How Long Should Garage Doors Last?

When choosing a garage door for your home or business, you want to be sure that you are choosing a decision that invests in a quality product. You may be asking yourself, how long should my garage door last? The lifespan of a garage door can vary significantly based on its type and how it will be utilized. Glenwood Garage Doors can last approximately 15 years, to 30+ years depending on the care and maintenance you give to it. The major factors will be whether it will be utilized in a residential or commercial application, how it is built/materials used, and how much usage/service it gets during its lifetime. Below we will compare the lifespan of residential vs commercial garage doors, talk about how materials maintain their performance over time, and provide maintenance tips that can positively impact the lifespan of all garage doors.

Lifespan of Residential Vs commercial Garage Doors

Usage: The lifespan of a Garage Door depends on the how often it is used. A residential Garage door may only open a couple of times per day (ie. leaving and coming home) meaning 100 times a year, whereas a commercial Garage door in a building with a high volume of usage may get cycled dozens of times throughout the day. Luckily for us, most commercial Garage Doors are made from much heavy duty components than a standard residential Garage Door; but the increased frequency of use leads to performance issues and of course limited lifespan follies. As a comparison, the lifespan of a commercial Garage Door can be similar to the lifespan of a residential garage door. The average life of both is around 15 to 20 years, often on the lower end if a high volume door.

Measuring usage cycles: The total lifespan of any Garage Door beyond which time can typically be measure as cycles (1 full opening and closing).Most components, like torsion springs, have a lifetime evaluated in cycles (generally 10,000 cycles, around 8–14 years on average per use). A residential garage door cycled just twice a day will take years to cycle through the 10,000. On the other hand, a commercial garage door cycled 20 or 30 times a day reaches 10,000 cycles much quicker, and will require part replacements before the end of its service life. With proper maintenance and repairs, residential and commercial garage doors may reach the high end of their service life (two or three decades), while commercial garage doors with high usage are generally not realistic past around 15 years.

Typical Life by Door Material

The material of the garage door is one of the biggest determinants of its longevity. Below are some typical life spans of common garage door materials (along with notes on durability and maintenance):

• Steel Garage Doors (15–30 years): Steel is among the most durable and common materials for a garage door. Quality steel-built doors are structurally strong, won’t warp or crack, and require little maintenance. A properly maintained steel garage door generally lasts 15 to 30 years. Watch for rust; steel can corrode when its protective paint or coating is not properly maintained in humid or coastal climates (or anywhere with road salt).Regular cleaning and periodic repainting for scratch touch-ups can help achieve the longer end of a steel door’s lifespan.

• Wood Garage Doors (10-20 years): Wood garage doors offer classic beauty and curb appeal, but as a general rule, they have the shortest lifespan of the common materials. A wood door may have an average life-span of about 10 to 20 years. The average life of a wood door could skew to the lower average if the door hasn't been kept sealed and protected from the weather. Wood's enemies are moisture, rot, warping, and insect damage. With good maintenance - like repainting or refinishing every year or two, and completing prompt repairs when damage occurs - a good quality wood garage door, can come closer to or end up in the 15-20 year range. A poorly maintained wood door will deteriorate even in 10 years, and quickly in more severe climates.

• Aluminum Garage Doors (20-30 years): Aluminum is a lightweight, rust-resistant metal that is often utilized in manufacturing garage doors. A quality manufactured aluminum door can last for about 20-30 years. Advantages of aluminum include not corroding (particularly useful in humid/coastal areas) and that the lighter weight puts less stress on the garage door opener. A downfall of aluminum is its softer than steel; it will dent or bend more easily if hit. Minor dents won't diminish the functional life, but significant dents may require panel replacement. Like normal use and milder climates, an aluminum door will take very low maintenance (just keep it clean), and doing so can last several decades.

• Fiberglass Garage Doors (15–25 years): People choose fiberglass garage doors because they are not subject to moisture or salt (they won’t rust or rot) so you can expect a fiberglass door to last 15 to 25 years, on average, under normal conditions. Fiberglass garage doors are light and are sometimes molded to look like wood with a wood grain. Fiberglass garage doors do well in a coastal climate and humid environments. One caveat is that fiberglass can become brittle in very cold climates over time. Extreme cold temperatures can cause fiberglass panels to crack or degrade sooner than the estimated service life, so for very cold winters, the life expectancy might be closer to the lower estimate of the range. In reasonable climate conditions, a fiberglass door usually ages well and can last over 20 years, if maintained.

