• Header Slider
  • Slider 2
  • Slider 3
  • Slider 4
  • Slider 5
  • Slider 6

Residential Garage Doors
Sales, Installation, and Service
4300 Arthur Road
Martinez, CA 94553
Call: 925-357-9781

Call Now
925-208-4907

Tag: installation

garage door installation and maintenance

Garage Door Installation Challenges

Written on .

Many seasoned do-it-yourselfers embark on garage door installations, only to find themselves struggling through the process. This home project isn’t as straightforward as others. Installing a garage door can be quite a task, even for seasoned professionals. What garage door installation challenges might you encounter along the way?

Garage Door Installations Require Special Tools and Equipment

Garage door kits often lack installation hardware. Most Pleasanton homeowners don’t know where to get the missing parts – or exactly what they need. In addition, even the most experienced do-it-yourselfers typically find themselves lacking the specialty tools necessary for a safe installation, such as a counterbalance spring system, which professional installers know is essential for lifting heavy garage doors into position. 

Garage Doors are Large and Heavy

Garage doors are big, awkward, and heavy, ranging from 100 lbs. at a minimum to 300 lbs. or more for larger doors. Errors during removal or simply managing the door’s weight can result in serious injury. A husband-and-wife duo is not enough. Multiple people are necessary to remove and install a garage door.

Ordering the Right Track System is Tricky

To order the right track system for your San Ramon garage, you must determine the track’s length and radius. If you order and install the wrong track radius, you can seriously damage your garage door. Many homeowners also forget to order the track nuts and bolts, which are sold separately.

Some Garage Door System Components are Surprisingly Dangerous 

Those who are new to garage door installation are often ignorant of door spring and cable dangers. These system components can quickly unwind and launch during installation or when improperly secured, potentially causing severe injury. Stay safe – learn more about garage door spring dangers. Garage door springs and cables are best installed by a professional. 

Houses are Rarely Square

Each garage door component must be perfectly aligned to ensure proper support and smooth operation. The door opening on your Livermore home is likely out of square, making installation extremely challenging. Tracks must be perfectly level. Hinges, brackets, axle supports, and other hardware must be precisely measured and installed. Garage doors in systems that are just slightly out of alignment can bind, getting stuck in the track, or failing to fully open or close.

Improper Garage Door Opener Placement Can Cause Big Problems

When installing the garage door opener in your Alamo home, we always install the motor and lift assembly at the door’s exact center. Many homeowners install them off-center to avoid obstructions, but this could cause the door to buckle and bind in operation. The garage door opener you choose must also be able to manage the door’s weight and include necessary safety equipment.

You Have to Dispose of Old Doors

No one ever thinks of getting rid of their old garage door until it’s out. Huge, heavy doors are tough to toss or slide out of the way. Unless you have a large pickup and your Brentwood home is near a waste/recycling facility, the easiest way to dispose of your old garage door is to hire a reliable garage door company.

Keep it together and avoid garage door installation challenges with help from your friendly neighborhood pros. Contact Madden Door & Sons at 925-208-4907 and learn about our affordable garage door and installation services in Pleasanton, San Ramon, Livermore, Alamo, and Brentwood today.

challenges, garage doors, installation, safety, tips

carriage garage door

Would a Carriage Garage Door Look Good on Your Home?

Written on .

Carriage house garage doors are an extremely popular choice among our customers, and it’s easy to see why. Once used to secure barns housing carriages in the horse and buggy era, this classic, timeless option has returned to popularity in recent years. Though carriage style garage doors work well with many of today’s architectural styles, serving as a beautiful home accent, they are only one of many garage door styles and may not be the best solution for your home.

The Intricate Detail of Carriage Style Doors Can Overwhelm Some Home Styles

Classic carriage garage doors feature intricate woodwork, including cross planking, large handles, and windows across the top in various styles. Originally made from wood, contemporary options now include steel stamped carriage garage doors that open upward like modern garage doors with the help of a garage door opener. Would a carriage garage door look good on your home? We recommend considering the architectural style of your home before purchasing carriage doors to ensure long term satisfaction with your garage door purchase.

