Garage Door Styles for Your Historic Home

Garage doors are so much more than function. They add to the overall aesthetic of your home’s exterior. And when you have a historic home, you need a garage door that’s as unique as the history of the home itself. Pulling architectural elements from your house and replicating them on garage doors will go a long way toward creating a great balance between garage and house.

Whether you have a vintage home or a new house designed with a vintage feel, you don’t want to end up with a garage with a house attached.

Here are a few things to consider:

Siding and Trim Color
If you have a garage door that’s usable, but it doesn’t match the time period or aesthetic of your home, siding and trim color are an easy way to adjust the flow from the garage to the home. Match the garage with the colors on your home or even consider staining the garage to match your solid wood entry door.

Door and Window Details
Beyond the color, the details are what make a huge difference. Focus on the arches, angles, and panels of the doors and windows on your home, and choose a door that matches. Wooden garage doors will give you a lot of variety when it comes to stain, color, trim, and even giving it a good patina to match the age of your home.

Go Vintage
For most 18th-century Victorian homes, you’ll be looking at a carriage house style garage door. Carriage houses typically feature swing-out wooden doors with a diagonal brace on the bottom half. For houses that are older or have a more rustic feel, the barn-style garage door is the way to go. These are recognized by cross-bucks on the bottom.

If you’re looking to update your current door or you want to scrap your current garage door altogether and go for a truly authentic historic look, you’re in luck because Champion Overhead Door offers a wide variety of high-quality doors to fit any design and budget needs. Get in touch with us today to talk to a professional about your options!

5 Creative Ways to Repurpose Your Used Garage Door

These days, it seems like everyone is checking off their home improvement lists and dreaming up new projects to make their living space more inspiring, productive, organized, or restful. Many of us are getting rid of the old and making space for the new, but your wallet (and the environment) will thank you for thinking of creative ways to repurpose unwanted items into something new and exciting!

If replacing your garage door is on that to-do list, don’t throw out the old one!

Used garage doors are just as good as old pieces of wood, and in some cases, they have even more potential because of their sturdy construction and simple designs. They make great blank canvases to transform into something beautiful for your home. Got a used metal garage door? No problem! Some of these projects work great for those too! All you need is a few hours, the right tools, and a bit of imagination.

Keep the home projects going with one of these ideas for repurposing your garage door panels:

Art

Solid wood garage doors have a lot of potential to make beautiful art. If the paint is old, but you enjoy the shabby chic look, seal the wood so it doesn’t continue flaking, cut to your desired size, and hang. Or you can strip the paint and hang the panels! Display on its own or use as a background behind entryway tables, to hold other pieces of art, etc…

Raised Plant Beds

Even city dwellers are finding ways to experience the relaxation of gardening. Not to mention the pride of growing your own food! Separate the panels of a metal garage door or cut down the pieces of a wood garage door to create raised beds for your backyard and you’ll gain your green thumb in no time.

Headboard

Whether you have a wooden or metal garage door, stripped down and repainted, it would make a great statement headboard above your bed. But make sure to secure it to the wall properly!

Interior Door or Window

Using garage doors as an operating interior door or window is a great way to make a big statement piece in your home AND take advantage of a nice day from the comfort of your couch. You might also consider using a portion of your garage door to recreate a sliding barn door effect on smaller doorways like bedrooms or closets.

Curio Cabinet

A curio cabinet is a type of display case made predominantly of glass with a metal or wood framework to display fun objects you love. Cut your panels and rearrange them to create these unique display cases. If your garage door doesn’t have glass windows on it, you can remove the centers and use chicken wire or add your own glass panels.

If replacing the garage door makes your to-do list, we are here to help! As a family-run business, we understand the importance of purchasing quality items that not only look great but work well too. With our focus on topline brands that are built to last, you can feel confident in whatever decision you make. To learn more about our commercial and residential garage door services, contact Champion Overhead Door today.

How To: Paint a Garage Door

Can you paint your garage door? YES! In fact, we encourage it!

Garage doors command a lot of attention when it comes to a home’s exterior. Whether it’s the material, the windows, the color, or the placement, these doors contribute to the overall curb appeal of your home. And while many homeowners will keep up with painting the exterior of their home, the garage door goes easily forgotten. But sprucing up your garage door is so simple, you could do it in one weekend! Plus, a fresh coat of paint can extend the life expectancy of your garage door.

If you’re looking to switch it up or spruce it up, here are 4 easy steps to painting your metal or wooden garage doors.

Step 1: Prepare the Door

Get your door ready for some fresh paint! Spray the entire surface of the door with an all-purpose cleaner and thoroughly clean off any dirt or dust with a cloth. Rinse the door with water and let it dry. Once it’s dry, use painter’s tape to mask any handles, windows, and trim. Putting a drop cloth down will help protect your driveway from any paint drippings.

Pro Tip: Save yourself some back pain and set the garage door so that you can manually raise and lower it as you clean and paint.

Step 2: Strip the Door

This step will probably be the most tedious depending on what shape your garage door is in, but it’s important! Use a paint scraper or wire brush to remove any existing loose paint. You can also use a chemical stripper and a sanding sponge or a circular sander. Removing old paint will give you a crisp, clean surface to work with and help the new paint job last even longer.

Step 3: Prime the Door

Choose a primer that is appropriate for the material of your garage door. Apply the primer to both the inside and outside of your garage door (think about how it will look when it’s open) using a wide paintbrush, paint roller, or paint sprayer and let the primer dry for at least 12 hours.

Pro Tip: Prime and paint your garage door under proper weather conditions. Don’t let your paint get washed away with rain, but it’s also best to avoid direct sunlight.

