Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Steel or Aluminum doors which are better?
A: Steel Doors.

Steel garage doors are the most common modern garage doors of choice. They come in a variety of colors, styles and sizes. They tend to be a little more economical choice than other options of doors.

Steel doors tend to have a thinner gauge of metal; due to the strength of the material, than their aluminum counter parts. Even today’s galvanized steel doors have the ability to rust if not cared for properly.

Aluminum garage doors are a new breed of doors. Aluminum doors tend to have a thicker gauge material than a steel door due to aluminum being a softer metal. Aluminum doors tend to be a little more expensive than steel doors. They also tend to come in a few less model options.

Aluminum can not rust as does the steel type door. Although aluminum does oxidize. This is aluminum’s version of rusting. Oxidization does not discolour like rust, it tends to look like a salt stain with pitting of the aluminum sheet.

Q: Can I paint my garage door after it is installed?
A: Yes. By following a few simple steps you can successfully
A: paint you garage door.

- Remove weather seal if there is any.
- Wash door with TSP (Trisodium phosphate) available at most
- hardware/marine stores.
- Lightly scuff face of door with very fine sandpaper or steel wool.
- Clean off all dust, dirt and grease.
- Apply new paint as per paint mfg’s instructions.
- Let dry/cure completely before using door or reinstalling weather
- seal.

Q: Can I add windows to my existing garage door?
A: Yes you can.

In today's market there are a number of suppliers/manufacturers that offer a large selection of windows, designs and decorative inserts for your garage door. You would need to contact your us for the options available to you.

Note: You will need to upgrade your garage door springs to balance your door with the new its windows.

Q: What maintenance can I do on my own door?
A: There are several things you can do.

Lubrication. Buy a silicon or teflon based spray lubricant. You can also contact a garage door company and purchase a specialty formulated lubricant designed for your garage door. With these lubricants you want to spray all hinges, rollers, bearings and where the cables connect onto the bottom brackets. If you have an electric garage door opener you will require a multi purpose grease for the rail (boom). This should be done a minimum of once a year.

Test balance of your garage door. If connected to a garage door opener you must disconnect it and put into manual operation mode. Then lift door by hand. Door should hold in almost any position once released. If door does not you should contact a garage door service company to correct the problem. This should be tested at least once a year.

Testing the safeties of your garage door opener. There are two main types of safeties on a residential door. One being a force safety, where by the electric opener will only exert so much force before it will reverse to full open position and photo cells that shoot a invisible beam across the opening of the door to sense any type of obstruction in the doors path. To test the force setting you would activate the door electrically and see how much force (strength) is required to stop the door movement. If there is excessive force required go to your owners manual for adjusting instructions or call your choice of garage door service company. This is a test that should be completed monthly.

Q: Can I change my own broken door spring?
A: !!WARNING!! Unless you have a good working knowledge of garage doors and their spring systems, it is recommended that you have a professional do this. These springs hold a lot of tension and can severely hurt someone if handled incorrectly.

Q: Preventative maintenance agreement. What are they and
Q: are they worth it?
A: A P.M (Preventative Maintenance Agreement)

What is it? It is a scheduled visit to check over your door at a predetermined; by the customer, time where we would go in and give the door a check over and adjust as required to optimize the life/use of your door and or electric operator. These are popular in both the residential and commercial sectors.