New Garage Doors in Victoria

The cost of a new garage door in Victoria depends mainly on its size, construction, insulation and options, and Tedford confirms the exact price in a free, upfront quote with no hidden costs.

Tedford doesn't publish price ranges, because two doors that look alike can be priced very differently: a single non-insulated steel door costs far less than an insulated double with windows and a woodgrain finish. The quote lists the door, hardware and installation, so you can compare it line by line with any other quote. To book your free estimate, call (778) 401-5134 or book online; right now there is also $100 off a new residential door with install.

Door size, construction, insulation, style, windows, finish and any track or opener changes are the main things that move the price of a new garage door.

A double door uses roughly twice the material of a single, and a three-layer steel door with a foamed-in polyurethane core costs more than a single steel skin. Carriage-house overlays, woodgrain finishes, real wood and glass sections all add to the base door, and a low ceiling may call for a low-headroom track kit. At the estimate, Tedford measures the opening, checks headroom and framing, and prices good, better and best options side by side so you can see what each upgrade adds before you decide.

A well-maintained steel sectional garage door commonly lasts 20 to 30 years, although springs, rollers, cables and openers wear out and are replaced along the way.

The sections themselves are what decide when a door is finished. Signs it's time include several dented or cracked sections, panels the manufacturer no longer makes, steel rusted through along the bottom, wood that has started to rot after years of coastal rain, or an old one-piece tilt-up door. Doors close to salt water and doors that cycle many times a day tend to age faster. Tedford does both repairs and installations, so you can ask for a price on each and compare them before deciding.

A new garage door can pay off before selling a house when the old one is dented, faded, rusting or noisy, since buyers often see it first from the street.

On many Victoria homes the garage door takes up a big share of the front of the house, so a tired door drags down listing photos and first impressions, and a buyer's home inspector will note a door that doesn't reverse properly or a worn opener. If the door is sound and only needs a spring, rollers or a new bottom seal, a repair may be enough. Tedford can price both a repair and a new door so you can weigh the cost against your timeline; mention your listing date when you book the estimate.

For most Greater Victoria homes, insulated steel is the practical all-rounder, while aluminum, faux-wood composite and real wood each suit particular styles, budgets and exposures.

Clopay's steel doors have a layered rust-prevention coating, but touch up chips promptly on waterfront lots in places like Cordova Bay or Sidney, where salt air is constant. Aluminum and glass doors such as Clopay's Avante don't rust, though aluminum dents more easily than steel. Real wood looks beautiful but needs regular staining or painting to cope with months of rain, while Canyon Ridge composite overlays give a wood look that won't rot, warp or crack. Tedford can compare materials across Clopay and four other manufacturers at the estimate.

Good, better and best describe how a steel garage door is built inside: a single steel skin, steel with a layer of insulation, or insulation sandwiched between two steel skins.

A good door is stamped steel with support struts and a quality bottom seal but no insulation, which suits a detached garage used mainly for storage. A better door adds a thick layer of insulation, so the panels are stiffer, run more smoothly and keep the garage more comfortable. A best door covers the insulation with a second sheet of steel on the inside, making it the thickest and most durable of the three; it's also heavier, so it needs stronger springs and a properly sized opener to stay balanced. Tedford prices all three at the free estimate.

Steel gauge measures the thickness of a garage door's steel skin, and a lower number means thicker steel, so 24-gauge is sturdier than 25- or 27-gauge.

Thicker steel resists dents from basketballs, bikes and bumpers better and keeps its shape across a wide double door, and gauge is one of the main reasons two quotes for what looks like the same door can differ. Construction matters too: a three-layer door with a foamed-in core between two steel skins is far more rigid than a single skin with no backing. Ask Tedford to note the gauge and construction on your written quote so you're comparing like with like.

An insulated garage door is worth it for attached garages, rooms above the garage and workshops, while a non-insulated steel door suits a detached garage used mainly for storage.

