Choosing The Right Garage Door

So, you’ve made the decision to buy a new, or replace your existing garage door. Don’t panic, buying a garage door doesn’t have to be difficult, or scary. There are just a few steps involved, and there’s always someone available to give you advice, if you run into trouble.

Step 1 – Work out whether your site is ready for a measure and quote.
While we would all prefer to just get a quote from someone over the phone, unfortunately with a garage door, this is not the best way. A garage door dealer really needs to visit your home and measure up your door opening. This is the only way to get an accurate quote. It is not recommended that you do your own measure up for your door. Garage door dealers are trained to measure the opening, and know what allowances they need to make for tracks, wheels, etc before they finalise a door size. Also, we don’t suggest you use the measurements that one dealer gives you to just source quotes from other dealers. It all comes down to the type of door, your site conditions, etc. Before you go with a dealer, make sure they have visited your home themselves and measured up.

Step 2 – Once your site is ready, you need to find a garage door dealer.
To find your nearest Dominator dealer check our on-line dealer locator. Dominator dealers will visit your site, measure up and provide you with a no obligation quote.

Step 3 – Do some research, before your dealer turns up.
There are a range of different types of garage doors, as well as different styles of openers and other accessories available. Not all doors will suit your garage or carport, but your Dominator dealer will be able to advise you on this, once they are on site. Before they arrive though, it is worth doing a little bit of your own research.

You need to consider:

What type of door do you like? Steel sectional like the Dominator steel sectional, wood sectional, a roller door or a tilting door?
What opener will suit your home and lifestyle? If you have bedrooms near the garage, a shift worker in the home, or teenagers who come in at all hours, maybe you should consider a belt-drive opener. Dominator even has openers that run from solar energy!
What about accessories? There are a range of different accessories available for your door and opener, to make it more suitable to your lifestyle. Consider an entry keypad.
Do you have pets or small children who may run under a moving door? Consider a Safety Infra-red beam kit (please note – Dominator recommends that Safety Infra-red beam kits are installed on all automated doors).

Step 4 – Double check any comparison quotes.
If you choose to get quotes from multiple dealers, and you notice a price difference between them, make sure you question them, to be sure you are comparing apples with apples. If the quote only says Dominator Ribbed Door, for example, is it a Dominator Futura or a Milano door? While these are both Dominator doors, they have different features, which mean they sell at different prices.

There are also differences in openers. One of the biggest differences is in the warranty. Ask the dealer how many years the warranty is for? Is it on-site repair or back to base? Does the warranty cover the whole opener and installation, or is it only the motor? Just check you know what you are getting before you give your chosen dealer the go-ahead.

Step 5 – Enjoy your new door and opener.
Once your door is installed – enjoy! Should you have any concerns after installation, your first point of call should be the dealer who installed the door. Dominator dealers stand behind their products and workmanship and will endeavour to make sure your garage door, openers and accessories are running smoothly.