Category: Blog

Are you looking to install a new garage door? You have so many design options to choose from, between different materials, colors, and garage door styles. So, you should first decide what kind of aesthetic you want from your garage and the front of your home in general.

Look at the other houses on your street to see the kind of garage door designs that they have. Then, one important question to ask is whether you want to blend in with a similar design or stand out with something different. In this article, we’ll look at some of the advantages of each of these options to help you choose the right garage door for your home.

The pros and cons of a stand-out garage door

Some streets are very uniform, with each house looking almost identical to its neighbors. But not everyone wants to blend in, in which case you will probably be happier with a garage door that stands out from the rest and suits your personal tastes when it comes to style and aesthetics. Installing a stand-out garage door can also improve your home’s curb appeal, which can help it attract more attention when you’re trying to sell.

Having a garage door that stands out from your neighbors can also have its downsides when it comes to selling your home. An expensive garage door upgrade might increase the sale cost of your home. This can be a good thing, meaning that you’ll benefit from a higher resale value. However, it can also make your home harder to sell.

If your house is significantly more expensive than the ones around it due to home improvements and additions that you’ve made, then this might put people off buying it. They may be more likely to opt for a cheaper house on the same street or worry that there is very little earning potential on a more expensive house.

How to make your garage door stand out

Here are a few simple ways to make your garage door stand out:

• Colour – Instead of the neutral colors you usually see, opt for something bolder such as a bright color or a striking black door
• Style – Choose a style of garage door that’s different from the norm, such as a barn-style garage door for a rustic aesthetic
• Material – Steel and aluminum are the most popular garage door materials. You could choose wood, which is slightly less common, or something really different such as a glass garage door

If you want to install a new garage door that helps your home stand out from the rest of the crowd, then contact Carolina Garage Door for garage door design and installation around Winston Salem, Greensboro, Kernersville, and High Point.

Bugs, rodents, and other pests might make their way into your garage to seek shelter or find sources of food and water. This can be annoying, frightening for some, and can even cause damage to your garage and the items stored in it. Rats could chew through electrical cables or bite holes in cardboard boxes, moths could eat away at fabrics stored in your garage, while birds could start to nest in the walls or roof of your garage.

If you want to keep pests such as these out of your garage, then read on for some tips…

Consider installing a screen

If you spend time in the garage working on your car or any other hobbies, then you may often be in there with the garage door open, letting in any bugs that are flying around. You can use a garage door screen to keep these bugs out while still letting fresh air into your garage.

Keep food out of the garage

Rats and other pests may be attracted to your garage because they can smell food or garbage. If you store any food in your garage, then make sure it is kept in sealed, airtight containers to remove this temptation. Don’t leave garbage bags in your garage for mice and rats to chew through. Also, sweep your garage floor regularly to clean up any crumbs and other debris that might be edible to pests.

Keep your garage dry and clean

Some pests will be attracted to the damp and humid environment that many garages provide. Try to properly ventilate your garage and clean up any pooled water and other spills to help to avoid excess humidity. The less clutter you have in your garage, the better, as this can provide more places for pests to safely nest in. If you do get pests in your garage, then cleaning it regularly will help to eliminate any nests or eggs that could lead to bigger pest infestations.

Seal up gaps and cracks

Pests are likely to enter through small gaps or cracks in the walls, foundation, and roof, or gaps between your garage door and the surrounding structure. Check your garage and the door for any obvious entry points such as these. If you find any cracks, then you should get these sealed up. Make sure the weather-stripping around your garage door is properly fitted and not damaged in any way.

Could routine maintenance or an upgrade to your garage door help you keep pests out? Contact Carolina Garage Door for a garage door tune-up, repairs, or installation around Winston Salem, Greensboro, Kernersville, and High Point, NC.

One of the main purposes or a residential garage is to park your car, but not everyone uses their garage for this purpose. In this article, we’ll look at some of the reasons to park in your garage and some reasons why you might not.

Why you should park in your garage?

The main benefit of parking your car in your garage is security. Parked on the street, it is much easier for someone to damage your car, break into it, or even steal it. When parked in your garage, assuming you lock your garage door, there is an extra layer of security to get through before they can reach your car. Plus, it’s out of sight, so it’s much less likely that an opportunist will walk past and decide to break into your car.

This advantage actually has a follow-on benefit – because your car is more secure inside your garage, your insurance premiums are likely to be lower as a result. Insurance companies know that a claim is more likely when a car is parked on the street, so this is reflected in the amount you pay.

Parked inside your garage, your car is also better protected from adverse weather conditions. This means your paintwork is likely to stay in better condition and less maintenance may be required. The benefits are especially seen during storms, where damage can be down by debris being blown by the wind, for example.

