Benefits of Glass Garage Doors
September 26, 2018When picking out a material for your garage door, glass is an option you probably questioned at first. Maybe you had never even heard of glass garage doors until you began researching. However, these doors are a rapidly growing trend — and for several good reasons. Not only are they sturdy and low-maintenance, they can also enhance your home’s curb appeal and transform your garage into a warm, inviting space.
If you’re wondering, “Should I get a glass garage door?” read on to learn about all the benefits glass garage doors can provide.
1. They Provide Natural Light
The first benefit of glass doors that comes to many people’s minds is their ability to let in natural light. Allowing the glow of sunlight to enter your garage can transform what feels like a dark and gloomy cave into a bright, warm living area you’ll want to start spending more time in.
It’s true you can also bring in light by cutting out a few panels from your door and installing windows, but this will only brighten your garage to a certain extent. A garage door that is transparent from top to bottom will bring significantly more sunlight into your space, and will allow you to perform more tasks without relying on artificial light.
Allowing in this natural light may also improve your quality of life: Studies have shown natural light improves health, boosts happiness and productivity and provides visual and mental stimulation your body needs to control your circadian rhythms. Even if you only spend a few minutes in your garage each day, this short period of exposure can positively impact your mood. Considering that average humans in modern cities spend more than 90 percent of their lives indoors, it is essential to get natural light while you’re inside.
If you are a business owner and are considering installing a glass garage door, this is an especially important point to consider. Giving your employees exposure to natural light will likely improve their health, morale and productivity.
2. They Allow You to Enjoy Your Surroundings
If beautiful nature, stunning landscapes or picturesque homes surround you, why block that view with a solid garage door? A glass door will allow you to enjoy that beauty, while still providing you with the same protection as a solid door. Being able to see an outdoor area will also make your interior space feel bigger.
The light streaming in through a glass door converts your garage from a dark storage space into a bright living space. Once your garage is full of the warm glow of sunlight, you will likely feel inspired to use it for other purposes: You could convert a section of all of your garage into a workshop, a gym, a greenhouse, a den or anything your heart desires. The options are practically endless.
If you’ve been thinking about adding a new room to your house, you can save time and money by converting your garage into the room you want.
4. They’ll Lower Your Electric Bills
Because glass doors allow natural light to enter, they will also help you save on energy costs, as you will not have to use electricity to light up your garage during the daytime.
And just because your doors are glass, that doesn’t mean they’re poor insulators. Many garage doors come with insulated glass panels, which will increase the energy efficiency of your home by keeping the heat outside during the summertime and inside during the wintertime.
Insulated glass consists of two pieces of glass sealed around the edges, with an air space between them. These are called “IG units,” and when they have reflective coatings, they are effective at conserving energy.
These garage doors also feature a vinyl bottom weather seal and capped tongue-and-groove joints to keep out the cold and other harsh elements.
5. They Increase the Curb Appeal and Value of Your Home
If you’re thinking about putting your home on the market, keep in mind a glass garage door can make your home much more attractive. Except for the roof, the garage door tends to be the most prominent feature on a home’s exterior, so having a new, modern door can significantly boost your home’s appeal to potential buyers, especially considering that glass garage doors are currently trendy.
As you might expect, an increase in your home’s curb appeal often means a boost to your home’s value. In fact, a 2016 report in Remodeling magazine ranked garage doors as one of the top five investments that increase your home’s resale value. The same report found a new traditional garage door produces a 90 percent return on investment for homeowners. If the new door is a modern, distinctive glass door, it could likely produce an even higher return.
You can achieve this increase in value with relatively little cost or effort. Especially when you consider how costly and time-consuming it is to install floor-to-ceiling windows, installing a garage door with glass from top to bottom is relatively affordable and easy.
6. They’re Highly Customizable
Glass garage doors are more customizable than you might expect. You can choose any color, style and finish you desire, which makes it easy to match the style of the door with the rest of your home. For instance, you could pick a bright style with opaque glass panels and white aluminum, or you could opt for a darker, rustic style with blacks and grays. There are also more distinctive and colorful options available.
Despite the name, glass garage doors are not 100 percent glass, since that would not be very practical. The panels are glass, held together by a metal framework, which is typically aluminum alloy or steel. This framework allows the door to fold as it opens and closes.
A great place to find a wide selection of high-quality glass garage doors is the Clopay® AVANTE® collection. These sleek, modern doors consist of glass panels and aluminum frames. The glass panel options vary widely in terms of transparency, and the option that is best for you will depend on your needs for light and privacy.
Here are the types of glass panels the collection offers:
- Clear glass
- Gray tinted glass
- Bronze tinted glass
- Mirrored glass
- Obscure glass
- White laminate glass
- Frosted glass or acrylic
- Clear acrylic
- Gray acrylic
- White acrylic
- Clear polygal
- Bronze polygal
- Clear anodized
And the aluminum frame that holds the panels is available in the following options:
- Clear aluminum
- Standard white
- Bronze
- Chocolate
- Black
- Dark bronze
- Cherry light finish
- Cherry dark finish
These doors come with a five-year warranty for the finish and a three-year warranty for the hardware.
7. They’re Strong and Durable
Although many may assume glass garage doors are fragile, they are reasonably strong due to their stable aluminum frame. In fact, they are often more durable than traditional garage doors made of wood or metal. They also have an integral reinforcing fin that contributes to their sturdiness.
Compared to many other materials, aluminum is much better at resisting dents and accidents, which may impact the garage door. Garages tend to be full of items, some of which may topple over and damage the door, but aluminum is particularly resistant to this type of damage.