These Architectural Styles Work Best with Carriage Garage Doors

  • Tudor style
    Carriage garage doors add even more interest and beauty to the decorative half-timbering, uniquely shaped chimney, and high-pitched roof of a Tudor home.
     
  • Victorian style
    Our garage door specialists highly recommend carriage doors on a Victorian style home. Carriages were used for transportation in this era, making them a fitting choice. 

  • Craftsman and bungalow style
    The wood detailing, low rooflines, and covered porches of craftsman and bungalow-style homes pair well with carriage doors.

  • Spanish Colonial and Mediterranean style homes
    Spanish Colonia and Mediterranean style homes, which traditionally feature clay tiles, heavy wood, and iron detailing, are beautifully accented by the carriage door styles with prominent hardware.

These Styles Sometimes Work with Carriage Garage Doors

  • Ranch style
    If your ranch style home features ample greenery, window boxes, shutters, and wood detailing, carriage doors will work well. However, if it features modern windows, doors, and hardscaping, carriage doors may look out of place.

  • American Colonial style
    Carriage doors may work on America Colonial style homes with detached or side-load garages, however, if your garage is front-and-center, other options may fit better.

When to Avoid Carriage Style Doors

These architectural styles do not pair well with carriage style doors:

  • Mid-century modern styles
    It is better to accent your mid-century modern home with simpler garage door styles.

  • Contemporary styles
    Carriage doors are too intricate for the sleek, clean lines of contemporary designs.

Are you considering carriage style garage doors for your Alameda, Antioch, Blackhawk, Lafayette, Hercules, Richmond, San Pablo, or San Ramon home? Ensure beautiful finished results that pair well with your home’s architectural style. Contact a Madden Door & Sons garage door specialist to discuss replacement door ideas today.

carriage garage doors, custom garage doors, door styles, garage door designs, installation

Tailored Brown Emergency Garage Door at Madden in Danville, Livermore, CA

Cedar Garage Doors Provide a Handsome Home Appearance

Written on .

Cedar garage doors make a statement, serving as a visually stunning focal point for your home. Standing out from the competition, cedar garage doors from Madden Door & Sons provide a handsome home appearance, offering far more than just good looks.

Cedar Garage Doors Offer Many Benefits

Versatility
Cedar garage doors are among our most popular wood garage door options. Our customers are quick to fall for its classic good looks, unique natural color variations, and its ability to blend beautifully with many architectural styles. We can customize your cedar doors to special shapes and sizes, or add a distinctive touch with unique stains.

Durability
Cedar wood contains natural preservatives that resist moisture, decay, and insect infiltration, easily withstanding weather and sunlight exposure with regular sealing. Tough and lasting, they will not crack or dent.

Sustainability
Our cedar garage doors are an environmentally friendly, green choice. Cedar is renewable and biodegradable, absorbing greenhouse gasses as trees grow. A natural insulator, cedar doors can also improve your home’s energy efficiency, reducing heating and cooling use.

Enhance Your Home’s Curb Appeal with the Beauty of Natural Cedar

Madden Door & Sons offers many cedar garage door styles to complement your home:

  • Traditional cedar garage doors
    Our traditional cedar garage doors come in two options, including a raised panel design for texture and visual interest, and flat, solid paneled designs.
  • Contemporary cedar garage doors
    The sleek lines of our contemporary cedar garage doors make an impressive addition to modern home designs. Bedecked with windows, they pack a dramatic punch, flooding your garage with natural light.
  • Carriage-style cedar garage doors
    The intricate craftsmanship and timeless sophistication of carriage-style garage doors make them a popular choice. Ensure convenience with our popular roll-up designs, or add a distinctive touch with doors that roll outward.
  • Custom stain grade garage doors
    • Our cedar and wood garage doors offer nearly limitless customization possibilities. We can craft our custom stain-grade garage doors to work with non-level flooring, curving, or hillside locations. We can also match garage door arches to the opening of your new home, or incorporate them into your door design even if your opening is square at the top.

