Fiberglass Garage Doors

Fiberglass garage doors are not as common as wooden, steel, or aluminum ones. These doors consist of aluminum frames mixed with fiberglass panels. Some prefer this material over conventional alternatives, because fiberglass is lighter and relatively cheaper, but not the best choice. The characteristics of these garage doors differ substantially from the ones displayed by this material in itself.

Disadvantages

• While fiberglass is dent-resistant, garage doors made of this material are not and are therefore, prone to the slightest dents from your car.
• Fiberglass doors provide poor insulation, especially during winter, which is not the case when compared to fiberglass insulation that is considered to be highly efficient.

• These doors begin to turn yellowish brown with age.
• They warp and crack easily during both cold and hot climate, which makes garage doors made of this material extremely less durable as compared to those made of steel.

• These doors cannot withstand strong winds and are not suitable in coastal zones with high frequency winds. These areas do not give the required building code approval for fiberglass doors because they fall much below the expected standards of construction material.

However, recently, newer and better quality fiberglass doors have begun to appear in the market, which boast of the following improvements.

Advantages

• These doors are made to mimic the look and texture of wood, and can now be found in patterns of different types of wood such as oak, mahogany, and cherry wood.
• The new models have a steel framework under the fiberglass panels that give the garage doors more resistance from the wear and tear.

• The heat transfer resistivity has been improved by the R-value special foam cores that are covered with air pockets. These air pockets reduce the heat transmission that is allowed to pass through it.
• This material work excellently in tropical areas where they efficiently resist the corrosion caused by salt saturated air that flows from the ocean shores.

Repairing, repainting, and reglazing fiberglass is an expensive and time-consuming procedure. Fiberglass doors start looking timeworn after a year and a half. Most paint shops as well as professionals recommend that for painting fiberglass, a good brand of primer and latex paint must be used.

Primer brands such as universal latex primer and XIM primer are excellent for this purpose. As far as the brand of latex paint is concerned, Mooreguard is considered to be the most effective because of its moderate elasticity. You must first clean the garage door with soap water and wipe it dry.

Select a non-windy and less humid day for painting your door, so as to prevent dust from settling on the wet paint and prevent excessive heat from tampering the consistency of the paint. Apply a coat of primer on the garage door and once it has dried, apply the latex paint coats.

The period of warranty offered for fiberglass doors is about 1-2 years. On the other hand, steel garage doors can last up to 18-20 years sometimes and have proven to provide better insulation.