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Size Matters: How to Determine What Size Garage Door You Need

in Garage Door Installation by elkgrovegaragedoorco

In the market for a new garage door? Congratulations! It’s one of the best property investments you can make. In fact, new garage door installation delivers a 97% return on investment, thanks to the increase in equity your property receives.

The first thing you should do when shopping for a new garage door is to measure your current door. This will dictate a number of factors about the new door, including where you get it from and how much it will cost.

Here’s what you need to know about residential door sizes and how to correctly measure your garage door to ensure a proper fit.

What Are Standard Residential Garage Door Sizes?

Most likely, your home has a standard garage door size — enough to allow your standard car or truck to pass through it. A single standard size garage door measures around 8 to 9 feet wide, and 7 to 8 feet high. However, if your home is new, the door may be slightly larger. In many modern homes, garage doors tend to be 9 x 7 feet but can be as wide as 10 feet to accommodate modern cars.

You can expect double garage doors to be usually 16 feet wide, and 7 to 8 feet high. For a standard double garage door, you’ll have the option to add a pair of single 8-foot garage door bays, which will be separated by a post. This isn’t structurally necessary, but gives you more room and can be a nice option for the home.

What if You Have a Custom Sized Garage Door?

If you measure your current garage door and it matches the above sizes, you’re good to go. If not, you’ll need a custom sized garage door, which can be a bit more expensive.

These types of doors are commonly needed for larger vehicles — say a large truck, jeep or even a semi.

Garage Door Thickness & Price

In addition to size, another factor that affects the price of a garage door is thickness and insulation. Thicker isn’t always better. But insulation can be an advantage when it comes to heating and cooling, even in a warm climate like Elk Grove, California. The insulation keeps out the hot as well as the cold, so your cooling costs in the summer are considerably lower.

Is Your Garage Door Off Track? Put Family Safety First

While a malfunctioning garage door may seem like a trivial concern, it may actually be a great danger to your loved ones and vehicles. The silver lining is that repairing an off track garage door is usually trivial, both in terms of time and money. You can certainly recruit professionals to help, but this is often a modest weekend DIY project that you can tackle with the right knowledge and a small number of tools. Again, misaligned garage door tracks may seem like a trivial problem, but if the door were to fall it would surely pose a great danger to people and things. Just make sure to do ample research, and keep safety first.