Steel doors come with a wood grain texture in either flush (flat) panel, the popular classic raised panel (squares), or ranch panel (long rectangles).  White, brown, almond and sandstone are standard factory applied colors.  If none of these colors work for you, the doors can be painted with an exterior latex paint.  

ü      Low headroom—doors can be installed with as little as 4-1/2” of headroom between the top of the jamb to the ceiling with extension springs, 6-1/2” with torsion springs, and 9” to include enough room for an opener.  Standard headroom is 12” and 15” required for a door and opener.

ü      Odd sized door—doors come in a variety of standard sizes, many of which can be adapted to fit your application.  Door sections are 17”, 19”, 21”, and 24” tall (depending on the door series) and can be used to create an even greater number of heights. For widths, wood doors can be cut down to fit almost any size opening, and steel doors can even be special ordered to fit an odd width.  Standard widths are 8’,9’ and 16’.  Standard heights are 7’ and 8’.

ü      Uneven concrete floor—sometimes a house may settle or a contractor may make a mistake leaving you with an uneven concrete floor.  If the imperfection in the floor is minor, the bottom weatherseal on the door may seal it.  If the imperfection is major, a wood door can be “scribed” to fit the uneven floor or a “sweep” can be applied to help seal a metal door.    

            Safety is very important on openers to protect people and pets from being injured.  Any opener should come with at least these three safety features.

ü      Safe-T-Beam—photocells at the bottom of the door shoot an invisible Safe-T-Beam across the opening.  If this invisible Safe-T-Beam is broken, while the door is closing, the door will reverse. 

ü      Contact Reverse—the opener should reverse when the door comes in contact with an object, even if the Safe-T-Beam is not broken. The industry standard is to have the door reverse off of a 2x4 laying flat on the floor.

ü      Timed Reverse—the opener should automatically stop and reverse when the door is closing if it fails to close completely within 30 seconds.

For security, openers should have a locking feature that prevents thieves from opening the door by hand while the opener is attached.  Another security feature is rolling code technology.  This allows the code sent to your opener to roll and change every time you use your handheld transmitter, utilizing billions of different code combinations.  High-tech thieves will be unable to duplicate your code to break into your home.  

ü      Companies with no track record promising “too good to be true” warranties.  These are companies who plan on making their money now and skipping town before you call them on that “lifetime” warranty.

ü      Companies who use more than one name. No, this practice is not illegal, but it is a strategy often used to deceive customers and avoid warranty follow-up.

ü      Companies who will only warranty their door if you use their opener.  It is possible for an opener that has been poorly installed to damage a door, but that wouldn’t be covered under their warranty anyway. 

ü      Companies who are not members of the Better Business Bureau or local Chamber of Commerce.

ü      Companies who “subcontract” their labor.  Who are you going to call for your warranty work?  Is the subcontractor insured?  If you don’t know who is going to your home it is hard to do a background check.

ü      Companies who are not insured.  Make sure the company has proper Liability Insurance and Workman’s Compensation insurance.

ü      Companies who don’t have clearly marked vehicles and uniformed employees.  If they aren’t proud enough of their name to identify themselves how can you expect a professional outcome?