Garage door materials and finishes

Garage doors are now supplied in a wide range of materials and finishes that offer the buyer almost any look and style imaginable. The materials and finishes available range from powder coating to transparent toughened glass and this means that there is a vast aesthetic choice when it comes to the appearance of a modern garage door.

Here are some examples (along with pros and cons) of the materials and finishes currently available starting with the most basic.

GRP

GRP (Glass Reinforced Polyester) is a material that is particularly good at mimicking other materials, timber being a notable example.

For this reason GRP is an excellent alternative to a timber garage door as it can replicate the attractive wooden finish whilst removing the need for timber treatments and long term aftercare. GRP doors are probably the most expensive door option, however they will normally come with an extended warranty and they cannot rot, corrode or, suffer damage from dampness. For many people they prove to be the best (although the most expensive) garage door solution.

ABS

ABS garage doors are made from a similar material to that used for the manufacture of vehicle bumpers. This means that they are flexible and are capable of taking bangs and knocks without sustaining distortion or dints (dings).

ABS garage doors include special stiffeners that are bonded to make the door unit strong and resistant to unlawful entry.

Their advantages are many and include being lightweight, very low maintenance and capable of moulding into different profiled finishes that can provide recesses and textures to mimic other materials.

Most ABS doors will have an extended warranty, typically of ten years or more.

Plastisol

Plastisol is a low maintenance external door surface finish that uses a protective vinyl and which has an appearance similar to that of paint. It is available in many different colours.

The advantages of plastisol over a paint finish are many. Firstly, the finish can be smooth or textured and secondly, the finish will not require any re-painting. Many suppliers offer extensive warranties with plastisol finishes that may extend to 10 years or more.

Timber (wood)

The timber door is still regarded by many as the most desirable in terms of aesthetics. Its natural look combined with a panel and recessed appearance is duplicated by many other door types, though none have the feel of this material.

The downside to timber is the requirement for ongoing maintenance and its susceptibility to rotting, However, if well maintained a wooden garage door can last indefinitely and it is strong and difficult to damage.

Glass

Glass is one of the more unusual and expensive garage door finishes and with the toughened version of this material it is strong and resistant to forced entry. The big advantage of glass is its aesthetic combined with its ability to allow natural light to get into the garage. For security reasons, glass doors have a finish that restricts vision into the garage, even at night when an internal light is on.

Primed finish

A primed finish is one that offers maximum flexibility in terms of customer tailoring. The primer will normally be a light grey and this enables the buyers to select their own choice of paint finish and colour. This has two advantages, firstly, a limitless choice of colour and secondly, a cost saving over a pre-painted door.

All painted doors require periodic re-painting and the finish will rarely be as good as that of a factory supplied painted door.

Steel door finish

A steel door will normally have a galvanised finish which is cheap, long lasting, but not necessarily attractive. Some of the more expensive galvanised doors are now offered with different finishes to enhance their appearance.

Powder coating

A powder coat finish is very similar to factory painted finish and has the same extensive choice of colours. To most people it will be indistinguishable from a normal viscous paint finish.

Powder coating is different from regular paint in that it does not require a solvent to keep the paint particles in liquid suspension. Instead the coat is applied electrostatically and, with the addition of heat, the paint is able to flow and then form a protective and aesthetic skin. There are two different types of powder coat, thermoplastic and thermoset polymer and in both cases the resulting finish is harder and tougher than a conventional paint finish.