether. No place in the country is immune from this problem.
So we urge you, in the spirit of giving, thanks, and holiday community, to give either time or money to a thanksgiving charity. Perhaps one that provides thanksgiving dinner to impoverished families, or helps deal with homelessness. This is the season of gratitude and giving, and if you want to make the world around you a little bit brighter, you should not only decorate your home and your garage door, but you should give, as well.
We will be running a best dressed garage door contest starting next year, feel free to submit yours at any time.
Posted by Sam Wise on Wednesday, 23 November 2011
Tags: Garage Door, Garage Doors, Garage Door Opener, Garage Door Repair, Garage Door Replacement, Garage Door Installation, Garage Door Service, garage door prices
Continuing our discussion from yesterday, there are just so many cool new features that come on garage doors that you might not even have imagined. These new things can really help you save time and money: increasing the energy efficiency of your garage, allowing for flexibility and safety, and cutting down on year to year wear and tear on your home.
One of these cool new devices is a Closing Timer. (Ever heard that song Closing Time? I think the name of the product might be a reference to that nineties classic.) The Closing Timer allows you to customize the settings on a timer that will automatically close your door once the time runs out. You can set it to close if you’ve left it open for more than ten minutes, or you can tell it to wait only five minutes, or to wait for ten minutes on weekdays but allow hours of open time on the weekend. (Maybe you’re throwing a barbecue?) It’s a very clever little innovation.
Another cool gizmo is an improvement on a classic: electronic eyes. Garage doors have come with automatic reversal to prevent squashing objects. These have been around for years. But recently some companies have developed electronic eyes that use beams of infrared light all across the opening of the door to sense where and object is and where the door should stop closing to prevent that object from being crushed. If that object is a beloved pet or a child, it can literally be a lifesaver.
And last but not least, new doors come with backup generators that allow you to still open and close the door, even if the power is out in your neighborhood. This battery backup can be a highly useful thing during a storm. This will allow your family reliable access into the home, or vehicles in the garage.