Reasons not to park your car in your garage

The main reason people don’t park their car in their garage is that they don’t have enough space in the garage. Even if your garage is large enough for your car, you might choose to park it outside so that you have more storage space in your garage. This will allow you to store large items such as your lawnmower and other tools, along with any clutter you don’t have space for in the house.

Similarly, some people use their garage for a workshop where they can tinker or work on hobbies. Depending on the size of your garage, you may not have enough space to do this if you park a car in there. People may be more likely to take the risk and park on the street or in their drive if they live in a reasonably safe neighborhood.

So, parking your car in your garage is the safer and more sensible option, but not everyone has the space to do this. If you want to upgrade your garage and garage door to make sure your car is safely parked, then contact Carolina Garage Door to find out how we can help.

If you want to expand your home but don’t have any space or land to build on, then the space above your garage could be a great option. Read on for a quick guide on deciding whether this is the right choice for your home and how to go about it.

The pros and cons of building above your garage

The biggest advantage of building above a garage is that you don’t need any additional land to build on. This means that you can make an extension without increasing your home’s footprint, which can open up opportunities for homeowners who are limited on space.

Typically, building over a garage is also cheaper than expanding your home’s footprint, too, because the foundations are already there to build on. An extra room above your garage can have a big impact on curb appeal, which is a big bonus if you plan on selling your home.

There are some downsides, however. A home’s garage is usually unheated, which can have an impact on any rooms that share a wall or ceiling with it. This could make the space above the garage more difficult to heat. You should properly insulate the ceiling between the garage and the extension to help combat this. Insulating the walls and garage door at the same time can help to improve the energy efficiency of your garage and home.

Garages can also be noisy when the door opens and closes and if someone spends time in the garage working on their car or DIY projects. So, this might not be the best place for a bedroom depending on the daily routine of the people using it. For example, if one person gets up much earlier than the other for work, the sound of the garage door opening and the car starting beneath them is likely to disturb their sleep.

Can you build above your garage?

Once you’ve decided this is the right move for your home, you’ll have to confirm that it is possible before going ahead with the planning and construction. You should hire a contractor to check the structure and foundations of your garage to ensure that they are structurally sound enough to build on. If it isn’t fit for building on, then some additional construction may bring it up to scratch, but this will mean additional costs.

If you are interested in building above your garage, the best thing to do is contact a contractor to discuss the process with them and verify the structural integrity of your garage. Garage extensions are a great excuse to upgrade your garage door, so contact Carolina Garage Door for our support with this process in Winston Salem, Greensboro, Kernersville, and High Point, NC.

A lot of people are now more conscious about following eco-friendly and sustainable practices in their everyday lives – simple changes like reusing and recycling more often. But what about in your business? Adopting sustainable business practices helps to identify you as a socially responsible business, which is great for your reputation as more people are likely to want to buy from you, and job candidates will want to work for you.

If sustainability is something you want to work toward in your business, then read on for some tips on how to achieve this.

Switch to recycled packaging

If you sell products, then your packaging can produce a lot of waste. A lot of products are sold in plastic packaging, which is usually either thrown away or, ideally, recycled properly. Your business can reduce this waste by using recycled materials in your packaging and reducing plastic use wherever possible. Recycled plastic or paper packaging makes for a more eco-friendly choice.

Embrace remote working

Remote working is becoming a more and more popular trend. This is partly to do with the flexibility it affords workers, allowing them to fit their workday around obligations like childcare. However, it offers an additional benefit of reducing carbon emissions, since fewer people will be driving to work each day.

Reduce office waste

The materials that you and your employees use each day can add up to a lot of waste, especially in larger businesses. Be conscious about what you are using and how much. For example, relying primarily on digital communications and documents can reduce your paper waste. If your office has a water cooler, then opt for paper cups rather than plastic ones. Even better, encourage all your employees to use refillable water bottles.

Lower energy costs

Heating and cooling your business premises can also account for a lot of a company’s waste when there are inefficiencies. Properly ventilating your offices can help to keep cooling costs down in hot weather, while insulating can help all year round. Windows and garage doors, in particular, can lose a lot of heat in the winter and let more warm air in during the summer. Installing double-glazed windows and properly insulating your commercial garage doors makes it easier to heat and cool your premises, meaning that you can use less energy.

If you need new or upgraded commercial garage doors for your North Carolina business, then contact Carolina Garage Door for our services around Winston Salem, Greensboro, Kernersville, and High Point.

