We have a Garaga door. We live in the northeast. Is that the front of your house? I think it is better esthetically to have a row of windows when the door is on the front of the house

Lead time for Clopay is 5+ months. I know other people who have used Overhead and got no-frills steel garage doors in less than 3 months.

Hard to say which is best because they all have a range of products from builder basic to fully custom designs. In my previous house I had custom wood doors made by Ranch House Doors, but I was in the perfect climate for those doors.

For the house we just built we had to have hurricane/impact rated doors. I looked at all the brands and ended up going with Overhead. Choice was made by the design/looks of the door and pricing to a smaller extent. We went with a semi custom line they have, where they source the panels, customize the design and assemble locally. The doors took around 6 months to be delivered.

As far as motors, we went with the OH side mounted with battery back up and we've had no issues with it. I do miss one feature of the Liftmaster openers in my old house, the TTC (Time To Close) option, where you could set a specific time for doors to close on their own if you forgot to close them.

@jck910

We have a Garaga door. We live in the northeast. Is that the front of your house? I think it is better esthetically to have a row of windows when the door is on the front of the house

This is the view of the front of the house. The small windows on the right side are not there. The stone sample is what I think the colors are going to be. The front of the house faces south. The garage faces east.

@chispa

Thanks for your comments.

No wood doors. I don't know if I should use Steel or Vinyl. I want insulated doors. I had Overhead Door come for a Service Call last October and he mentioned the wait time for their doors to be 6 months or more. I guess I should have talked to them more at that time.

I know the doors should have been ordered a long time ago but things have not gone well for a while. I have been recuperating from a fall since December and my husband passed away last month so I have not been available to do much.

Thanks, Sue

@wyosue58, I'm sorry about your husband and hope you can recuperate fully from your fall. Most construction materials have some delays, so just make a decision on the door you like and know you will have to wait for delivery. It is what it is, no use worrying about it!

I didn't do windows on my new garage doors, because I have 3 windows just like you do. For me, it was also cheaper not to do the hurricane glass.

@chispa

Thank you so much. I was in the Hospital and Rehab for over a month so it has set back choosing things and getting them ordered.

The research I have done on Amarr Doors looks good but there aren't any Dealers close by. I tried to get information on Overhead Door but nothing to compare with Amarr. I will make some calls tomorrow.

The garage door that I have now does not have windows and I can't see anyone that is in front of the garage. The more I thought about it--that is not going to be an issue in my new garage.

Thanks again.

Sue

EDIT: I made some calls this morning. I struck out on Amarr doors. The lady said I could order them from Sam's or Costco but that did not pan out. I called Overhead Door Co and she sent me some links for CHI (lead time 8 - 12 weeks) and Overhead Door brand (about 24 weeks) but none of these compare to Amarr doors. You said that you did semi-custom--can you tell me what you mean? Do you have a model number or any other information that would help me out? Thanks, Sue

Look into Carriage House Door. Their doors are a good step above in quality and you can get them in any style imaginable, custom made. They're priced fair ($5600 for custom steel overlay) and can get them in 2-3 months. Only caveat is that they come to your house non painted, only primed so you can paint them any color. They price the door lower to take his into account. For about $700 in my area I can get it pro painted. The windows can be insulated too. Additionally their insulation is injection so it goes into every nook & cranny. Other makers just sandwich the insulation leaving many air pockets for cold air to seep into.

Other big famous makers I mention later lie about their R value insulation. They measure the thickest part to give the R reading but not average the thinner insulated parts which is usually most of the door.

If you want just a nice steel door (limited styles) quickly (1-2 weeks) that has the stencils in the window in different variations, look into Northwest Garage. Anything custom from them or anyone (CHI, Amarr, etc) else will run you 5-6 months.

Beware for any overlay models from CHI, Clopay and other brands. They delaminate after 2-3 years. Read the 1*reviews on their website. My garage installer told me to just get a non fancy steel door so I wouldn't have disastrous headaches.

I went with Carriage steel overlay because their doors are hand made, custom designed, and built to the nines and I have evidence of these doors never delaminating after decades. These doors you see on mansions because they are so amazing looking and well built. Find them prettiest door in the Houzz photo library and them be 100% able to make it for you.

FWIW, I did TONS of research and interviews with top installers in my area.

@HU-611233062

Thank you for this information. I looked at Carriage but my builder wants doors that are at least R-17 and I could not find that on their website.

@HU-611233062

Thanks again for this information. Sam's sells Amarr so I called their online number 3 times and kept getting disconnected. I could not get into Costco's online store. I called Amarr and there are not any dealers close enough so she said they could not help me.

Since I posted this, I got an estimate from Menards because the Builder has installed their doors before. I even got an estimate from Overhead Door.

Watching many YouTube videos I like the Amarr doors the best but if I can't find a place to order two 10' x 8' doors that does not help me.

I'd power through and push with Costco (or Sams) with the Amarr. You simply can't go wrong with the Costco guarantee but I have read stories how Costco tosses the hot potato to Amarr and Amarr back to Costco. I don't know how much this happens but I read more than one case of this. Garage door companies are notorious for NOT helping out on issues and when issues arise on a garage door, they're usually serious. Again, not to beat a dead horse, but Carriage Inc. again has been the only one that's been great on servicing/warranty.

About windows, be aware that the windows on the steel doors are cheap, uninsulated. Plus the stencil they put on top of the window to give it a grid look or whatever bends in the summer sun and warps away from the glass. I was advised in the past that if I went with stenciled windows to buy extras like razors to use in the future. Obviously this doesn't become an issue if you don't put windows of any kind.

@DR150

Thanks, I am not a member at Costco but I am at Sam's. I will try to call them again.

No windows in the garage doors. I did not see anything on Carriage that would work in our area.

Thanks again