professional garage door installationNearly every home has an electric garage door these days. It’s hardly surprising to hear that most home buyers — about 53% — prefer homes with two-car garages, while another 20% of people looking to buy a home want a three-car garage or larger.

However, no garage door will last forever; whether the garage door opens slowly or it simply won’t open at all, eventually you may find yourself needing to invest in a professional garage door installation. Luckily, a new garage door offers homeowners an incredible 84% return on investment.

Are you choosing the right replacement garage door for your professional garage door installation? Find out with this list of three things every homeowner should consider when purchasing a replacement garage door:

Garage door thickness
Oftentimes, you can judge a garage door’s quality by how thick the door actually is. High-quality steel garage doors are typically two inches thick and made with 24-gauge steel, while lower-quality doors will be thinner and made with 28-gauge steel. This isn’t always true, however. For example, polyurethane doors are thinner, but actually offer a much higher insulation value than other doors.

Stiles
A garage door’s stile is the vertical support structure that runs up the center of the door. Not all garage doors will have stiles; because of this, it’s important to find a garage door equipped with a center stile for improved stability and sturdiness.

R-value
Energy costs are higher than they’ve ever been — and did you know that having an older garage door can actually result in heated or air-conditioned air escaping from your home, raising your energy bills? Because of this, it’s important to invest in a replacement garage door that has a high R-value. In garage doors, the R-value is a measurement of thermal efficiency; higher R-values indicate greater insulating properties.

Have any other tips to share with your fellow homeowners on choosing the right garage doors replacements? Or do you just want to know more about common garage door problems? Let us know in the comments.