Window & Door Review: Vintage Garage Doors

What is the largest moving device in a house that gets used at least two or three times a day? The correct answer: the garage door. Not only is it big and useful, manufacturers are working hard to make it attractive, too.

The most recent trend in beauty for garage doors is carriage-house style. These doors typically cost more than standard raised-panel ones, but they add a distinctive touch that many homeowners think is worth it. "These days, people are more open to spending a little more to make their house look better," says Robert Deisher, product manager for residential door systems at Overhead Door.

The latest innovation in the style calls for steel construction instead of traditional wood. Steel offers two advantages over wood: It costs less and it requires much less maintenance. If a builder wants to go that route, his two choices are embossed steel or steel with an overlay. Both simulate the old-fashioned look of doors that swung open from the sides of wooden carriage houses, where horse-drawn carriages and early cars were stored. A steel door, however, is considerably less expensive�about $1,000 compared with $3,000 and up for wood.

Decorative hardware helps the new metal products mimic wood doors of yester-year. Strap hinges on the sides make steel doors look ready to swing open, and handles in the middle give the impression that the units can be pulled open instead of swung overhead.

Several manufacturers of wood garage doors are aiming for a broader market with steel. Among them is Amarr, which now offers the 24-gauge embossed steel Classica collection. The two-step process that creates the steel door first embosses a wood slat look, then adds a cross-buck appearance. Embossed doors are the lowest-priced units of all carriage-house styles.

"This door is more appealing to a wider range of people," says marketing development coordinator Keith Tolbert. "It's different from the raised-panel steel that has been standard. It gives builders, especially tract builders, an option."

Pros should use that option selectively, though. Carriage- house doors tend to look better on Tudor, French country, or English cottage homes rather than contemporary or Prairie styles, says Kent Forsland, president of Designer Doors, which manufactures wood garage doors.

At the next price point are steel doors with composite or wood overlays that are screwed, nailed, or glued on. Scottsdale, Ariz.-based builder Meritage Corp. installs Clopay's Coachman collection steel-composite doors in the homes it builds in Northern California and the state's Central Valley.

"Wooden doors are beautiful, but they require maintenance, especially in homes that face west," explains marketing director Niki Burks. The builder also appreciates the lower price of the steel-composite product for its single-family detached homes, which sell for $300,000 to $800,000.

The Wood Factor

Nonetheless, some homeowners simply crave wood garage doors, and builders see a beautiful wood product as an opportunity to differentiate themselves from the competition and "to provide architectural continuity," Forsland says.

Some wood carriage door collections include Raynor's American Rivers, Clopay's Reserve, Overhead Door's Ranch House, and Amarr's Biltmore Estate. The Biltmore collection is based on doors from the historic Biltmore Estate in Asheville, N.C.