Garages are typically less insulated and more exposed to the outdoors than the rest of your house. This can make it much more difficult to control the temperature inside your garage. They have a tendency to be extremely cold in the winter and hot and stuffy in the summer. This article will give you some tips on heating and cooling your garage all year round.

Do you need an HVAC system?

You can maintain a comfortable temperature in your garage whatever the weather with an HVAC system installed in there. But this can have high running costs, along with the initial cost of installation. So, it’s important to consider whether you really need an HVAC system or not, since you don’t want to end up wasting money.

The main thing you should consider is how much time you or your family members spend in the garage. If you’re only in there briefly when getting into and out of your car a few times a day, then the temperature isn’t too important. However, if you spend time on hobbies or projects in your garage, then you’ll want it to remain temperate.

Another consideration is whether you have a detached or an attached garage. An attached garage can affect the temperature inside your home, making it more difficult and expensive to maintain the right temperature. So, heating your garage in winter, for example, can help to keep your home warm, too.

Heating and cooling without an HVAC system

Installing an HVAC system in your garage will allow you to maintain your preferred temperature, but what if you decide not to invest in HVAC? Or maybe you have one but want to find out ways to spend less money on your heating and cooling. Here are some tips to help maintain a comfortable garage temperature without HVAC…

• Insulation – An insulated garage door can lower heating and cooling costs by keeping the cold air out and the warm air in, and vice versa in the summer. Insulating the walls of your garage adds to this, making it easier to control the internal temperature.
• Ventilation – One of the reasons garages get so hot and humid in warm weather is because they are not properly ventilated. Many garages don’t have windows and the door is closed most of the time. Adding windows to your garage door or ventilating it using fans and vents can help to keep you cool.
• Eliminate draughts – Cracks and gaps in the walls or around your garage door will let draughts in from outside. While this may provide a welcome breeze in the summer, it will also make your garage much colder in the winter. Filling in any gaps and adding weatherstripping around your door will help to eliminate these draughts.

Do you need a new garage door or any upgrades to help maintain a comfortable temperature inside your garage? If so, then contact Carolina Garage Door for our repair, maintenance, and installation services around Winston Salem, Greensboro, Kernersville, High Point.

One of the best things about owning your own home is being able to design and redesign it however you like. Think about garage doors; you no longer need to put up with the standard garage door that every other house on your street has. You can design a custom door that suits your home, style, and the needs of you and your family.

Whether you want a different style, a different color, a different size, or a different type of door, Carolina Garage Door can help you design the custom garage door that’s right for you.

The benefits of a custom garage door

If you have a garage that’s slightly different to the standard size and shape, then choosing a custom garage door ensures that you still get a door that fits your garage perfectly. Maybe you’re building a new garage and want it to be wider than a standard garage in order to fit your car comfortably. A custom garage door is the perfect companion to this.

You might also be looking for a specific aesthetic for your garage and the front of your home. In this case, being able to choose every aspect of your new garage door helps to make sure you’re not disappointed by the end result. Whether you’re going for a rustic farmhouse look or a more modern aesthetic, you can choose the style, material, and colors that suit your idea.

Try our online garage door visualizer program

If you’re starting to design your custom garage door or are having difficulty imagining how it will look, then try out our online garage door visualizer program to help you. This takes you through step-by-step to test out different styles, sizes, colors, and materials. Just start off by entering the size or dimensions of your garage door to see a range of styles you can choose from.

Go through a number of options in order to see the end result, helping you imagine how it would look and to see whether you like the style. You can even upload a photo of the front of your home and garage to literally visualize your custom design on your home. Alternatively, you can choose one of our sample homes to view your design on.

If a custom garage door is next on your home renovation list, then contact Carolina Garage Door today for our design and installation services across Winston Salem, Greensboro, Kernersville, and High Point.

When you’re in a rush to get to work on time or hurrying to get back inside the house when you’re caught in the rain, it can feel like your garage door takes an age to open and close. This might not just be down to impatience, though. Not all garage doors open and close at the same rate, and a slow opening door could indicate a problem with your garage door or its opener.

What determines the speed of your garage door?

Your garage door opener is the main cause of the speed at which your garage door opens. The size of your garage door opener’s motor and the amount of horsepower it has plays a part in how quickly or slowly your door opens. On average, a residential garage door opens at a rate of approximately 7 inches per second.

There are high-speed garage door openers that allow your garage door to open more quickly, but these are typically only used for commercial garages in order to improve productivity and save time. These are much more expensive to account for the extra power.

Your residential garage door opener is likely to have more than one speed setting, though. By default, this is typically set to the lowest speed setting when you purchase and install it. Look for a speed setting switch on the side of your opener and set it to a higher speed if you feel that your garage door is opening too slowly.

