In the garage door industry, gauge is a type of measurement to determine the thickness of the garage door metal sheet. The gauge number contribute to asses the door weight, spring type, etc. The smaller the gauge number – the thicker the garage door metal sheet. For example, a 25 gauge garage door is not going to be as thick as a 24 gauge garage door panel. A 25 gauge garage door is usually the most inexpensive door you can buy and you will usually find them where you have track homes and one single builder who builds a mass amount of homes at one time. They most likely will use 25 gauge garage doors just because it is cheaper when they are building a hundred homes and saving $20 to $30 per door or sometimes more when you multiply that times 200 homes per year its a pretty good amount of savings.
installing a 25 gauge garage door
When I install 25 gauge garage doors I notice that when I have cut away all the packaging and I am stacking my door panels the 25 gauge panels tend to bow or bend before the hardware and track is installed unlike the 24 gauge garage doors which do not share the same problem. 24 gauge garage door are also a bit more resistant to minor dents like hail damage and even kids playing basketball in your driveway and hitting the door with the basketball. They are also a bit more resilient if you have a garage door malfunction and your door ends up crooked than when it is fixed they tend to not have as much tweaking to the panel from twisting in an abnormal way like the 25 gauge garage door. Some garage door manufacturers even use a 27 gauge steel construction on their door panels but they are usually interrelated in three layer construction so it is not as weak as it would be if it did not have a three layer construction. On a 25 gauge door panel it is pretty easy to put a dent in it just by firmly pressing on the door panel from the outside to where the 24 gauge garage door will not easily dent just by pushing on it with your hand. So when you are getting an estimate from a garage door company on replacing your old garage door have them give you an estimate for both 24 and 25 gauge steel door panels and if you don’t mind paying a few extra bucks for the difference you should definitely install a 24 gauge steel garage door just because of the rigidity of the panels and also I think they come with a better warranty.
If you have any questions about whether your garage door is a 24 or 25 gauge steel panel door then most of the time the model number is printed on the ends of the door panel so if you know who the manufacturer is you can call them and give them the model number of the garage door panels, they can tell you whether it is a 24 or a 25 gauge garage door.
Q: What garage door brand is better, CHI, Windsor, Clopay or Amarr?
A: Ok lets start with Windsor garage doors or officially known as Windsor Republic garage doors. Windsor garage door manufacturing plant is located in Little Rock Arkansas they have been engineering and manufacturing garage doors in the United States for about 50 years so they have been around for a relatively long amount Of time as far as garage door manufacturers go. Windsor Republic manufactures a limited range of residential and commercial garage doors. They do not manufacture a wide range of custom garage doors like carriage house style garage doors made of wood but they do make a mock looking carriage house door out of metal like most garage door manufacturers. I have installed Windsor garage doors for my customers in the past and never have seem to have any major problems with them or any return warranty work they are pretty much as good as any other garage door manufacturer in the United States that I have found. As long as you use a decent hardware package for these garage doors you should not have any major problems with them what I mean is having the hinges of decent quality and rollers with at least 20,000 cycles and everything else like the track system should be the same as any other garage doors they are well built and Copper Bowl to most other manufacturers and also they are very affordable when a customer wants to just replace a garage door with the most inexpensive as possible door they can get then I would usually always go to a Windsor Republic door because of their affordability.
C.H.I. garage door brand
Now C.H.I. garage door brand is a little bit more expansive in their product line they manufacture more custom style doors then Mid America and Windsor Republic brand garage doors. They definitely keep up with modern trends for designs of their garage door line. A manufacturer a more wide array of styles and construction then the other two garage door companies that we are talking about and they are of course a little bit more expensive than Mid America and Windsor Republic garage door brands. In the past I would not use a C.H. I. door for one of my customers unless they specifically requested a C.H.I. brand Garage door because of the affordability.
All in all C.H.I. brand garage door would have to be the more desired brand to go with as long as price was not an issue.
Amarr brand garage doors are a little different from the rest. I am kind a partial to Amarr garage doors because I used to install them for Costco years ago. And in the years after installing Amarr garage doors for Costco I have found that I like him better than the other manufacturers. The reasons are first of all the engineer their own hinges and door hardware which I think works better than the conventional hinges and door hardware because the way they have engineered their hardware the door seems to open a lot smoother and easier than the conventional hinges you would find on your average garage door. The other thing that I like about Amarr garage doors is that they have a very expansive catalog of doors to choose from everything you could want from just your average everyday basic garage door 2 a total custom carriage house style garage door and they also have designer doors that are designed by top door and window manufacturers like Bob Timberlake, Biltmore and Silverlox. They also have Amarr by design which you can customize any garage door that you may desire to fit the style of your particular home.
Their Coastal line of garage doors are made of resilient vinyl and they will keep out all of the harmful elements for people who live in coastal regions and encounter a lot of salt air. These doors will ensure that your garage door panels do not just rust into oblivion after 4 or 5 years. Most garage door manufacturers will only design a three layer construction garage door or commonly known as a steel back in 2 inch thickness which has steel in front foam insulation in the middle and a steel backing instead of a vinyl or foam backing. Amarr produces a three layer construction door that is 1 ⅜ inches thick instead of the 2 inch thick steel back door which cost a little bit less and gives you pretty good insulation on your garage door opening. It has an R-Value of 6.64 and the 2 inch thick door has a R-Value of 9.05. All in all I would have to declare a more the better line of garage doors to choose from just because of their versatility but they will definitely cost a bit more than other manufacturers especially the custom doors. But if you have a particular need for a certain kind of garage doors like a vinyl constructed door for coastal regions or some other special scenario that you maybe live in a high wind area they are always the go to company because they pretty much cover every aspect of garage door manufacturing. If you look for them online and check out their online catalog you will absolutely know what I am talking about.