Beyond its primary function, as a place to park your vehicles, a garage also serves the aesthetic purpose. If you have a penchant for good property design, you will appreciate a good looking garage door. Residential garage doorscome in many avatars, from super cheap affordable variants to expensive carved wood beauties, so there is no dearth of choice.

Installing a garage door is quite simple these days. You can find specialized contractors, who deal only with garage door installations. You are always better off getting the work done by specialists, who focus on only one kind of service and do it very well. When you approach a contractor, you will typically get a few suggestions from him.

Materials  

Most people will simply choose the first residential garage doorsthat they set their eyes upon. However, depending on your needs, these doors come built with many materials. Some of the most prominent ones include:

1. Vinyl: This is the least expensive materials for garage doors. It is easy to buy and very light, which also makes it easier to maintain. That it is cheap doesn't mean it is of low quality. It is popular for a reason. Vinyl garage door installations are not easy to break and they provide a good deal of security. They are also quite durable.
2. Steel: Steel is one of the strongest materials for building structures and is well-known for many years. It is stronger as compared to vinyl and also a bit more expensive. However, if steel is what you want, then you won't be sacrificing anything, even if you have to pay more for it.
3. Wood:  This is by far the most flexible material. You can carve wooden garage doors any way you want. They can be colored to match the paint on your home's exteriors. Custom wooden garage doors are more expensive than steel or wood. They need to be taken care of very well. With wood, you need to be careful with the material. You need to get the right kind of wood that will be resistant to rain and extreme hot and cold weather. However, wood is also aesthetically, the most pleasing material for your residential garage doors.

Motor  

Depending on your budget and how big a garage you have, there are several kinds of motors that you can choose from. The larger your door, the bigger will be the motor because it requires more horsepower than a regular 3 car garage. There are several motor mechanisms too. For instance, you can use the belt based systems, which have been used for many years and are very reliable.

However, if you want a quieter garage door that doesn't make noise when you are opening or shutting, you can go for more efficient motors based on modern technologies. Garage door installations are common enough that there are expert services in every neighborhood. You can have a purely functional door system for a low price or an elegant solution that can be expensive.