Cedar garage doors provide a handsome home appearance. Contact Madden Doors & Sons at 925-208-4907 to learn more about adding the stunning looks of cedar garage doors to your Hercules, American Canyon, Oakland, Pittsburg, or San Rafael home today.

carriage garage doors, cedar garage doors, custom garage doors, garage door designs, installation, wood garage doors

Horizontal Red Wood Installation Garage Door at Madden in Walnut Creek, Berkeley, Richmond, CA

Could Your Garage Door Need Structural Reinforcement?

Written on .

Does Your Door Need Reinforcement Struts?

Structural reinforcement is essential to ensuring your garage door system is safe. U-shaped struts, when added to your door via hinges or clips, stiffen your garage door, safeguarding it against bending and breaking, preventing binding when the door is in motion, and ensuring the long-term structural integrity of your door. However, every garage door installation is unique, and garage door reinforcements are not necessary in all situations. Does your garage door need structural reinforcement?

Your Garage Door Needs Structural Reinforcement in Specific Circumstances

  • Structural reinforcements support your door when it’s in the open position.
    Single doors for residential use typically don’t require struts unless they’re motor-driven. However, because larger, heavier doors over 10 feet wide and doors made of steel without added polystyrene or polyurethane insulation could bow without the proper structural reinforcements, our garage door installation professionals add struts to these larger, heavier systems for stability.
  • Doors in areas prone to high winds and hurricanes benefit from door reinforcement.
    Our experienced team understands that garage doors are the largest opening into your home and are most vulnerable to the high winds of intense storms, so we reinforce them to meet the challenges of area weather extremes.

Custom Design and Expert Installation Ensures Stability

Custom door design and expert installation by Madden Door professionals ensure a door that is safe, stable, and built to last. Our custom designed doors allow you to personally choose high-quality, sturdy materials that offer added structural stability for withstanding extreme weather, safeguarding your home and extending the lifespan of your garage door investment. We manufacture custom designs to any size or shape to offer solutions for challenging spaces, helping you maximize storage space and functionality of even the smallest garage.

Learn more about Madden Door & Sons customized garage door options.

Could your garage door need structural reinforcement? Ensure the door on your Livermore, Pleasanton, Walnut Creek, Vallejo, Richmond, Moraga, Lafayette, or Berkeley home is safe. Contact the experienced professionals at Madden Door & Sons at 925-208-4907 today.  

garage door styles, installation, maintenance, safety

How to Ensure a Quiet Garage Door

Written on .

Nix Garage Door Noise With these Tips from Madden Door

Is your noisy garage door interrupting your life? Needing to yell to be heard over the sound of your garage door or being woken up at inopportune times due to garage door volume can be frustrating. Luckily, there are a few ways you can reduce garage door noise with the help of the experts at Madden Door & Sons. 

5 Ways to Dampen Garage Door Noise

Door construction, component selection, and worn or broken parts all play a role in the amount of noise your garage door makes. What can you do about it?

  1. Design your door with the right components.
    Each of your door decisions affects decibel levels. To construct the quietest door possible, when changing or installing a new garage door opt for a rubber belt drive reinforced with steel rather than a noisy, chain-driven door, and an insulated sandwich-style door over a non-insulated door.
  2. Replace rollers.
    Worn rollers are usually the main culprit for door noise when they slide as opposed to rolling, which they were designed to do. Quieter black nylon rollers without ball bearings or white steel rollers encased in rigid nylon with 11 ball bearings can reduce noise.
  3. Add a vibration isolator.
    To prevent noise from being transferred through the structure of your garage, avoid attaching door tracks to roof trusses, muffling door sounds with an added vibration isolator between the door opener housing and metal hanger brackets on the ceiling. 
  4. Address loose or worn parts.
    Examine your garage door closely, checking for loose, worn, and broken parts, tightening and replacing components as needed.
  5. Grease the wheels.
    Lubricate wheels and other components, addressing metal parts like hinges and the spring system with a petroleum-based lubricant, and perimeter weather-stripping with a silicone-based lubricant to prevent sticking.

Time to tone it down? Ensure a quiet garage door in your El Cerrito, Fairfield, Lafayette, Oakland, Berkeley, Vallejo, Hercules, Walnut Creek, or Pleasanton home. Call Madden Door & Sons at 925-208-4907 and request a service appointment today.

garage door styles, installation, maintenance, safety

Call Now: 925-208-4907