Garage doors are a type of product that can serve a very important function, while also allowing homeowners to satisfy the design style that meets their preferences for the external decoration of their homes. There are a massive number of alternatives available, such as sectional garage doors, up and over doors, and roller shutter garage doors, just to name the main ones. Each of these have their own set of specific features that can influence the type of style you’ll get, but mostly it a matter of functionality that they differ in. When it comes to the actual stylistic choices that you have to make, there are a few frontrunners among your options. These are the standard aluminium panels used in the various types of garage doors, which can then be painted various colours. There is also the option to put a laminated layer on top of the door, which can become a more durable alternative to standard painted layers. The laminate can also be used as kind of like linoleum in order to produce a similar appearance to a wooden layer. Finally, you can also get a timber garage door.
Wooden garage doors are an option that not many people are aware of. There are some differences between these types and other types of doors. Most doors are made from aluminium, which is a relatively light weight material, and offers strength even when the actual materials are kept to a minimum. It is also a pretty cheap material, which makes garage doors made from aluminium quite cheap. Wood is also a pretty cheap material, however this depends on the type of wood used. You will find wooden garage doors made from a number of different types of wood, including Oak, Larch, Hemlock, Nordic Pine, Meranti, Okoume, Idigbo, and Douglas Fir. Each of these woods has their own appearance, and the hue can change quite a bit between Idigbo and Oak.
They are also both hardwoods and softwoods, which will change their features somewhat as well. Oak, and many other hardwoods like it, is known for being a strong material that has been used throughout history for constructing sturdy structures. A softwood, such as Nordic Pine, retains a comparable level of structural strength to hardwoods, however the surface of the wood is noticeably softer, which makes scratching and scoring of the surface a much more common occurrence. Thankfully, one of the advantages of using wood is that the surface can be quickly sanded down in order to return it to its original appearance. In comparison, damage to a metal surface requires machinery, such as a mechanical polisher, in order to repair.
One of the biggest advantages of wooden garage doors is undoubtedly the versatility of the wood. Wood can be shaped and combined into an infinite number of styles, allowing you to truly pursue a design that is most suited to your particular aesthetic. The wood can be cut into any size you want and then later fixed onto a steel frame, allowing you to create any pattern for the wooden garage door that you want. The wood is fixed onto the steel frame using traditional joinery techniques. As long as the product you’ve purchased is legitimately from a trusted supplier, you should be able to expect it to last at least as long as an aluminium alternative. The wood from wooden garage doors is treated with a microporous wood solution that guarantees that the wood won’t degrade in the elements. The only time that you should have to reapply it is when you’ve damaged the surface and sanded the top layer down in order to repair it. At which point, retreating the surface of the wood to make it more waterproof is a very simple process.
Lastly there is the matter of appearance. Many homes choose a décor of a wooden façade, such as with their front door or even with cladding, and a wooden garage door is an excellent addition to this theme. They are a item that can come in many hues in order to match the rest of your decoration. The only alternative for some people is to laminate an aluminium garage door with a faux wooden surface. This can be a valid alternative, however the laminated surface will actually be likely to need to be repaired at a regular basis, far more often than using an actual wooden garage door. Again, wooden garage doors are built to last. The main downside of them is that they are ill suited to being made into certain types of garage doors.