Choosing Between Garage Repair and Replacement

When your current garage door at your home or business is having issues of any kind, one of the first big decisions that will be on your plate is this: Do you repair or replace the door? Some garage door repairs are simple and cheap enough to make sense from a cost efficiency standpoint, while others might be costly enough that considering a long-term replacement is the best way to go.

At Crawford Door Sales, we can help you make this decision. Our skilled, experienced technicians are always on call to service your garage, and we have a wide range of new garage door products if you determine that a replacement is the best way to go. Let’s break down garage door issues by their type and severity, and look at whether each situation generally requires repairs or a new garage door.

Cosmetic/Aesthetic Issues

The simplest and most common kind of garage door damage comes in the cosmetic world. We’re talking about things like cracks, fading panels, or chipped paint – all areas that may detract from the look of the door to some degree, but don’t impact its operation or security in any way. They’re often caused by basic age or weather.

In most of these cases, simple repairs will get the job done for a low cost. The exception here will be if your door is over 10 years old, or if it’s also had other repair issues in recent months – in this case, you should at least look into the cost and details of a replacement, as it might make more sense than continuing to repair an older model repeatedly.

Structural Damage

In other cases, the door will undergo slightly more significant damage due to severe weather or major wear-and-tear. These are usually in the form of dents or larger issues, but they may also show up as rust formation in other situations.

Most of the time, particularly if the damage is interfering with insulation or any other protective quality of the door, replacement is the way to go. Consider a warped door, for instance – it may still technically work by moving up and down, but it will cause damage on the tracks and will not insulate your space as well. Meanwhile, repairs for these kinds of larger damage areas can be pricier. This is usually a good chance to upgrade your door.

Functional Issues

Finally, certain garage door issues will actually interfere with operations. You may find a stuck door, a door that will only open sometimes, or a door that makes an intrusive amount of noise while opening and closing. In this case, the repair versus replace decision comes down to how large the problem is – it might be something simple like replacing torsion springs, but it could also be a larger issue that requires replacement.

 
For more on whether to repair or replace your garage door, or to learn about any of our garage door services, speak to the pros at Crawford Door Sales today.