When you’re building a new house or remodeling your old house, your garage door plays a major part in determining your home’s overall look. Along with pleasing aesthetics, it should be big enough to fit the required vehicle.
One of the first steps before installing a garage door is to review the standard garage door sizes. You would need to take many things into account to determine the garage door sizes, such as garage door opening, height from floor to ceiling, headroom and side room space, and garage depth. After finding out the right dimensions, you can start choosing from different standard garage door sizes.
Standard Garage Door Sizes
The standard garage door sizes are distinguished into the single garage door and double garage door. If you wish to install a garage door with different dimensions, you can look for custom garage door options.
Single Garage Door
A single garage door can accommodate a single small vehicle at a time. Cars, golf carts, and motorcycles are few examples of vehicles that can easily enter a single garage door.
The standard single garage door size is 8 to 9 ft. wide and 7 to 8 ft. high. However, you can slightly increase the dimensions up to 10 ft. wide. These garage door dimensions tend to be the same for an attached as a detached garage.
Double Garage Door Size
The double garage door size offers a maximum width to allow more than two vehicles at a time. It’s perfect for homeowners with two cars. The standard size for a double garage door is 16 ft. wide and 7 to 8 ft. high.
Many double garage doors are designed with single 8-foot garage door bays, separated by a central post or column. Many modern double garage doors are designed with the size from 16 ft. to 20 ft. width.
Although two-car garage doors and double doors have comparable prices, two single doors each require a garage door opener and separate insulation. In contrast, a double door will only require one opener and insulation.
Custom Garage Door Size
Any garage door size that doesn’t fit the standard dimension of either single or double garage door sizes is called custom garage door size. The offered door height can be 10 ft. more to accommodate large vehicles. The type of vehicle will determine the unusual dimensions of garage door sizes. A large truck, recreational vehicle, or RV could require custom garage door sizes.
Single vs. Double Garage Door
Although each type of garage door has its own benefits and drawbacks, the size of your home, family, and garage size will greatly determine the type of garage door to install.
- A double garage door can accommodate more than one vehicle, which can be useful when you invite your guests.
- A misconception about double doors is that they require double horsepower garage door openers. This isn’t necessarily true because most of the work is done by garage door springs. For the double garage door, the springs may need to be larger.
- The garage door serves as the most frequent entrance to the home. With two garage doors, you can use one door to get in if the other is out of service.
- A single garage door is easy to insulate than a double or two single garage doors. A small garage size also means more heat is preserved inside.
Standard Garage Door Thickness
The thickness and material used can greatly determine the cost of the standard garage door.
- Steel garage doors boast of steel or aluminum panels of as little as 1/8 inches. Although very cost-effective, it offers little insulation.
- Insulated garage doors have 1/4 to 1/2-in. Foam insulation on the inside. Most modern insulated doors have two panels with 1 to 1 1/2-in. thick layers of foam inside the steel panels.
- Things to Consider before choosing a Garage Door
- Is bigger always better? No, a bigger garage door weighs heavier and will require a track, hardware, and automatic opener made to support the weight.
- The “rough opening” of a garage door is always bigger. It’s the size of the opening before the finished framing is applied. The finished framing should be the same size as your garage door.
- When installing a garage door, you would need to consider the insulation. Whether it’s a single or double garage door, you’d need to keep the insulation in mind.
- Regardless of the garage door’s height and width, the construction, insulation, and finish options for any garage door remain the same.