The garage door to your home is the largest moving part of the entire structure and prominently faces the street. In short, choosing the right one is a big deal. When it comes to making this decision, you’ll have to choose between two single doors or one large double door.
The following are some important details to consider when choosing something so important.
What is the size of your garage?
Whether your home is going to have an attached or detached garage garage, it needs to be at least 18 feet (5.5 meters) wide and no less than 22 feet (6.7 meters) long if it’s going to fit two cars.
These dimension demands change a bit, though, if you want two single doors for your garage. It will need to be at least 22 feet wide if you want two garage doors that are 8′ x 7′. Some of you may want a bit more on the sides, though. 8′ x 7′ garage doors are very popular. Two of them side by side will demand that the garage be at least 22 feet wide.
Of course, you could go even wider still with doors that are roughly 9′ (2.7 m) wide. In that case, the garage must be at least 24 feet (7.3 m) wide. If you plan on putting an access door on the front of the garage – as opposed to the side – then you’ll need even more room there.
Obviously, a big part of these considerations is factoring in the size of the vehicle you plan on owning. SUVs, vans, trucks and small RVs will need a lot more space than sedans and motorcycles.
You’ll most likely want ample storage space on either side as well. Give yourself plenty of room to open the doors of your vehicles too.
With the technical aspects covered, you will, of course, have to think about your budget too. First, though, let’s look at some other practical points.
Climate
Two single doors will decrease the amount of cold air that is allowed into your garage. As a result, if you heat your garage between 45 and 50°F, your utility bill will be better for going with two doors over one.
Likewise, if you live in a more humid climate, the reduction in humidity will serve your AC bill nicely.
Possible malfunctions
Another very simple point to think about is what will happen in the event of a garage door malfunction. If you have one single door, a malfunction means both your cars are stuck. With two doors, one breaking down doesn’t stop the other from working.
Owning more than two vehicles
If you own three compact cars or two and a motorcycle and wish to park all three in the garage, having one large door is ideal. Trying to park all three in a garage with two doors will be nearly impossible and, at the very least, extremely time-consuming to do.
The triple garage door
We should also touch on the fact that triple garage doors are an option. These tend to show up where land is cheaper. These versions combine the double‑door (16 feet) and single-door versions (9 feet).
Usually, the smaller of the two doors is used to park ATVs, motorcycles, fishing boats, etc. Generally, it takes at least 900 ft.2 (84 m2 ) to build one of these.
Thinking about appearances
As we touched on at the beginning, your home’s garage is extremely prominent, so the way it will look to passersby must be considered. Any architect will tell you that two single doors are more aesthetically pleasing. A large, double door grabs attention but at the cost of the rest of the architecture going ignored.
That being said, if you want to go with the double door, a simple pergola can do wonders for softening the look considerably. Other visual features that will help would be two large pots of plants or flowers on either side of it. A trellis that allows plants to grow over the top of the door would work well too.
Price check
If you compare two single doors to one double door, the costs are going to be about the same. What increases the price more than anything is a second electric garage door opener. There is also the price for carpenters to build a narrow wall between the two doors if you decide on choosing them over the double door option.
Also, it might be worth pointing out that a double door doesn’t require a more powerful opener. The door should weigh between 8 and 10 pounds (3.5 to 4.5 kg) and, obviously, it needs to be well balanced with a spring system that is able to do the work.
The garage door opener motor only does what you would be able to do manually with just a single hand. Still, be careful. Garage door openers can also lift a lot more weight, which means they can also push down that same amount. Watch your feet, hands and anything else that could get in the way.
Concluding thoughts
Hopefully, the above has helped you with your decision. However, you can always contact us at 724-834-8450 to learn more about your options or get started with the build. We can explain this topic more in depth or go over your options for door openers, colors, etc.
Feel free to request a free online quotation too. Another helpful resource we provide is our Design Centre that shows people what their home will look like with various garage door options. There is also an image gallery to help you brainstorm ideas.
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