Here is the final installment in our Transform Your Home: Garage Door Before and After Makeover series. We hope the versatility in home styles and projects has inspired ideas on ways to enhance your own home’s curb appeal this spring. If so, share your photos with us on Facebook at facebook.com/clopaygaragedoors.

Garage Door Makeover #3: San Jose, CA.

Within two years of moving into their San Jose home, Angela Ondo and her husband had managed to tackle a kitchen remodel and some minor backyard landscaping projects, but the front exterior remained untouched. The 1947 Cape Cod house definitely had charm but it was hidden behind a gloomy gray paint color, and the old, original wooden garage door with a single spotlight above.

As the Transform Your Home contest grand prize winner, the Ondos received a personal in-home consultation from designer Chayse Dacoda, a new Clopay semi-custom Reserve Collection garage door installed, $500 in exterior lighting fixtures, paint and $5,000 toward the cost of repainting their home.

“All of the items awarded in the contest are exactly what we needed to revive the home’s exterior character,” says Ondo. “It’s amazing how minor cosmetic changes can yield such big improvements to a home’s curb appeal.”

Reserve Collection Garage Door

Homeowners looking for ways to make their house “green” shouldn’t overlook the hardest working door in the house – the garage door. As the largest moving part on a home, the garage door plays an important role in energy efficiency and sustainability – two important criteria in green building design.

Green building is about reducing environmental impact. With an average life cycle of 15 to 20 years, investing in a durable garage door that can withstand the rigors of daily use is money well spent for your home and the environment. Long-lasting products help reduce the impact of manufacturing and building on the environment, as well as distribution fuel costs and general waste.
When shopping for a door that is built to last look for galvanized torsion springs, 3-layer galvanized steel construction, a baked-on paint finish that resists fading and peeling, and CFC-free insulation.

Insulated steel and composite polymer “faux wood” doors are becoming popular alternatives to real wood doors for two reasons: they are more energy efficient, and the construction material is UV resistant and impervious to moisture, meaning it won’t rot, warp or crack. Therefore, the door won’t need to be refurbished or replaced as frequently as one constructed from natural materials.

Energy Efficiency
An insulated garage door can help reduce household energy consumption if you have an attached garage. Since attached garages typically share one or two common walls with the house, any hot or cold air that travels through a door will ultimately reach the adjacent living areas. An insulated garage door can help stabilize temperatures in the garage to reduce heat losses or gains from common house walls.

Replacing an older garage door with a new, energy efficient model can reduce energy loss through the garage by up to 71%, and keep an unheated garage 10 -20 degrees warmer on a cold winter day, according to a study conducted by engineers at Clopay Building Products, a garage door manufacturer.

Three-layer steel garage doors featuring environmentally safe, CFC-free, polyurethane insulation foam injected between two sheets of steel typically offer the highest R-values. R-value is a measurement of thermal efficiency of a door, or how well it insulates. The higher the R-value, the more energy efficient the door is.

Sustainability
In coastal areas or regions where high winds are common, the garage door is a critical element in protecting a home during a storm. Because of their size, garage doors are more susceptible to wind damage than other exterior openings – especially two-car garage doors. Unless you have a tested, reinforced door installed, high winds can force it out of the opening. The loss of a garage door can cause internal pressure to build up, resulting in a total blowout of the roof and supporting walls – similar to an explosion.

Investigate local building requirements and make sure your door meets them.

Replacing an older garage door with a new, energy efficient model can reduce energy loss through the garage by up to 71%, according to a comparison study conducted by Clopay engineers. But don’t just take our word for it.

Here's what Clopay customers have to say about their residential garage door upgrade:

M. Seskis in Independence Missouri writes:

“We decided to replace our garage doors for energy efficiency with an emphasis on R-Value, and chose the Clopay 9200 Elegant Short Series, with three-layer construction, in white with Colonial windows. The result is night and day. When I checked the thermometer in our garage the temperature was 63 degrees in our garage at 6:30am and outside 21 degrees, with a wind chill making it feel like 9 degrees. We continue to maintain 63 degrees in our garage.”

BEFORE AFTER

K. Kleman, Holmes NY says:

“The old garage doors were t he original 20-year old pressed board doors and didn't provide any real insulation keeping the garage, and the room above, very cold. We decided on the 3-layer insulated doors with Palladian windows as we have similar windows on the front of the house. The temperature difference in the garage is already noticeable. As the sun rises on that side of the house even in winter, the windows also brighten up the garage.”

BEFORE AFTER

It’s time to tally up those documents and receipts and get ready for the April 15th tax deadline.  Don’t leave money on the table. If you purchased an energy efficient garage door last year, you can enjoy major savings on your 2009 federal return.

The tax credit is equal to the sum of 30 percent of all qualified energy saving improvements installed in an existing home from January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2010. So, if two new garage doors cost $2,000, the applicable homeowner tax credit is $600.

The credit applies to the product only (not labor) and the maximum credit for all of the improvements combined is $1,500.

A tax credit is more valuable than an equivalent tax deduction because it reduces tax dollar-for-dollar, while a deduction only decreases the amount of income that is taxed.

Garage doors must meet the following criteria to qualify:

• The door must be an insulated residential garage door placed in service from January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2010.  
• The door must have a U-factor equal to or less than 0.30 and there must be a means to control air filtration at the door perimeter.  
• The door must be expected to remain in service for at least five years.
• The garage must be an insulated space and part of the taxpayer’s principal U.S. residence.

 
Professional garage door dealers and retailers should provide a manufacturer’s certification statement for all qualified insulated garage doors along with a breakdown of the cost of the door(s) and the cost of labor at the time of installation. You do not need to submit it with your tax return, but should keep a copy for your records.

If you’re newly in the market for a garage door upgrade, you can take advantage of the tax savings as well. Just install a qualifying garage door model before December 31, 2010.

 Here are some things to look for when making an upgrade:

• 2”- thick three-layer  - ”sandwich” construction – environmentally safe, CFC-free insulation layered between two sheets of heavy-duty galvanized steel. 
• R-value or U-factor – these are measurements of the thermal efficiency of a garage door’s insulation. The higher the R-value, or the lower the U-factor, the more energy efficient the door.
• Insulation type – There are two different types of garage door insulation: expanded polystyrene and polyurethane. Doors constructed from either type qualify for the Energy Tax credit, and both are strong and durable.
• Design – Get the most out of your garage door upgrade. Choose a model that complements your home’s architectural style.

 
More details are available at www.clopaydoor.com and www.energystar.gov.