Another determiner of speed is whether you have a DC or AC motor. Garage doors operated by AC motors tend to open at a constant speed whereas DC motors may cause your garage door to move slowly at the beginning and end of its opening cycle, while speeding up slightly in the middle.

Why is my garage door opening slowly?

If your garage door starts to open and/or close more slowly than usual, then there could be a problem with one or more of the parts involved in the opening and closing mechanism. This may simply be down to the age of your door and the regular wear and tear that comes with everyday use.

Try applying a lubricant to the moving parts of your garage door to help it run more smoothly. You should do this on a regular basis to help prevent excessive wear and tear to these moving parts. If this doesn’t increase the opening speed, then it’s a good idea to call a professional technician to perform a garage door tune-up. They’ll be able to identify if any problems are causing the door to slow down.

If a maintenance issue is not causing your garage door to open slowly, then you might need to invest in a new, more powerful garage door opener to help improve your door’s opening speed.

If you need maintenance or repair for your garage door or its opener, then contact Carolina Garage Door for our support.

There are lots of different measures you can take to secure your garage door, from expensive locks to security cameras. But could your garage door opener also be contributing to or detracting from your garage’s security? In this article, we’ll look at some of the different security factors to consider when choosing a garage door opener.

Modern garage door openers

Technology has come a long way over the last few decades. As well as new technology like smart features for your garage door, garage doors have also become more secure over the years. So, if you have an old garage door or opener, then it might be time for an upgrade for the sake of security. Maybe the garage door was there when you moved into your house and it was working fine, so you left it. Installing a new garage door opener and door could be an easy way to boost your home security.

Manual vs. electric garage door openers

The more sophisticated technology of electric garage door openers is definitely more convenient, but is it secure? Although it’s unlikely, an electric garage door can be hacked if someone has the knowhow, allowing them to open your garage door without a remote control. Again, more modern garage doors tend to be less prone to this kind of attack. If you’re buying a new electric garage door opener, then look for ones that use rolling code technology as this makes them less vulnerable to hacking.

If you ever experience a power cut at home, it is possible to manually open your electric garage door. The downside to this is that thieves can also do this. If you’re confident you won’t need this manual override method yourself, then there are ways to secure your garage door opener from intruders using this method.

Smart garage door openers

Do smart garage door openers provide greater security? They certainly have some useful features, like being able to lock and monitor your garage door from wherever you are by using your smartphone. You can even access activity logs to track when your garage door was opened and closed. These features can alert you to any potential intruders while also allowing you to lock your garage door remotely if you forgot to do so when leaving the house, for example.

If you’re looking to upgrade your garage door opener or purchase a new garage door, then contact Carolina Garage Door for our advice or for garage door maintenance and installation around Winston Salem, Greensboro, Kernersville, and High Point.

A lot of consideration goes into buying a new home, as it should do. After all, this is perhaps the biggest purchase you’ll make in your life. House hunters view every room, imagining what it would be like to live there and making sure that everything meets their standards. But the same amount of attention is not usually given to the garage.

Is having a garage a priority for you? Don’t just inspect and ask questions about the house, look around the garage and consider whether it meets your needs.

How important is the garage?

The first thing to decide is how much of a priority the garage is to you. Is it a must-have for your new home or would you be willing to sacrifice it for an otherwise perfect house? If the garage is a must-have, then consider what you’ll be using it for and what you require of it. Does it need to be a certain size? If you plan on parking a car in your new garage, then make sure it will be big enough for this purpose.

Detached or attached

Is it important to you whether your garage is attached to your house or detached? There are pros and cons to each, so think about what you’ll be using your garage for and how often you’ll use it to decide which is better for you and how important this is. If you want to use your garage as a workshop or a kids’ playroom, for example, then it would be more convenient if you can access the garage directly from your home.

Do you need the extra storage?

When looking around the interior of the house, pay attention to how many closets there are and how much storage space there is, in general. Is there an attic, basement, or spare room where you could store a lot of extra belongings? This could help you determine how much storage space you would need inside your garage.

Is there space to build or extend a garage?

Take a look at the space available at each property you look around. If you’ve found a property you like but it doesn’t have a garage, is there enough room for you to build one. Also, consider whether or not this would be within your budget. Or, if you’ve found a house you like but the garage is on the small side, is there enough space to extend it or add a second garage?

It’s important to consider every factor carefully when deciding which house to buy, as this is a long-term investment. If you need help when planning an extension or a new garage, and the new garage door to go with it, then contact Carolina Garage Door.