Step 4: Paint the Door

Once the primer is nice and dry (touch a few spots on the garage to make sure it’s not wet or sticky), choose a clean paintbrush, roller, or sprayer to get started. If using a sprayer, we recommend practicing on a piece of cardboard to avoid mistakes on the actual door. Let the paint dry and apply another coat.

Pro Tip: Semi-gloss sheens are recommended for easy maintenance. Additionally, if any paint managed to get on the glass of your garage door window, you can remove it using a razor blade.

Wherever your garage projects take you this year, from garage door color ideas to installation, we are here to help! Our focus is on topline brands so you can feel confident in any choice you make. To learn more about our commercial and residential garage door services, contact Champion Overhead Door today.

Social Blurb: When you think of curb appeal, do you ever think of garage doors? Garage doors command a lot of attention when it comes to a home’s exterior! And while many homeowners will keep up with painting the exterior of their home, the garage door goes easily forgotten. If you’ve been thinking about improving the look of your home’s exterior or freshening up your garage door, click the link in our bio to read our latest blog on best practices for giving your garage door an easy upgrade.

5 Exterior Home Design Trends for 2021

Is one of your New Year’s resolutions to improve the curb appeal of your home? Maybe you’re planning to put your house on the market and need to make a few upgrades before listing it. Or perhaps a new garage door has been on your family’s “want it” list for long enough that it’s time to finally pull the trigger and make it happen

Whatever the reason, you’ll want to make sure that any changes you make are on trend. Now that 2021 is underway, here’s a peek at five exterior design trends we’ll all be seeing a lot of in the coming months.

Natural Light

Natural light is very trendy right now, and one of the best ways to enhance the natural light inside a home is to add windows. Of course, adding windows to a house is a big project that you may not be able to take on. Easier options include removing shutters to highlight existing windows or installing a full-view glass garage door.

Back to Nature

Wooden garage doors will continue to increase in popularity as we enter 2021 and more homeowners choose this natural alternative to metal and plastic. There are many different wood options to choose from, such as timber and oak, and plenty of stains to find the perfect look for your home. The wood goes through special processing to enhance durability and practicality.

Painting Brick

Homeowners are finally coming around to the conclusion that there’s nothing wrong with painting brick. In fact, a white coat of paint can really modernize the look of a brick exterior and enhance curb appeal. If you’ve been itching to try this but haven’t had the confidence to move forward, 2021 is the year to go for it.

Mixing Brown and Black

Much like painting brick, it was once considered a design faux pas to combine black and brown. But 2021 is all about stepping outside the box. It’s even okay to mix black with navy blue if that’s more your style. If you’re going to try combining these trending exterior house colors, just be sure to choose shades that contrast well enough that it looks intentional.

Statement Garage Doors

Garage doors are such a prominent part of a home’s exterior that homeowners are deciding basic and traditional just won’t cut it. Experts are predicting that 2021 will be the year of statement garage doors. Don’t be afraid to venture outside your comfort zone when looking at garage door colors and designs. You may be surprised to find that you even prefer a bolder look.

No matter where your design tastes bring you in 2021, Champion Overhead Door is here to help you with everything from garage door color ideas to installation. We carry doors built by topline brands like C.H.I. Overhead Doors, Wayne Dalton and Amarr Garage Doors so you can feel confident that you’re getting the best in quality design. Contact Champion Overhead Door today to learn more about our commercial and residential garage door services.

Everything You Need to Know About Garage Snow Removal

There are three certainties in life: death, taxes and endless New England winters. Unfortunately, there’s not much we can do about the first two, but we do have some valuable insights on how to make it through winter with your garage door intact. Trust us, the last thing you want is to be running late to work one morning only to discover that your garage door is frozen shut

A few weeks ago, we shared our expert advice on how to winterize a garage. Today, we’re going to shift the focus to garage door winter maintenance. It’s actually pretty easy to take care of your garage door during the winter, as long as you know how to best approach ice and snow removal. Here’s what we recommend to our residential and commercial customers each winter.

Remove ice from the threshold. Have you ever found your garage door frozen shut? It’s probably because you let ice accumulate along the threshold. This is more than just an inconvenience—it can also damage the garage door. When ice forms on the threshold, the opener must work extra hard, which can lead to alignment problems or potentially even overheating of the mechanism. To prevent this from happening, be sure to clear any ice before closing your garage door.

Shovel away all snow. Along the same lines as removing ice from the threshold, you want to avoid closing your garage door if there is any snow in its path. This will trigger the automatic reverse mechanism so that the door won’t be able to close. In the event that the door does close, there’s a chance it will freeze shut, or that the debris that accumulates in the snow will damage it.

Plow with care. Whether you hire a professional for snow removal or you plow the driveway yourself, be sure to leave space in front of the garage door. Snow plows can be challenging to maneuver, so it’s important to take extra care when plowing near the garage. Each winter, garage doors are damaged by snow plows. The holidays are crazy enough without having to worry about a sudden garage door replacement!

Consider a weather-resistant garage door. Here in New England, we simply do not have the luxury of mild winters. While homeowners in milder climates can get away with just any garage door material, folks in New England often fare better with a weather-resistant option built to withstand months of snow and ice. These doors tend to last longer with fewer issues, so they are generally worth any additional upfront cost. At Champion Overhead Door, we carry products from topline brands like C.H.I. Overhead Door, Wayne Dalton and Amarr. We’re happy to go over weather-resistant garage door options with you anytime.

Hopefully by following the recommendations outlined above, you won’t experience any problems with your garage door this winter. But if you do, Champion Overhead Door is here for you. We even offer 24-hour emergency service should you find yourself in a real bind. Contact us at 802-251-0900 for general inquiries, or at 802-579-8301 for more information about our emergency service.