• Vinyl Garage Doors (20–30 years): Vinyl is a highly durable, low maintenance material for garage doors, often advertised as longer lasting than wood or metal. Vinyl doors can be highly dent resistant, they also will not rust, and they have a typical service life on the order of 20 to 30 years. They continue to weather rain, humidity, and sunlight without warping. Although incidental damage can occur, maintenance is easy: no repainting required, and the color is solid through the material (scratches do not show easily). Vinyl can become brittle in extreme cold or it can become discolored when exposed to extreme ultraviolet (UV) for many years, but on the whole, a vinyl garage door should last for decades as long as you keep it relatively clean and check the moving parts once every year.

Note: The ranges above assume normal use and maintenance.Garage doors that have received little attention or that receive excessive wear and tear will have a shortened lifespan, while doors that are looked after can last at the upper range of these spans. Also consider that many of the important moving parts (springs, cables, rollers) will wear out sooner than other parts of the door and may require replacement during the door's lifespan - replacing these parts may add years to the ultimate lifespan of the door without, in fact, replacing the whole door.

Top 5 Maintenance Tips to Extend Garage Door Lifespan

The most important thing to maintain the lifespan of a garage door is to simply maintain it regularly. In practice and actual life, merely the routine of looking at the door and testing the safety sensors can help to accomplish longevity of parts of the door. The following are my top 5 maintenance tips to help extend length for any garage door:

1. Keep it Clean: Dirt and debris can cause parts of the door mechanism to wear out more quickly. Clean the exterior of the door with a mild detergent and water, and verify that the tracks and rollers are free of grit to have smooth operation. A clean door not only looks better with less impact, but also reduces strain on hinges and rollers resulting in long last.

2. Lubricate Moving Parts:  Friction is one of the biggest causes of wear, so keeping all moving parts lubed well is crucial. Apply a silicone-based garage door lubricant (not WD-40, which is a degreaser) to the door's hinges, rollers, track and springs at least once a year. Proper lubrication will reduce friction and help keep metal parts from rusting, which will help keep the door opening and closing smoothly, and put less strain on the opener.

3. Tighten and Inspect Hardware: Opening and closing the door will cause vibrations that can loosen bolts, screws, and roller brackets over time. Every now and then take a wrench and tighten any loose hardware. By regularly inspecting and tightening the door's nuts and bolts, you are ensuring that minor issues do not become major problems, and you are extending the door's life span by keeping everything aligned and secured properly. (Always inspect a closed door and make sure the automatic opener is disconnected when you are checking for loose hardware as a safety measure.

4. Regularly Test Safety Features: Newer garages are equipped with auto-reverse and photo-eye safety features. Test the work of the auto-reverse feature by placing a roll of paper towel or piece of wood on the ground in the door's path; the door should reverse immediately once it makes contact with the object. Also, test the sensor eyes by waving an object in front of them when the door is closing - the door should stop and reverse. Keeping things in working order helps keep both people and pets safe, as well as protecting the door itself from hitting obstructions. Identifying a malfunction on the auto-reverse feature early (and calling a technician to repair it) could help save a door from damaging itself if it ever had an object directly under it.

5. Schedule professional maintenance: Some garage doors or aspects of maintenance, just shouldn't be done by an untrained person. It is a good idea to schedule professional inspections and tune-ups about once a year. When the technician visits for professional maintenance, he or she will lube all the moving parts, check spring tension and door balance, visually inspect cables and pulley, along with noticing any wear and damage that you may have missed. A professional maintenance plan can save you a lot of money over time, or expensive replacements some day! To summarize, a pro can catch things earlier, so your door can be in the safest and optimal working condition for as long as possible!

   
   

If you follow these maintenance tips and put out fires as they arise, you can extend the life of your garage door tremendously. In fact, a quality garage door (residential or commercial) should last decades - often times over 20 years - if it is made of durable materials and cared for properly. If you attend to its residential or commercial use, materials, and maintenance needs, you will ensure that you enjoy the maximum lifespan of your garage door, while keeping it reliable and safe in the future and years to come.