Your definitely on the right track. I repair remotes for a living and I have some experience with garage door openers. As far as the door goes, I'm not too sure but you should definitely go for the Liftmaster 3595 Heavy-Duty Chain Drive. I strongly believe the chain drive is the most durable but it can be a little dangerous if your have little ones around. In my opinion, a belt drive won't give the optimal performance. Hope that helped. Cheers! Here is a link that might be useful: Where I Bought My Last Garage Door Opener

Just an update since I always appreciate when people post the "after", we got the garage doors installed. Unfortunately we forgot to have them do the resistance test as they showed up very late and didn't finish up until we were having to get ready for a party. Once our non-stop rain stops that is on the top of our list though!

On your other thread I mentioned that we used FrenchPorte in Chevy Chase, Maryland for our garage doors. We and many of our neighbors think they really look wonderful. We have a 1960 ranch with a walkout basement, but from the road, it looks like a one story ranch. The french doors create the illusion of a longer house and let light into the garage, but do not allow people to see into the garage. They are more expensive than most other garage doors, but, for us, it was worth the price. The fact that there are no other french doors on the front of your house does not bother me. I don't think too many people have banks of french doors across the front of their houses, but they often have two or three sets as we do in the back of our house. I think it would look fine to use the french doors on your garage. There are also variations on the number of lights/style from which to choose, so you can pick something that complements your home. Please post pictures of whatever you decide to do. I always enjoy the 'after' photos!

TL;DR can I paint something like the Cloplay Coachman garage door which is made from "4-layer construction (composite overlay-steel insulation-steel)". What else aesthetically is lost going to a "cheaper" door. I have a rental property that I need to replace the garage door on. It's a 1920's bungalow in Northern California, with detached garage. The house was my own house before I got married, and I am attached to how it aesthetically looks (and remains to look). The garage door is prominent in the curb appeal of the house because it sits to the side of the house (not in the back like you see with most 1920's detached garages). It's constructed with multiple layers of wood. I looked about 8 months ago and got quotes from $4-6K for similar replacements. I'm now looking at Home Depot's website. Just as an example is a Cloplay Coachman 9x7 for around $1800 (I know that doesn't include installation). It says this is made from " 4-layer construction (composite overlay-steel insulation-steel). https://www.homedepot.com/p/Clopay-Coachman-Collection-9-ft-x-7-ft-18-4-R-Value-Intellicore-Insulated-Solid-White-Garage-Door-CXU13-SW-TOP11/204598554 One thing that is most important to me is that I can paint the door, so I'm not stuck with this big ugly white door at the front of the lot. Is that possible with that door? I know I'm not going to stain the door, so I don't need it to be stain-grade finished. What will I lose with going with this or a similar door vs going back to something closer to my original? Is it difficult for the paint to adhere to this surface? I know I can think of one thing already - well, maybe not so if I chose something like the Clopay Coachman which doesn't have windows. My current door is probably 5 or 6 inches deep. So there's some real character depth with the windows. If I switched to one of these Cloplay doors that did have windows, the door is only 2 inches thick so I'm sure I'd get a much shallower look to it.