If you live in San Diego, you know its coastal climate is much different than many other areas throughout the country. Your home goes through a lot, including sea spray, high winds, and UV radiation. All of these factors can drastically affect the overall lifespan of your garage door.
Dealing with Saltwater Sprays
Saltwater is one of the biggest problems of living in a coastal climate. Salt is well known to cause unwanted corrosion on a wide variety of materials. For this reason, you want to ensure you invest in a garage door material that will resist corrosion in this type of environment.
Fiberglass
Fiberglass is a lightweight, low-maintenance material that is very resistant to corrosion. You may also hear it referred to as glass resin polyester, or GPR for short. Fiberglass doors are known to be dent-resistant and are available in various colors and styles to fit your needs.
Aluminum
Another material that is very resistant to saltwater corrosion is aluminum. This simply comes down to the fact that aluminum has a very small amount of iron, and iron is the compound that causes rust. Aluminum doors are very lightweight and durable and are available in a wide variety of colors to match your home’s exterior aesthetics.
Vinyl
Vinyl is a very popular garage door material for coastal regions due to its resistance to rust, warping, and rot. Vinyl is a very durable plastic with a UV-resistant coating that won’t fade in the sun. It’s also very lightweight and available in many different styles and colors.
Glass
One type of garage door that you may not think about often is glass. These are more modern doors that can introduce natural light into your garage space. Glass doors are typically constructed with an aluminum frame that is resistant to corrosion by saltwater. Have the glass tinted if you still want privacy for your garage while allowing light in.
Wood
One material that isn’t recommended for coastal garage doors is wood. Wood is very susceptible to warping and rotting, and with your door constantly sprayed with salt water, wood simply doesn’t last very long. It’s important to note that some very high-quality wood doors can withstand a coastal climate if they receive proper upkeep. However, these doors tend to be very expensive for the average homeowner.
Wood Composite
If you’re interested in the look of wood doors, you may want to consider doors made from wood composite. These doors are made from recyclable materials, including wood fibers. The beauty of wood composites is they’re resistant to moisture, rot, and even insects. You can enjoy the look of natural wood while having a virtually maintenance-free garage door.
Steel
Traditionally, steel wasn’t a preferable garage door material for coastal climates due to its ability to rust quickly. Some more modern steel garage doors are manufactured with an anti-corrosive coating, making them more suitable for coastal areas. If you prefer a steel garage door due to its durability, you’ll want to ensure you’re purchasing one with the necessary anti-corrosive coating.
Excessive UV Radiation
It’s no surprise that if you spend the day near water, you’re going to be more likely to get a sunburn than if you were away from the water. This is because UV radiation comes down directly from the sun, and the ocean also reflects it. This causes your garage door to undergo an excessive amount of UV exposure.
UV-Resistant Coating
It’s important to invest in a UV-resistant coating to prevent your door from fading due to this UV exposure. Even using reflective paint can go a long way in helping to reduce the amount of radiation your door undergoes on a normal day. To prevent heat transfer from your garage door into your garage space, you should consider choosing a lighter color for your garage door. Lighter colors will absorb less heat from the sun.
Proper Insulation
It’s commonplace for homeowners in colder climates to invest in insulated garage doors to keep heat in during winter. However, the same logic can be applied to coastal climates during the summertime. Investing in an insulated garage door will help keep your precious cold air inside your garage instead of letting the hot outdoor weather heat it up. While there are many different insulation levels, studies have shown that a simple R-18 insulated door can keep a garage up to 25 degrees colder in the summertime.
High Winds
No doubt, living near the ocean leaves your garage susceptible to high-force winds occasionally. For this reason, it’s very common for many local coastal area building codes to require impact and wind-resistant garage doors. Typically, the code will outline a specific minimum wind load rating for approval for a garage door.
If you live in a coastal area that experiences hurricane-force winds each year, it’s important to invest in hurricane-rated garage doors. These tend to have features like reinforced panels and beefier hardware to ensure the door remains in place during the worst weather conditions.
If you live in an area prone to storms and wind that surpasses 50 mph, it’s important to have garage doors that can withstand strong winds and flying debris. Local building codes require these doors to withstand high wind speeds, often over 130 mph, and resist impact from objects tossed around during storms. These standards are in place to protect homes from damage and keep everyone safe during severe weather.
Door Styles
Various door styles are on the market, each offering homeowners aesthetic benefits. Sectional garage doors are the most common type in coastal areas. They have multiple rectangular sections that hinge together so the door can be raised overhead on roller tracks.
Side-to-side doors are another prominent door style that uses lower trolleys to move the door completely to one side of the garage. This is ideal for situations where you don’t have a lot of overhead ceiling room for a sectional-style door. Lastly, we have the retractable garage door, which is ideal for garages with a lot of ceiling space. These doors lift completely up and into your garage. There are no folding sections on these solid doors.
A Note on Maintenance
It’s important to realize that your garage door will only be as great as the maintenance it receives. Just because you have a rust-resistant door doesn’t mean all the parts and hardware for the door opener and its tracks are rust-resistant. They tend to be susceptible to rust buildup over time and need to undergo frequent cleaning. It’s best practice to have a garage door professional assess, clean, and lubricate your garage door rail and other moving components yearly.
Reliable Garage Door Installation Service
ADS Automatic Door Specialists offers reliable garage door installation services to San Diego, CA, community members. We’ll be more than happy to assist with all your gate, commercial, garage door repair, and garage door maintenance needs. Call us today to schedule your next consultation with one of our garage door specialists.
