How long should a garage door last?

A good quality garage door that’s been professionally installed should last at least 20 years, if not longer.

How much will it cost to have a new garage door installed?

This one is difficult for us to answer because there are so many variables! It really depends on which options you choose, and the size of your door or doors. Our team will ask you a series of questions to identify the best option for you and then provide you with an accurate quote once we have all the necessary information.

Should I add windows?

In our opinion — yes! Windows are great because they will let light into an otherwise dark garage, and they also add curb appeal to your home’s exterior.

Should I get an insulated garage door?

Insulated doors actually do much more than keep heat inside your garage. They are much better quality all around. We always recommend installing an insulated garage door because they’re multi-layered and much more sturdy.

Can’t I just buy my garage door opener from a big box store?

Please don’t. We aren’t saying this for no reason. When you buy your opener from a chain store, you’re not getting a professional grade product. Sure, it could still be from the same company that we sell, but the quality will be lower. In addition, when you buy in-store, there’s a good chance that you will also need to buy a conversion kit to install it properly. As well, in most cases, we can provide you with a better and longer warranty.

If you have a question about garage doors that weren’t covered on our list of top frequently asked questions about garage doors, please let us know! We’d love to hear from you. If you’re looking to get a quote, you can also reach us here and a member of our team will be happy to help.

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What is Amazon Key for Garage?

Amazon Key for Garage lets Amazon’s delivery person open your garage door when you’re not home and leave your packages in your garage. It works with all Amazon Prime deliveries.

Is my home safe?

Giving Amazon access to your garage may not be appealing to some homeowners at first, but Amazon Key for Garage comes with a number of safety features to ensure that your home’s safety isn’t compromised.

Amazon Key for Garage can be paired with a camera system to monitor your garage door. You can also sign up to receive notifications when a package has been delivered, and you can monitor and control your deliveries every step of the way with an app on your smartphone.

If you allocate a particular area in your garage where you’d like the packages to be placed and your delivery person will place the package appropriately. The delivery person will also have been instructed not to put packages in the path of car traffic, so you won’t have to worry about driving over your deliveries when you get home.

Which garage door openers does Amazon Key for Garage pair with?

Amazon Key for Garage works with most garage door openers. It works best with Chamberlain or LiftMaster MyQ garage door openers, as they already have built-in WiFi capabilities. However, there are also different brands of hubs available for purchase that can pair with your existing garage door opener.

When can I purchase Amazon Key for Garage?

Amazon Key for Garage can be purchased on the Amazon website and easily pairs with our Liftmaster or Chamberlain operators. It will be available this year.

Contact us to find out if it is available and to purchase Amazon Key for Garage so that you have peace of mind when you’re away from home.

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But the way your home looks to passersby can also increase your home’s overall value, and one of the easiest ways to boost your curb appeal is by replacing your garage doors.

In fact, replacing your garage doors can get you an average return on investment (ROI) of 98.3%. If you’re looking to replace your garage doors this year, here are a few things to consider to maximize your ROI:

1. Upgrade your garage door’s appearance & functionality

Replacing your garage doors provides a great opportunity to add some style and character to your home. Instead of replacing your old garage door with a similar one, consider a different colour or a different style that works well with your home.

Of course, replacing your garage doors is about functionality as well, and new doors will come with new springs, cables, weather stripping, hinges and rollers for smooth operation. Consider garage doors that are made of high-quality materials that will last.

3. Consider faux wood

Depending on the age of your home and when your garage doors were last replaced, you may have wood garage doors. If you’re replacing them, consider faux wood instead. Faux wood doors require less upkeep and maintenance. Wood doors have zero R value (an indication of their energy efficiency), whereas faux wood doors with insulation can provide up to 20% more energy efficiency, giving you savings on your utility bills.

4. Consider modern styles

Garage door manufacturing has come a long way in the past few years, with exciting developments in styles that can make your home more attractive to potential buyers. Garage doors now come in contemporary styles, like mid-century modern, which can really enhance your home’s other exterior features.

Glass garage doors are also becoming a popular choice as people look to extend their living spaces. If you use your garage as an extra living space, like a home office or a rec room, a glass door can give you more natural light.

5. Create a contrast

Years ago, garage door trends tended to play it safe, and many homeowners opted for garage doors that matched the brick or siding on their home. Instead, consider creating a contrast between your garage doors and other exterior elements. Contrasting colours and elements can help add more warmth to your home’s exterior and turn your beautiful new garage door into a focal point.

6. Restore your home’s original charm

If you have an old home, it’s likely that the exterior has been renovated, painted and added to over the years. Installing new garage doors will allow you to replace old garage doors that may not work with your home’s style and overall appearance and restore your home back to its original charm.

At Wm. Haws Overhead Garage Doors, we’re committed to providing you with high-quality residential garage doors that will help your home put its best face forward! Contact or visit us to request a consultation for your new garage doors.

The post How To Improve Your Home’s Curb Appeal With Garage Doors appeared first on WM Haws Overhead Doors.

