In summer, your garage door provides security for your belongings and enhances the look of your home, boathouse, or business. But in winter it provides another critical service: keeping the cold out of a heated interior space. Or at least it should. A poorly chosen, badly insulated, or poorly maintained door can feel like a ten-foot-wide hole in the wall, letting in cold, building up frost, and even allowing snow to drift in around the edges.
“The difference between a quality, insulated door and a cut-price one can be huge in terms of winter performance,” says Jacob Schneider, owner of Canadoor Garage Doors.
A good door can have an R value of 16 to 18, compared to R-4 for one with minimal insulation. “That’s the difference between a comfortable garage or workshop and one where you need to wear your coat,” Jacob notes.
Even if you don’t spend much time in the garage in winter, your wallet will notice the difference a good door makes: the cost of heating a poorly insulated space can be significant, meaning a good door more than pays for itself over time. When you’re spending good money to heat your garage – perhaps for a heated floor or to keep that prized classic car or a new snowmobile in a protected environment – it’s vital that you’re not letting all that heat escape right through a bad door. Investing in a high R-value door is an investment in energy savings, keeping your winter toys protected, and ensuring a warm workspace.
Jacob explains that Canadoor maintains an extensive showroom precisely so that people can see the difference a quality door makes. “The differences in the level of insulation and the precision of the fit and trim become obvious as soon as you see one of these doors.”
Winter service is critical
Of course, choosing the right door is only part of the equation. It also needs to be installed properly and maintained regularly.
Winter is the time that garage door problems are most likely to arise. The extreme cold creates a perfect storm for mechanical failure: metal parts shrink in the nighttime cold and expand on sunny, milder days; dirt and old grease become thick with the chill; frost builds up around poorly maintained seals.
“It all puts added stress on the doors,” explains Andrea Dawson, residential garage specialist with Canadoor. “So, a door that would have worked in summer – perhaps making some noise, but still operating – suddenly stops working. And now you can’t get the car out, or you have snow blowing in”.
This is why, not surprisingly, “a lot of new customers come to us in the winter, because they need service help,” she says. “It’s minus 20, and suddenly their garage door won’t open or close, or is stuck halfway”. A stuck door is never good, but in winter, it’s particularly nasty.
When you’re dealing with a frozen or non-functional door, you need help fast. Canadoor’s team has more than 16 technicians serving the Barrie area alone, with many more working as far north as Sudbury, which means they can dispatch help quickly – often the same day.
Technicians go through a rigorous training process, including several months of apprenticing alongside a more experienced colleague, to ensure they can handle any situation that may arise. The goal is to get your door back up and running right away.
Planning ahead
While technicians can quickly repair the damage or replace the door, the best way to prevent a winter breakdown in the first place is through regular maintenance. An annual inspection, cleaning, and lubrication of all moving parts will extend the life of a garage door by years.
While homeowners are quite capable of doing this work themselves – Canadoor’s team can even show you how to do it – the reality is that few of us will make the time to do it. Scheduling an annual check-up can save you from a cold-weather emergency.
Beyond maintenance, winter is the perfect time to start planning home and cottage upgrades. Did your boathouse door make a terrible squealing noise last summer? Did your cottage garage door feel drafty every time you stored your gear? Now is the time to start gathering quotes and selecting the perfect door for next season.
If you travel south for the winter, this is also a great opportunity to use your time away efficiently. You can schedule new installations or major service while you are out of the country, ensuring the work gets done while your property is vacant and protected.
Whether you’re looking for superior insulation to save on heating costs, rapid service to fix a winter breakdown, or simply planning for a beautiful, new spring installation, Canadoor Garage Doors has the products and the team to help.
TEXT A. WAGNER-CHAZALON
