At some point, during the course of home ownership, you will be in the market for a new garage door. Either you will be 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, servicing and repairing garage doors in Palm Coast, Florida. Today, there are too many to count and it can be daunting trying to figure which companies are legitimate and which ones are only interested in taking advantage of you. The following are various tips and things to look out for 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.
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 to 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 not 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 you 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 to 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 very vague criteria. Also, more than likely, they will skip the permit so what they deem to be a “Wind-Loaded” or “Hurricane Rated” garage door is up for debate.
7. Beware of the bait and switch or take a good look at the quote part II.
Ahh the old switcharoo; our favorite. So it typically goes like this; you call around for pricing on a garage door and a “garage door company” has provided a price that is just out of this world, too good to be true if you will. You have reviewed the provided quote and everything you wanted is listed on it so you call the “company” to review everything. They are saying all the right things and then add that “We have been in business for over 20 years, have connections that other companies don’t and we pass the savings on to you”. Well that sure explains it! So you approve the quote, the garage door is installed, you saved a bunch of money and everything is great! Except it isn’t because unbeknownst to you; you just fell for old bait and switch. Fact is most folks don’t know what a new garage door installation is supposed to look like, what’s included with the purchase and what the entire process entails. This particular situation is based on an actual event that happened about two years ago in Palm Coast, Florida. A long time customer contacted us to replace their garage door and wanted us to match a quote they have already received from another “company”. The price was ridiculously cheap for a brand new garage door with permit, etc. and we informed them that something was off with this quote, they should investigate it further, declined to match it and wished them well. Last year they were selling the home, tried to get ahold of the “company” that installed the “new” garage door, had no luck and reached out to ABS Garage Doors to address some issues found by a home inspector. What we found was this; C.H.I. brand garage door sections installed on 30 year old Overhead Door brand track. The rollers, hinges, struts, bolts and hardware were a mishmash of C.H.I. and 30 year old Overhead Door brand parts and of course the customer was told “ you don’t need a permit for a garage door” so the installation was an abomination. The homemade wind load sticker glued to the door with made up wind load pressures was the cherry on the top of this masterpiece. We could keep going but you get the idea. After finding all this out the homeowner showed the us the quote and let’s just say the reusing of 30 old garage door parts wasn’t listed on it. The moral of the story is you have to do your due diligence whether you are buying a new garage door, A/C system, roof any other major product for your home. The old Benjamin Franklin quote sums it up best; “The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.”
8. Take online reviews with a grain of salt.
In the days before the internet, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) was the place to go if you had something to say about a particular company. Since that time, various online search engines and sites have taken over this role and provided a space if you had an especially positive or negative experience. In the early days of these sites you could generally trust what was written and get a general idea of what it was like to do business with this organization. Unfortunately like the BBB before it, these sites have become a pay for play scheme designed not for useful feedback but provide bogus reviews and or only highlight the positive ones for a fee. When you see a company go from having 50 “Five Star Reviews” to 1.9 thousand in a 30 day span with not a single negative review you will know the reviews were bought and paid for. We are not saying to ignore reviews completely but read them with grain of salt and use the other factors mentioned here to make your final judgement on which company you choose to do business with.
9. Be mindful of the franchise.
Franchising is nothing new to the garage door industry, it’s been around for decades, but is it becoming more prevalent and there are some things you should keep in mind when you are dealing with this type of company. Before they install their first garage door the franchisee has to spend a tremendous amount of money purchasing their territory or area of business from the franchiser along with various equipment, etc. Technicians are sent to an academy where they are not instructed on how to repair anything but on how to upsell you the customer. Also the technician has a daily quota they have to meet and all this is recorded on a big board at the office that lists who the sales leaders are for the month. So are they technicians or sales people? The problem with this entire setup is the franchisee then has to bake all these costs into whatever they are selling. This is why a simple service call can quickly turn into a high pressure sales situation where a top of line garage door and opener is pushed but certainly not needed. And also why a comparable product or service from a franchise is 4-5 times more than what a family owned business like ABS Garage Doors charges.
10. 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, in their best interest. If you have any questions about any of this feel free to call us at 386-445-7047.