This page is for homeowners deciding whether to keep, fix or replace the door on a house garage. It covers the questions that come up before a new door is ordered.
Start with the opening you already have
Before a door is ordered, the technician measures the opening and looks at the headroom and the hardware that has to come out. You do not need to measure before you call, but it helps to know:
- Whether it is one door or two, and roughly how wide the bay is.
- Whether the springs sit on a shaft above the door (torsion) or stretch along the horizontal tracks (extension). Extension springs still show up on older single doors.
- How much room there is between the top of the opening and the ceiling. Low headroom shows up on raised ranches, basement garages and mill-city bays, and it shapes what can be installed.
- Whether the door has an opener, and whether its ceiling rail would run into joists or pipes.
Older homes in places like Newton, Brookline, Lenox or a Cape village sometimes have a true carriage bay with low headroom. Mention it on the call.
Residential door styles and materials
Most doors installed on houses now are sectional doors that roll overhead, even when they are dressed up to look like something older. Manufacturers build them in steel, wood, composite over insulated steel, fiberglass, vinyl, and aluminum with glass. The main choices:
- Steel. A steel skin resists a casual dent better than a thin non-metal skin, but near the coast salt still marks hardware and can stain the face. Ask what gauge (the thickness of the steel) is on the door in the estimate.
- Carriage-house styling. Overlays, windows and hardware imitate older swinging doors on what is usually a modern sectional door. Wood-look steel and real wood behave differently in salt air and snow, and a decorated door is often heavier, so the springs have to match. More on carriage-house doors.
- Windows, color and finish. Chosen with the estimate, not from a published catalog.
We can source and install doors from major manufacturers such as Clopay, Garaga, Wayne Dalton and Amarr. Make sure the estimate names the door being proposed.
Insulation questions
Insulation is a practical question in a cold state. An insulated door has a core, usually inside a steel sandwich, that slows heat loss compared with a thin uninsulated sheet. It is worth asking about when the garage sits under a bedroom or doubles as a workshop.
- Get the proposed door's rating written into the estimate. Heat savings depend on the door ordered.
- Insulation does not stop a draft at the floor. The bottom seal and the perimeter weatherstripping do that job.
- Insulation adds weight, which the springs have to match.
For more detail, see insulated garage doors.
Installation versus repair
These are different jobs with different estimates:
- New door installation: a new door in the opening, measured, installed and adjusted, with haul-away of the old door included.
- Door replacement: the existing door comes out and another goes in when repair is no longer the right scope, for example a twisted door, a run of panels that cannot be matched, or hardware that is not worth rebuilding.
- Repair: a dented or cracked section can be swapped when the rest of the door is still sound, and springs, cables and openers are separate repairs on a door you are keeping. Most repairs come with at least a 1-year warranty, often longer.
We do not set a percentage of damage that forces replacement. If you are not sure which job you need, say so. The free estimate is where that choice gets made.
Preparing for the visit
- Call (781) 602-0737 or use the contact form. Have the town ready and describe the door: one door or two, what is wrong with it now, and whether you are leaning toward a new door.
- Clear the driveway apron and leave the opening accessible.
- Note what matters to you: insulation, windows, color, or a house on the water.
- On site we look at the door and write a free estimate before any work. Nothing is taken apart until you have it in writing.
- If a new door goes in, the springs are set to its weight and the door is adjusted before we leave.
We do not publish a price list. See pricing for how estimates work. Ask us about warranty coverage on new doors.
Not an authorized dealer for any brand. Licensed and insured, and we service and install all brands.
MassGarage is family owned, with 15 years of experience, and we serve all of Massachusetts. Licensed and insured. Proof of insurance, license and 1099 available on request.
Written by the MassGarage team.
