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Worked well for us. Design your own from the website. The reason it is such a big deal is most American suburban houses, the major architectural feature is the damned garage doors. If I ever build or buy again i will go with side entry. Less convenient, but then the doors don't dominate.
Our house is a medium yellow with white trim and the white front entry double door works well. The more panels, the more rigidity. Insulation is meaningless unless you work in the garage in Winter. If it is ever stormy, windy where you live get the center storm brace. You want the same window pattern as most of your neighbors. Do not install a hand lock, use the door lift as your security. Do not go with a wood pattern unless there are wood finish walls on the front of your house already. Don't introduce a new pattern.
Never attempt to paint it yourself later. The factory finish is oven baked and compounded to repel dirt, and guess what else, Paint!
Replace the door lift motor and center track. Your old roller tracks are probably okay.
Are you worried about the challenge of making choices? Think about the fact that Heinz 57 brands makes over 250 products, 12 of which are Ketchup.
Thank you for seeing the dilemma and for all of this advice. And yes, the challenge is making a choice. We prefer to not go white again because it becomes the focal point almost immediately even with it being detached from the home. We know that white isn’t terrible, just thinking to change to something different that will still work well.
I’ve uploaded pics of the home with and some of the samples we have been able to review thus far.
We are going to change the fence out next year (or sooner if a good storm takes care of it for us) to a dark walnut/oak PVC, so the current, weather-beaten cedar fence in the picture will be replaced by something as dark as the roof and gutters/downspouts that you see.
My husband wants a dark brown door to match the roof/gutters. I feel that’s boring which led us to look at woodtone doors instead. We’ve looked at the almonds/tans/sandstones and those just look like an off-white which doesn’t look good with the white trim.
Wow, you've spent a lot of mental energy on something that to most probably seems rather trivial.
At this point it sounds like analysis paralysis to me.
Just pick one and be done with it already. LOL
I don’t think it’s a lot of mental energy. We’ve only been looking since last week. I think if the garage dealers would simply bring out the requested samples, this process would go a lot smoother and much more quickly. The days of white, almond, and dark brown doors passed a while ago.
It would be a lot easier if the garage was located behind the home, but we chose this home partly because of the fact we both could easily drive in and out of the garage by having it where it’s located. We don’t park on the street or outside the garage. Cars are inside always, unless we’re making a pit stop and going right back out.
I get it that some people just don’t care. Maybe because we’ve been in the place for only 2 years and we still do care about making the house ours. The house has been redone well inside. The outside could stand a little more curb appeal, IMO.
Anyway, DH and I are making a decision over the weekend.
I don’t think it’s a lot of mental energy. We’ve only been looking since last week. I think if the garage dealers would simply bring out the requested samples, this process would go a lot smoother and much more quickly. The days of white, almond, and dark brown doors passed a while ago.
It would be a lot easier if the garage was located behind the home, but we chose this home partly because of the fact we both could easily drive in and out of the garage by having it where it’s located. We don’t park on the street or outside the garage. Cars are inside always, unless we’re making a pit stop and going right back out.
I get it that some people just don’t care. Maybe because we’ve been in the place for only 2 years and we still do care about making the house ours. The house has been redone well inside. The outside could stand a little more curb appeal, IMO.
Anyway, DH and I are making a decision over the weekend.
Hmm, much too much agony for me OP
The aspects that come to mind for me are....dark colors recede from view. Light colors advance into view. Dark colors absorb heat, cooking the finish, and they fade. Light colors less so, but they could show stains. Wood absorbs water and it rots over time, but you could repair damage a little more easily. Fake wood grain is...well....fake. Insulation is a must here. That's about as serious as I care to get. The neighbors can say whatever they wish about whatever I choose (but I won't push it and pick magenta).
Last edited by Parnassia; 03-30-2018 at 03:26 PM..
The front is pretty plain. If it were me, I'd just go with another white door. It already matches the trim on both structures. I'd be too afraid of the "domino effect", ie: "...now that i've changed the garage door I have to redo the trim on the garage. Then i've got to do the trim on the house. Oh no, now the fence needs to be redone...and on and on and on.
This situation sounds like an attitude or communication problem. Buy a white door, for less than $50.00 paint it your desired color. Problem solved. As mentioned above you're going to have to paint it again in the future anyway. I've had 4 different houses, bought garage doors for each one, painted them to match the house. Life is good.
The front is pretty plain. If it were me, I'd just go with another white door. It already matches the trim on both structures. I'd be too afraid of the "domino effect", ie: "...now that i've changed the garage door I have to redo the trim on the garage. Then i've got to do the trim on the house. Oh no, now the fence needs to be redone...and on and on and on.
LOL! Chalk it up to being a first time single family home owner (owned a townhouse and an apartment building before) who is probably overly thinking things. Definitely appreciate the voices of reason.
Didn’t think a steel door would need repainting in the future, learned something new there. Most people I know only paint their doors when they are wood. Steel doors tend to look good for a long time even with our sometimes harsh winters. Just a water spray is needed to clean and when they get old/damaged, they are replaced for another new door. But, I don’t know everyone, so there you go.
The front is pretty plain. If it were me, I'd just go with another white door. It already matches the trim on both structures. I'd be too afraid of the "domino effect", ie: "...now that i've changed the garage door I have to redo the trim on the garage. Then i've got to do the trim on the house. Oh no, now the fence needs to be redone...and on and on and on.
Oh, I’m not opposed to the domino effect. There’s a lot I would like to do with home’s exterior. We’re removing the tree in the front, changing the ugly cedar fence all around the front and back for a dark wood look PVC fence, and repainting the front railing. I want to get rid of the stucco on the house and garage whenever it needs replacing, but that may be some years, so we’ll have it painted a different color in the meantime. Landscaping in the front and on the side... lots on the to do list.
Agreed, a white door with top windows and a textured vinyl finish. Had ours for 11 years now. Just hose it off when it gets dirty. No insulation, no garage door opener. No signs of wear. Only maintenance was to put a little 3 in one oil on the key when it started to stick in the lock.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NewYorkiforniainHouston
The front is pretty plain. If it were me, I'd just go with another white door. It already matches the trim on both structures. I'd be too afraid of the "domino effect", ie: "...now that i've changed the garage door I have to redo the trim on the garage. Then i've got to do the trim on the house. Oh no, now the fence needs to be redone...and on and on and on.
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Domino effect!