That’s why having the right equipment and proper defence against the elements is important for our homes. For your garage, we recommend insulated garage doors.

What is an Insulated Garage Door?

If you think a standard garage door is going to keep your garage insulated during the summer and winter, think again. While most garage door installation involves weather stripping and other protections against the elements, insulated garage doors have added insulation to regulate the temperature inside your garage. This insulation is most often made of polystyrene or polyurethane. While it won’t be quite the same temperature as the rest of your home, it makes using your garage much more pleasant during the summer and winter months.

Insulated garage doors have several benefits that make them a great choice.

Reasonable Temperatures

During the summer, our garages can really heat up, and in the winter, they can be freezing cold. In fact, garages with non-insulated doors can be up to 10 degrees warmer or cooler than it is outside. This makes it difficult to use your garage for hobbies like woodworking, gardening or tinkering with your car. If you keep your car in your garage over the winter, this difference in temperatures could affect whether or not you can start your car in the morning.

Lower Energy Costs

In addition to making your garage more comfortable throughout the year, insulated garage doors can also help to lower your energy costs. This is especially true if your garage is located underneath a living space, like a bedroom or an office. The hot or cold air from your garage rises through to the living spaces above, causing your home comfort systems to have to work harder to keep the spaces comfortable. When the temperature in your garage is regulated, it affects the rest of your home much less.

Quiet Operation

If your garage is attached to your home, you know they can be quite noisy when opened or closed. This is especially true if your garage door is on a mechanized opener system. However, insulation on your garage door not only affects the temperature in your garage, it can also insulate the sound. Insulated garage doors tend not to rattle as much as non-insulated varieties, so you won’t have to worry about waking up the whole house when you leave for work early in the morning.

Strength and Durability

Because insulated garage doors have three layers as opposed to one, whether it’s polyurethane or polypropylene, this makes them stronger and gives them more integrity than non-insulated doors. If you have kids, this is great because it will be better protected from denting which can be caused by something as harmless as a basketball. Your garage door can take a lot of abuse, having insulation could help to protect it.

Stylish Options

We have over 30 years of experience installing garage doors, and over that time we’ve learned that no two houses – or two homeowners – are the same. We know how important it is to have options to fit the style of your home, and that’s one of the reasons to choose insulated garage doors. We get our insulated doors from Clopay, and they’re available in steel, wood and aluminum. In addition to having several styles available to you, we also carry 10 standard and four upgraded colour options to choose from.

At Haws Overhead Doors in Guelph, we carry a wide range of garage doors to fit the needs of your home and your family. Learn more about residential overhead doors from Haws!

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Like anything mechanical, sometimes garage doors stop working the way they should. If your garage door isn’t closing completely, here are a couple of reasons that could be happening.

1) Misaligned Photo Eyes

At the bottom of your garage door track, there is a safety feature called the photo eye. These eyes, which are actually lasers, can become damaged and result in your garage door not closing. To fix this, we often talk our clients through the process over the phone. If they’re unable to fix it themselves, we’ll send a technician to get your garage door up and running again.

2) Broken Springs, Hinges & Rollers

Every garage door has springs that allow the door to open and close. These springs work on cycles, so that if you have 10,000 cycle springs, they’re likely to break around the 10,000th cycle. Broken springs are a common reason for garage doors not working properly, and if they break, they need to be replaced by a technician. The same thing can happen with the hinges or rollers.

3) Broken Cables

In Ontario, especially over the winter, we use a lot of salt. Our cold, snowy and icy winters mean we’re often spreading salt on our driveways and walkways to make them safer for driving and walking. Salt can spread easily, and when it does, it can cause a lot of damage. Most often, garage door cables that break do so because salt has eaten away at them.

3) Garage Door Opener Gear Kit

If you have a garage door opener, sometimes the gear kit needs to be replaced. If your garage door opener has started to malfunction, this is often the case. In this situation, the nylon gear just needs to be replaced – not the entire mechanism.

4) Light Bulbs

Did you know that a newly replaced light bulb in your home can affect the frequency of your garage door opener? If you’ve recently replaced a light bulb, consider replacing it with an LED bulb to make sure your garage door opener doesn’t malfunction. We do not recommend putting the compact florescent light (CFL) bulbs in your opener because as they age they have been known to send out a signal that can jam your opener frequency.

My Garage Door is Broken – Now What?

If you’ve identified that your garage door has a problem, the good news is that it’s relatively inexpensive to repair for parts and labour. At Wm. Haws Overhead Garage Doors, we strive for same-day service so you don’t have to suffer the inconvenience of a broken garage door any longer than necessary.

Our trained professionals carry everything they need with them in their trucks, making them able to provide service and repair the same day. When we perform a service call, your technician will also perform preventative maintenance and inspect your garage door for any other issues.

Our technicians are available to provide exceptional service to the Guelph, Elora, Fergus, and Cambridge communities. Have questions, or want to schedule a service appointment? Contact us today!

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