If you are investing in a new door for your garage, you may be considering installing it yourself to save money on the overall costs but there are several reasons why this might not be a good idea. Unless you have a great deal of experience with garage door installation, it can be difficult to know how to deal with problems that arise during the installation itself and whether there may be problems at a later date due to mistakes that you have made. Whether you live, you will find several local garage door companies can supply and install garage doors for you so unless you are very confident in your abilities to handle the job, it makes sense to leave it to the professionals.
Below, we have listed a few important reasons why it is better to hire an experienced professional than to tackle the job yourself, assuming you are not an experienced professional yourself.
• Most Garage Doors Are Very Heavy – Something that can weigh as much as 100kg needs to be properly installed as it would be very dangerous if it were not securely fixed in place. You can imagine the damage that a door of this weight could cause if it were to come loose. This is one of the biggest concerns that DIY installers face and one that cannot be ignored.
• The Springs Operate Under a Great Deal of Tension – Because garage door springs are designed to offset the weight of the door they are installed with, they come under a great deal of pressure when the door is opened and closed. This is another reason that garage door installation should only be tackled by a professional technician. If the springs were to become overloaded or come loose, the energy they are storing would be released in one explosive movement, causing damage to people and objects in the vicinity.
• Warranty Terms and Conditions – If a door installed by an amateur should develop faults in the future, which can be traced back to mistakes that were made during the installation process, the manufacturer’s warranty may be voided. What this would mean for you as a homeowner is that you would be faced with paying for the cost of repairs yourself. In a worst-case scenario, you could end up having to foot the bill for a replacement door: in effect, you would be paying twice for your new garage door installation.
• Insulation – Given the cold winters and hot summers we experience here in Toronto, it is important to make sure that all exterior doors including your garage doors, are properly installed, with no gaps between the doors and their frames. Even the smallest of gaps can let cold air through in the winter and hot air through in the summer, negating the insulating properties of the door itself.