Steel panel garage doors are a better insulator than wood paneled doors, but, modern wood garage doors are now available with an insulated core. A well-insulated door helps to keep your garage both cooler in the summer, and warmer in the cold of winter. That’s why choosing the right garage door materials is an important energy-saving choice to make; depending on the climate conditions that are involved. Both wood and steel have their own unique vulnerabilities. But, wood attracts ants, termites, and is easily vulnerable to rot in wet weather, while steel is mostly only vulnerable to rusting when in constantly wet conditions. Wood needs a lot of scheduled maintenance and repair compared to steel, in order to keep away damaging pests, mold, and rot. Steel, on the other hand, needs mostly only yearly scheduled maintenance. This makes steel a more popular garage door choice for people who are looking for a long-term value, with very little ongoing maintenance and repair costs involved.
Wood:
The natural beauty and timeless look of wood make choosing this material very tempting. Wood is normally much more expensive than steel. Wood is also known to increase a property’s value as well though. Wood can also be customized like steel can, maybe even a little more than steel can; allowing for wood smith carvings and imprints that factory steel patterns just can’t match in detail or quality.
Steel:
Steel garage doors can handle most all Earthly elements better than wood. Steel doesn’t crack and expands as much as wood does in cold snaps or heat waves. Steel is not as susceptible to humidity and wet weather as wood is either. As long as scratches are painted over in time, rust is usually not an issue with commercially painted or finish treated steel panels.
There are always pros and cons to every choice. Here is a short list of both the best and worst attributes of both steel and wood.
Steel Pros:
Steel is Cheaper than Wood – Wood is an expensive material to use, no matter what you’re making out of it; garage doors are no exceptions. Steel is versatile and comes in several different standard color choices and patterns. Steel can easily match most property outside ambiances, making the design process smoother and budget requirements less expensive.
Steel Has Longer Warranties – Because steel does have less potential problems involved in its general upkeep, it come with longer warranty coverage than most wood garage doors. A common wood garage door warranty would be anywhere from a couple of years maximum; whereas steel garage door warranties commonly run at least 10 to 20-years after installation.
Steel Cons:
Steel Dents and Scratches – For homeowners with high-impact risk areas, such as basketball hoops above the garage door, busy woodshops, and frequent auto repair going on in their garage, it would be wise for them to choose thicker gauged steel that is going to be appropriate for the garages intended use. As a rule, the lower the number on the gauge of steel that is used, the thicker and tougher the steel actually is. Example: 24 gauge steel is thicker than 28 gauge steel.
Wood Pros:
Natural, Beautiful, and Always in Style – Whether used in an older house that needs a like themed ambiance, or in a modern contemporary house which needs a natural offset that a wood garage door can provide, wood will always be in style. Wood garage doors continue to be timeless in their popularity.
Wood Equals Equity – As we have stated above, a well-maintained wood garage door can add to the value of a property. They’re not only stylish and useful necessities in everyday home life, wood garage doors are also a valuable investment. Wood has the type of classic charm that steel can’t totally mimic.
Wood Cons:
The High Price – One of the biggest turn-offs about wood that most consumers have is the very high cost of wood garage doors. Some lower cost product versions are light-weight wooden framed doors with panels filled with a foam insulation core, which is wrapped in a plywood form or what is called a hardboard skin. These will be the least expensive wood door models on the marketplace. Mahogany, redwood, or cedar on a heavy wood frame will cost much much more.
No matter what materials you decide on for your new garage door, choose the right installation company to do the work. New York Gates is New York City’s top professionals in the industry. Call them today at (718) 614 – 0616.
