4 Garage Door Upgrades Worth Paying For

Garage doors are the second most common entry point for home burglars, so anything you can do to increase the security of your garage door is a good thing. Burglars like garages because the burglars are hidden from view once inside, and the interior door between a garage and the rest of a house is usually easy to get through. 

One of the simplest ways to improve your door's security is to make sure you have a deadbolt lock on it. Specifically, look for an ANSI Grade 1 deadbolt. This is one of the strongest deadbolts, and it's difficult to pick. If a thief can't quickly break or pick your garage door's lock, they likely won't want to spend time continuing to try. Instead, they'll probably call off the break-in. 

Automatic garage door openers offer unparalleled convenience, and many garage doors now come with them. Not all automatic garage door openers are equally secure, however. Another way to step up your garage door's security is to get an automatic opener that uses rolling code technology. 

Automatic openers that don't use rolling codes have a fixed code instead. While a fixed code is unique to an opener, burglars can pass by and pick up the code with a specialized receiver. Once they have the correct code, they can open and close a fixed code opener at will by transmitting that code to it.  

An opener that relies on rolling codes doesn't use just one fixed code but rotates through a plethora of codes. Each is used only once, and then the code switches to a different one. Thus, burglars can still steal a code, but they won't be able to use it because the opener will switch to a different one after it transmits the stolen code to the burglar's receiver. 

An insulated garage door will help the garage retain more heat, which improves energy efficiency. Even if your garage itself isn't heated, it will still draw heat from the interior of your home. The warmer a garage is, the less a temperature difference you will have between the garage and the rest of your house. A lower difference will result in less heat loss from your home. 

Moreover, the reduced heat loss that an insulated garage door provides is often substantial. Garages aren't as well insulated as the rest of your home, and the garage door is an especially large opening in the space. By insulating such a large opening in such an inefficient space, you can see a big drop in your heating costs. 

Ultimately, money you save on heating could cover the cost of an insulation upgrade. In fact, the savings will outpace the upgrade's cost if you keep the door long enough. 

High-end hardware gives your garage door a more sophisticated look, and this doesn't just provide aesthetic benefits. Not only will your garage door look nicer, but your home's overall curb appeal will increase — and that can lead to a higher price whenever you go to sell your home. 

Your home's value could increase by three to five percent if you make improvements to its curb appeal. High-end garage door hardware isn't likely to account for that full increase by itself, but it can play a role in an overall sprucing up of your home's exterior. 

If you need a garage door, contact Guaranteed Door Service, Inc.