On the outside, high winds and extreme weather can do a number on garage doors, but doors made of aluminum can easily endure these conditions as well. Aluminum also does not rust and is impervious to temperature changes, which is essential for a fixture that gets regularly exposed to heat, cold, rain and humidity.
8. They Can Withstand High Winds
If you live in a hurricane-prone region such as Texas, Florida or the Carolinas, you may be concerned a glass garage door cannot withstand hurricane-force winds. However, do not worry: The Avante collection includes Windcode® rated products, which are doors that have been designed to withstand winds up to certain speeds. Follow these steps to determine your home’s Windcode rating, which depends on factors such as your location and the structure of your home. Then, when shopping for a garage door, make sure to order a door with that rating.
If you buy any type of garage door that is not tested or wind-rated, the results can be catastrophic: High winds can rip it out during a storm, which will cause pressure inside the house to build up. Your home’s roof and supporting walls will ultimately blow out.
9. They Can Withstand Break-Ins
If you’re wondering, “Are glass garage doors safe?” rest assured the strength of these doors will also help prevent a break-in. The panels on some of these doors feature tempered glass, which is the type of glass found in cars. This material is four times stronger than normal glass, and can withstand pressures of up to 24,000 pounds per square inch. When broken, tempered glass does not break into shards, it shatters into millions of small pieces to greatly lower the chance of injuring anyone near the door at the time of the incident.
If you want to further reduce the chance of shattering, you can stick security film on the back of the panels. This way, if the glass gets broken, it will remain contained and not fall out. It would be much easier for a burglar to break in through a wooden garage door that has become weak from years of weathering.
10. They’re Low-Maintenance
Another advantage of doors that use aluminum is that they don’t require any extra coatings, as is the case with most wooden doors. Aluminum will always persevere. You will not have to worry about rust, corrosion and other problems traditional garage door materials face.
The only upkeep required is for the glass panels. You must clean them periodically with a regular glass cleaner to remove any handprints or smudges.
11. They Can Still Offer You Privacy
Some people fear glass garage doors will make them feel like they’re in a fishbowl and will allow passers-by to spy on them. Others may be concerned a transparent door will advertise their belongings to burglars — and let them know whether anyone is home with the presence of a car. Luckily, there are many types of glass available, such as frosted and tinted glass, that will maintain your privacy while still allowing light into your garage.
12. They Can Help Prevent a Tragedy
There is another, rarely discussed advantage of transparent glass garage doors: safety. When backing out of your garage, you can see exactly who is in the driveway even before opening the garage. If you have kids in your house, this is a particularly important point. Statistics reveal more than 50 children in the U.S. get backed over by cars every week — and many of these incidents involve a parent backing out of their garages and running over their children because they can’t see them. If you live in a neighborhood that doesn’t have a high risk of break-ins, transparent glass garage doors may be a wise decision.
13. Glass Garage Doors Aren’t Just for Garages
Most people associate garage doors with one area of the house: the garage. However, a recent trend has emerged that uses garage doors in different parts of the house as an “opening wall.” These doors get installed in areas of the house such as dining or entertainment rooms to provide a beautiful view of the outdoors and, when opened, give access to patios, pools and other recreational outdoor areas. They also have the effect of making a space feel bigger, especially if the room is on the small side. Another advantage of this type of makeover is that it doesn’t require any changes to the flooring.
Even some businesses have followed suit and installed these doors as a memorable way to grab customers’ attention and increase sales. Adding a glass garage door to the front of your business can provide the following benefits:
- Prominently advertise your best stuff. You can display your best merchandise right by the glass door to attract passers-by.
- Prominently display promotions. You can use it to hang banners and signs that advertise sales and bargains.
- It livens up your atmosphere. It allows abundant natural light to enter your store and brightens up the atmosphere. Most employees and customers prefer natural light over artificial.
- They won’t look weathered. The glass garage doors resist rusting and corrosion, so as long as you clean them regularly, your doors won’t make your business look unprofessional.
- They’ll help your business pop. The glass garage doors feature a sleek design that will help your business stand out.
Choose Halo Overhead Doors
If you or your company is searching for the perfect glass garage door in Houston, look no further than Halo Overhead Doors. We’re a family-owned, full-service garage door company that has been selling and repairing garage doors for more than 25 years. We can help you choose the perfect door or restore your current door.
A garage door is one of the most prominent features on your home’s exterior, so choosing the right one can have a significant impact on the curb appeal and value of your home. Let the experts at Halo Overhead Doors help you pick and install the right one for your budget and needs.
At Halo Overhead Doors, we strive to treat our customers well and offer them generous benefits such as the Gold Bar Warranty, which protects their investment for as long as they own their home. We also offer financing at 0 percent interest and are willing to match any written quote.
We Achieve Quality and Quantity
Our company prides itself not just on our experienced professionals, but also the quality of the products we sell. Clopay doors, with their exceptional strength and variety of style, are the gold standard of the garage door industry.
We are also proud of the size and variety of our product selection: We own the largest showroom in Houston, offer the most extensive selection of doors in town and are the only company in the city to offer high-end doors. We are confident we can find the one that best suits your home or business.
Halo Overhead Doors is Houston’s only Clopay Master Authorized Dealer. To earn this certification, we had to sell more than $500,000 of products and consistently maintain a growth rate of 25 percent in customer purchases. We believe this certification reflects not only our high standing in the Houston area as a garage door dealer, but also our demonstrated expertise with Clopay products.
Contact Us
For a free estimate on garage doors, repairs or installations, feel free to reach us by calling (713) 224-3667 or filling out our online contact form. We’d love to hear from you.