New Garage Doors

Getting your home upgraded is both a process and an investment. Starting with a garage door, the biggest door in your home, is a great step!

Now that you’ve started the process of getting a new garage door, what can you expect? How long is the process and what should you be aware of AFTER the installation??

Let’s start from the very beginning…

  1. The Estimate: This is super important to get everything right. We come to your home, free of charge, and assess the style of door you are looking for, take measurements, and work with your overall budget. Our estimators are here to work with you and see what the individual needs of your property might be: Is the foundation on a slant? Does your home face directly into the sun? Are you in the middle of doing a complete remodel and wanting something that will match what your home WILL look like as opposed to what it looks like at the moment? All these questions along with whether you need a new motor or servicing comes into play.
  2. Design/Door Selection: After you’ve had your estimate and had all your questions addressed, you are now ready to pick your door! NOW the fun stuff happens! At GDU, we work with our guests who are looking for a custom wood door, or specifications needed to a glass door and create a look that you envisioned for your home. WE have wood door specialists at our company that can walk you through the process of making a design, creating a custom drawing ( A blueprint) of what the door will look like. If you are seeking a more traditional door and prefer something made out of metal, our manufacturers like Amarr, CHI, and Clopay, have some excellent choices that we carry.
  3. The Ordering Process: Once you have had your custom design made, or you have picked a door from one of our manufacturers, we get to either CREATE or order your door! Doors being ordered from one of our manufacturer’s will take anywhere from 4-6 weeks BEFORE they reach our warehouse. When the door is a special order from say Amarr, Martin, or CHI, this means that those companies must put a special order in for that door, before it gets to THEIR warehouse. SO, they would then order the door
  4. (which can take anywhere from 4-6 weeks) and then it gets to GDU’s warehouse which, will then take another 2-3 weeks. Custom-made garage doors have the potential to take longer. We create the wood doors in our warehouse and this process can take anywhere from 6-9 weeks. To make a long story short, once we have placed the order for your door, it will take at least 4 weeks before it is ready to installed in your home!
  5. Clean, Clear and make way! We have done the estimate, we have ordered your door, NOW we have everything we need to schedule you and get your door installed! The best thing any of our customers can do to prep for this day is to keep a nice clearance in your garage. Make sure any clutter and debris is away from the door AT least by 5 feet from the door. It’s always better to have more so if you can provide 7-8 feet of clearance that would be ideal. These are heavy doors with bits and pieces that need to need room during this process, so keeping enough room for our techs to get your door up is the best thing you can do for us! As much as possible, if you are getting a new motor, have a light bulb handy, since the manufacturer like LiftMaster and Marantec does not provide this for us.
  6. Install finished: What Now? Now you have a lovely new door and possible a new motor as well and you can bask in the glow of curbside appeal! A few tips to be aware of after all is installed: Know your warranty: Make sure you speak with your estimator about the warranty time on your door. Certain brands carry a lifetime warranty on SPECIFIC doors, but doesn’t necessarily apply to parts on your door like a spring or what not. Get the 441 from the estimator and if not, we at the office can provide this info to you. Wrinkled weather seals: This is definitely a frequent question we get at GDU! This is common as the vinyl is vacuum sealed as tends to have a very crinkled look while it’s hanging on your door. This should adjust to the frame of your door after a week and it’s had the chance to acclimate to the weather outside and hanging on the frame. IF this persists after more than a week and a half, give us a call and we can get you some new vinyl! Loud motor: certain motors are much quieter than others, but specifically the chain motors have a little more rattle than the other belt drives. This is also something that tends to iron out after about 2 weeks! Once the motor is operating regularly and the gears have had the chance to move and adjust, you will notice the smoothness of the motor running. NOW you are all DONE! Enjoy the new door, enjoy being the envy of your block and keep us informed on your home improvement journey!