Garage doors are an extremely important part of the exterior of your house. Not only are they one of the first things that people will notice about your home, they help insulate your garage and protect your belongings. Garage doors can be widely classified into two main groups: single panel and sectional doors. Though both types of doors provide the same functions to your home, there are some noticeable differences between the two. Understanding what each type of garage doors has to offer can help you choose the one that best fits your needs.

Single Panel Garage Doors

Single panel garage doors are made out of a single flat piece of wood and metal. Because they have fewer moving parts, they tend to be less expensive than their sectional counterparts, and are much easier to install. This ease of installation makes it cheaper and quicker to have a single panel door added to your garage, and also helps cut down on repair costs in the long run. The lack of moving parts also cuts down on the amount of repairs that you will have to do on the door, saving you money in the long run.

However, single panel garage doors require the entire door to be replaced in the event of damage, which can be quite expensive. Furthermore, single panel garage doors will extend a few feet out away from the door while raising up, which can cause problems if space in your driveway is an issue.

Sectional Garage Doors

Sectional garage doors provide a safer option for your garage door than single panel garage doors, as they use torsion screws instead of the extension screws that single panel doors use. Extension screws are placed under a great deal of pressure at all times, and can be dangerous if they break free from their restraints. While caution should still be taken with torsion springs, they can support a greater amount of weight and have fewer exposed parts, making failure less likely. Furthermore, if a sectional garage door becomes damaged, only the damaged section needs to be replaced, which is much cheaper than replacing the entire door.

However, sectional garage doors are more complex to install, which can make the initial garage door installation process lengthier and more expensive. Furthermore, it should be noted that an increase in the amount of moving parts within sectional garage doors makes maintenance and repairs much more likely and necessary.

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