Insulation keeps an attached garage closer to house temperature, quiets the door and street noise, and stiffens the panels. Clopay's Intellicore polyurethane is injected into the door and expands to fill it, giving more R-value per centimetre than polystyrene panels, which cost less and still take the chill off. Advertised R-values are calculated for a single door section, not the whole installed door, so good perimeter seals matter as much as the number. Tedford prices both options so you can weigh comfort against cost.

Raised-panel steel suits most traditional homes, carriage-house doors suit craftsman and character homes, and flush or full-view doors suit West Coast contemporary homes.

Around Greater Victoria that often means Clopay's Classic raised-panel doors on post-war homes in Saanich, Coachman, Canyon Ridge or Grand Harbor carriage-house styling on character homes in Oak Bay, and Modern Steel, Canyon Ridge Modern or Avante glass doors on newer builds in Westhills or Royal Bay. Colour matters as much as style. Clopay's online visualizer lets you upload a photo of your house and try doors on it, and Tedford will go through the closest matches with you at the estimate.

Choose between white and almond by matching the door to your home's trim, windows and siding, because a door that clashes with them stands out from the street.

White and almond are the two most common garage door colours, and it's a choice customers often second-guess: plenty of people with white doors wish they had picked almond, and the other way round. Hold the colour samples against the trim in daylight and look at the house from the street rather than up close. If neither works, Clopay offers many other factory colours and Ultra-Grain wood-look finishes on several collections, and Tedford can show what's available on the door you like.

Windows in a garage door add daylight and character, and placing them in the top section keeps most of the privacy and security of a solid door.

Top-row windows sit above eye level for most people walking past, so the garage stays private while still getting natural light. Specialty glass such as frosted, obscure, seeded or rain glass adds privacy, and insulated glass loses less heat than single-pane, which matters if you're paying for an insulated door. Full-view aluminum doors are almost entirely glass and suit contemporary homes where the look comes first. Tedford will show which window layouts are available on the collection you choose.

Most single garage doors are 8 or 9 feet wide and most doubles 16 feet wide; an 8-foot-tall door, rather than the usual 7, suits lifted trucks and roof racks.

Doors in Canada are still sold in feet: a 9-by-7 door is about 2.7 by 2.1 metres, and a 16-by-8 is about 4.9 by 2.4 metres. A taller door also needs enough headroom above the opening for the track, springs and opener, and a low ceiling may need a low-headroom track kit or a wall-mount opener. The existing opening usually sets the size, because changing it means altering the framing and header. Tedford measures the opening, headroom and side room at the estimate so the door is ordered to fit.

New garage door installations by Tedford carry a 1-year labour warranty. On a Clopay door you can also add Clopay's Gold Bar, an optional limited lifetime parts warranty purchased with a new door package, so ask about it when you get your quote.

The door itself is also covered by the manufacturer's warranty, which varies by collection and finish, so ask for the warranty details of the door you choose on your written quote. Tedford provides warranty service for all manufacturer warranties, including lifetime warranties, which means you have one local company to call if anything needs attention later.

An existing opener can often run a new garage door if it's in good condition, rated for the new door's weight and fitted with working photo-eye safety sensors.

A heavier door, such as a best-level steel door, a carriage-house door or solid wood, may need a stronger unit, and openers from before the mid-1990s often lack photo-eyes and use fixed-code remotes that are easier to copy. Because the opener is already disconnected during the install, replacing it at the same visit avoids a second trip. Tedford checks the existing opener at the estimate and can price the job both ways; right now there is also $50 off a new residential LiftMaster opener with install.

BC townhouse and condo owners usually need written strata approval to replace a garage door, while a building permit usually only matters if the opening size or framing changes.

Many strata bylaws control the look of the building, and some specify a door model or colour, so check with your strata manager or council before ordering. Permit rules are set by each municipality, such as Saanich, Victoria or Langford, or by the Capital Regional District in some rural areas, so confirm with them before widening, heightening or combining openings. Ask Tedford to show the door model, size and colour on your written quote; that's usually what a strata council needs to see.