Installing a New Garage Door: Montreal-area Homeowner's Checklist

A new garage door is one of the highest-return cosmetic upgrades to a Montreal-area home — and one of the most commonly under-spec'd. Here's what to think about before you commit.

Insulated or not? Heated garage: R-12 minimum, R-16 to R-18 if it's a workshop or a bonus room above. Unheated detached garage: insulation is mostly for noise dampening and barely affects the heating bill — the cheaper non-insulated door is fine. Attached unheated garage with a bedroom or living space above: insulate, even if the garage itself stays cold; the door is part of the building envelope.

Steel, composite or aluminum-and-glass - **Steel (most installs)**: durable, cheap, paintable. Clopay Premium Series, Garaga Standard+, Steel-Craft Esteem are the workhorses. - **Wood-look composite**: looks like real wood, doesn't warp or rot. Clopay Canyon Ridge, Garaga Eastman E-22. Higher cost, much better curb appeal. - **Aluminum-and-glass**: modern look, lets light into the garage. Cooler in summer, colder in winter — usually paired with full insulation.

What gets replaced A real install isn't just "swap the panels". We replace tracks, hinges, rollers, cables, drums and the torsion spring sized to the new door weight. We re-balance and re-program your existing opener if it's healthy (under 12 years old). We don't reuse a 20-year-old track with rust eating the bottom 6" — that's a 6-month callback waiting to happen.

Timeline Single-car: 3–4 hours. Double-car: 4–6 hours. Add an hour if we're also installing a new opener. We haul away the old door and packaging — your driveway is clean when we leave.

What we won't do Install a door over rotted framing or an unlevel concrete floor without flagging it first. Both shorten the door's life dramatically and we'd rather lose the install than do it wrong.