We have the designed doors carriage style linked by mightyanvil.

They are much, much more substantial (heavier) than any other garage door we have had - and require a good installer. They look great though (in place about 2 years).

Liptonnj1, i'll be having the carriage style doors installed and they'll be made of cedar. I'm building in a development, and this will be an upgrade, but don't have a clue which manufacturer they use. I'm only having a two-car garage(two doors)and each door is $1600. This could be the price THEY get the doors at, full price, or discounted. I know the installation IS different because they are heavier.

I thought of doing it after-the-fact, but decided to cut elsewhere on the house to make sure they were done right from the get go. Like you, also thought of applying wood over the standard doors.

And if you want some real stylish doors--that not one in a hundred thousand people will appreciate (nor afford) you can always specify hand carved reproduction doors.

Here is a link that might be useful: Antique reproduction Doors

Carriage style doors are generally all built on a base panel made of a 1" to 1 3/8" x 2 1/2" to 3" wood frame. High quality doors (Hahn Woodworking) make the frame out of a decay resistant hardwood (Meranti mahogany, etc.), medium quality doors (Designer Doors) use Douglas Fir, and the lower quality doors (Overhead) use hemlock.

Designer doors makes two models A & B in order to better compete with the brands above and below.

The basic frame is faced with with 1/4" plywood usually on both sides (Designer only on inside). The plywwod is often luan mahogany but some is "super-ply"(Designer)

The best doors prime all sides of all components before assembly (Hahn) some only after assembly (Designer) and some only partially (Overhead).

Wood styles and rails and T&G paneling are added to the outer face of this basic door unit.

Hahn uses clear Spanish cedar full 1" thick styles & rails butted against 3/4" T&G paneling with biscuit glued joinery and face-grain wood plugs over recessed screws into the framing. They claim 200 screws per door. Each panel is assembled separately.

Designer uses clear western red cedar 5/8" thick styles and rails over-laid on top of 9/16" thick T&G paneling with putty over recessed screws . The entire door is built and then cut into separate panels.

Overhead uses clear western red cedar 3/4" thick and T&G paneling glued and blind nailed.

The total thickness varies from 2 1/2" to 2 7/8". Of course the front edge of this door assembly aligns (in both directions) with the inside corner of the trimmed door opening so the tracks must be set to accommodate this thickness.

Polystyrene foam board insulation fills the door panel cavities. Some doors use the extruded kind (Styrofoam) and some use the expanded type (white beadboard). R values range from 5 to 7.7

The more expensive custom doors (Hahn & Designer) will consider a 9'x8' high door to be a standard size. The cheaper doors usually consider 9'x7' high door to be standard.

Some provide chain drive openers, others provide belt drive openers. Some use Chamberlain Co. but Overhead has their own brand.
Some provide a 3/4 hp motor, others 1/2 hp.
Some use overhead torsion springs, others extension springs along the rails.

There are too many glass options to describe.

Some use a heavier galvanized steel track. Some offer powder coated tracks.

Designer has weep holes, the others don't.

All of the doors are installed by the manufacturers or their authorized agents.

I would guess the approximate cost of a 9'x8' door, installed, would range from $5,000 to $2,000 assuming decorative paneling and glass.

These manufacturers use different details at the horizontal panel joints with differing degrees of overlap. I'll post the details if I ever find them.

Of course the manufacturers may have changed their designs in the past two years.

Hahn Woodworking

Designer Doors

Wayne Dalton

Mighty, you sure know your stuff!! I don't know what grade of cedar will be used. As I said, i'm building in a development, no custom home, but semi-custom, so some changes are allowed as long as they're not too extreme.

My doors will not have any windows~when I picture carriage style doors, I never think of them with windows. I hope for $3200(2 doors)they're worth the money. It's just one of those things I had to have!! ;o)

Hi

We used Clopay carraige doors, but ours are painted, not stained. I have some photos somewhere of them and will post them this afternoon. The are double insulated, very heavy but the garage is kept ever so warm, as is the closet above the garage. I thinks the pair of them were about $2800, (through our builder) so well within your budget. I know Clopay does make wood doors as well, though I think they are a little more expensive than ours.

Thanks for all the input - Mighty, my husband was impressed when I started telling him some of your post, he thought I knew it, but I had to give you credit!

We ended up getting a CHI carriage style door, they are better insulated than the premium line the builder uses. We are also using wrought iron accessories and doing it in white, I'm afraid sandtone will clash.

When it's there, I'll post pics! Thanks again :)

Here's the closest I've come to "carriage" doors. They're PVC insulated doors with custom panels from Royal Overhead Doors, Markham, Ontario. But I made them so similar to standard panels that no one knows. With the added hardware and belt drive motors they came to $2,090 each, tax included. Since the spec next door that sold for $1.8 million "featured" plywood panel doors at less than half the price, this is the last time you'll see anything better on a house I build for sale.

Here's our carriage style garage door: