How to Purchase a Garage Door
At some point, during the course of home ownership, you will be in the market for a new garage door. Either you will looking to remodel your home, trying to increase your homes hurricane protection or simply need to replace a worn out garage door. When ABS Garage Doors was founded well over 20 years ago there were three main companies selling garage doors. Today, there are too many to count and it can be daunting trying to figure which company is legitimate and which one’s are only interested in taking advantage of you. The following is a step by step process that will help you eliminate the stress involved and achieve a positive outcome with a reputable company.
1. What style garage door are you looking for?
Unlike 10 or 15 years ago, when you had just few different garage door styles to choose from, today you can get almost any design you can imagine. Whether you need a classic white raised short panel garage door that ABS Garage Doors has installed thousands of like this one or a custom door with an even more custom color you will need to settle on a style of garage door you like and fits your needs. We have a complete Residential Garage Doors Product Page and Projects Page that will help you determine which garage door will suit your needs.
2. Find a manufacturer.
When you select the style you want, look to see who manufactures the specific door you are looking for. Most of the garage door manufacturers make garage doors that look similar to each other, an example would be a Raised Panel Garage Door. Some styles, though, are very specific to a certain manufacturer. Whichever style you choose, once you have made your decision, go to the manufacturer website and look for a Dealer Locator or a Where to Buy tab. Once there you will most likely be asked to type in your zip code and from there they will provide a list of any or all dealers for your location. Using a direct dealer rather than a “Door Company” who gets the their doors from wherever solves a few problems. First; because you purchased your door from an authorized dealer you will be able to receive the full factory warranty and support. Second; not every company can be a dealer and this process alone has filtered out many of the companies you may have contacted and wished you didn’t. In another post we do a deeper dive into this and discuss a new phenomenon in the garage door industry; what is the difference between a Direct Dealer vs Indirect Dealer vs A Non Dealer that happens to be on the Dealer Page.
3. Is the company licensed?
In the past you could have stopped at number two and been okay but times have changed. A garage door company has be licensed to install garage doors in Florida. But due to the number of “Companies” that are popping up every day most smaller municipalities in Florida, like Palm Coast, do have the man power to go after every company that decided to skip the licensing process. So it’s up to you to determine who is a licensed contractor and who is not. Luckily the City of Palm Coast, Florida has a search engine that will allow to enter any company name and determine if they are licensed or not. You can find it here.
Just a note; even if a company has a state wide contractor license they still have to registered with the Flagler County Building Department and The City of Palm Coast Building Department to pull permits and install garage doors. ABS Garage Doors is a fully licensed company registered to install garage doors in Flagler County, Palm Coast and Flagler Beach, Florida.
4. Yes you need a permit to install a new garage door.
This question comes up quite often, and many times it’s because of the number of non-licensed companies doing business right now. There are many things you will do to your home that require a permit and installing a garage door is one of them. This is mandatory and is governed by Florida state laws. For roughly the $100.00 cost of a permit here are some of the benefits: A city or county inspector will have come out to inspect the door and this provides a second set of eyes on the installation to make sure it was installed correctly. You will more than likely get a reduction in your insurance premium but on the flip side if you install a garage door without a permit the insurance company can deny your insurance claim. A non-licensed company will tell you you don’t need a permit, or “ they have never heard of such a thing and have been doing this for 20 years” or “why don’t we skip it and we can install it on a Saturday”. ABS Garage Doors will always handle all permit requirements for you.
5. Is the company local?
If you can, always use a company that is local. Companies do not particularly like call backs, they cost money, and the odds of a garage door company returning to fix a problem that is still under warranty decreases with every mile their location is from you. In fact, more often than not, you will never see them again and you will be left to fix whatever the problem is. ABS Garage Doors is located in Palm Coast, Florida.
6. Take a good look at the quote.
Every quote ABS Garage Doors provides has a very thorough description of what is being provided. The manufacturer and or model number, size, color, type and style of garage door along with a full wind-load description which includes exposures, pressures and wind speed rating. We do this because it lets the customer know exactly what they are getting. A non-dealer or a non-reputable garage door company will provide a quote that is as vague as they can make it; something like “16 x 7 white garage door with wind load”. They do this on purpose because, once they have your deposit money, they will call around to see who can sell them the cheapest door possible that will meet that criteria. Also, more than likely, they will skip the permit so what they deem “wind-loaded”is up for debate.
7. Final thoughts.
If you follow these tips you will more than likely have a smooth garage door purchasing experience and avoid the time and money wasted searching for and dealing with companies that do not have you, the customer, their best interest. If you have any questions about any of this feel free to call us at 386-445-7047.