Carriage-style garage doors are all the rage right now. Which is sort of funny, considering they’re, like, from before garages were garages. Guess it’s all that cottage-core décor. Regardless, there’s something high end and timeless about carriage house garage doors. But all this is just about how they look. Let’s look a bit deeper: what they’re made of, how they work, and what styles they come in.
Types of Carriage House Garage Doors
There are four main types of carriage garage doors:
- Swing: These garage doors swing out. This is a high-end look but requires significant driveway space.
- Slide: These are one-piece doors that slide to the side to open, just like historic carriage doors. This requires significant space on either side of the garage.
- Fold: These are 3-piece doors that fold open accordion-style to mimic the way traditional carriage house doors did.
- Overhead: These are typically the carriage house-style garage door you’ll see, even if it doesn’t seem like it. Believe it or not, today, most of the ones that look like swing, slide and fold are actually overhead doors. It makes sense: it takes up the least amount of space when open and you don’t have to get a special garage door opener for it.
Materials for Carriage House Garage Doors
There are three main ways carriage-style garage doors are built:
- Wood: If you want to go traditional and authentic, wood is definitely the way to go. You can find solid wood carriage doors in a number of styles and species. They’re the most expensive material for garage doors, but they’re strong, good insulators, last decades with proper care. Plus, they look beautiful.
- Faux wood: The advantage of faux wood carriage garage doors is that they look just like solid wood doors, but they’re way less maintenance. They can be made to be just as insulative, but they’re typically lighter, are less prone to rot and warp, and they’re not as expensive as true wood.
- Steel: If you like painted wood, steel carriage house doors are a great option. And that’s not the only reason. Steel doesn’t rot or warp, can be filled with insulation, can be piecemeal replaced with single panels, and are the most inexpensive material for carriage house-style garage doors.
Are Carriage House-Style Garage Doors Right for Your Home?
It’s no secret that it takes a little chunk of money to replace your garage door, no matter the style or size. But it’s also true that you make that investment back in the home equity it adds – so that’s always something to keep in mind when deciding. And we’ll let you in on a little secret: if carriage house garage doors aren’t in your budget but you love the aesthetic, there are DIY hardware kits and faux wood finishes you can use to make your current steel panel garage door look just like the real thing! Regardless of what you choose, making sure your garage door gets the maintenance attention it deserves is key to making the most out of your investment.