Glass garage doors give your home a brighter and more attractive appearance. Halo Overhead Doors can provide you with all the custom glass options you want on beautiful Clopay® garage doors in the Houston area. Our knowledgeable staff is here to help you find the perfect garage door solution based on your style, budget, and home’s specifications. If you’re interested in a modern glass garage door but aren’t 100% sure if it’s the right choice for you, we’re here to help! We’ve brought together the most popular questions we’ve received about glass doors so that you can find the answers you need quickly.

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Pros and Cons of Glass Garage Doors

glass garage doors

Glass garage doors have emerged on the market as a modern take on a classic feature for homes. Some only associate them in businesses, having seen commercial glass garage doors used as space separators in trendy restaurants or at mechanics shops. This garage door design trend is moving into homes to update their look and improve curb appeal. Like any significant change to your house’s appearance, you must carefully consider both the advantages and the disadvantages of glass garage doors before making the choice that’s best for your residence.

If you live in the Houston area, your concerns will include questions that those in other parts of the country don’t need to worry about, such as strength in hurricanes and insulation against sweltering summers.

Common Questions on the Benefits of Modern Glass Garage Doors

Benefits of Modern Glass Garage Doors

Garage doors have come a long way from the simple wooden structures of the last century. Today’s glass doors can add a modern aesthetic to your home. Whether you’ve seen these types of garage doors on houses in your neighborhood or home improvement shows, you likely have many questions about them. It’s one thing to see an interesting design element on a home and a whole other thing to invest in it yourself.

Many people wonder how practical glass is as a garage door material, especially when they’re making a long-term investment in their homes by buying a new door. For the Houston area, residents may be concerned about weather resistance and local appeal. For new constructions and existing homes, the choice of garage door matters more than you think. Now is the time to learn about the many benefits of glass garage doors.

1. Do Glass Garage Doors Add Curb Appeal?

Your garage door could account for 30% or more of the curbside view of your home, depending on your property’s size and the garage’s orientation. Since the garage door takes up such a large percentage of the exterior, it can have a dramatic effect on your house’s look.

Sleek contemporary garage doors can complement or contrast the modern design style. If your home has numerous windows to admit light, integrating a glass garage door will provide balance and add to the trend you’ve already started. You can even select colors for the frame of a glass door to go with your home’s existing color scheme.

The reason you want increased curb appeal may extend beyond having a great-looking home. At night, few things can brighten your house like lit windows. The light coming through glass garage doors will give your home a warm glow after dark, making it look more inviting at all hours of the day.

2. Can Glass Garage Doors Maximize Living Space With Natural Light?

Garages are increasingly becoming secondary living spaces. Whether you want to convert your garage into a game room or home office, enhancing the amount of natural light in the area will reduce the electricity needed to illuminate the area.

You can even customize the amount of sunlight your garage door allows into the room. Full-view glass garage doors admit the most amount of light. If you want to increase privacy, opt for frosted or mirrored panels. You can choose from multiple glass options that allow varying amounts of natural light into your garage while helping you customize your level of privacy.

3. Are Glass Garage Doors Strong Against the Elements?

Living in Houston, it’s not a matter of if you experience a storm, but when. Everything from spring tornadoes to summer thunderstorms to fall hurricanes can strike, lashing wind and debris against your home. Many people feel concerned about the strength of glass doors in the face of windstorms in southeast Texas.

The AVANTE® garage doors from Clopay allow for customization based on your lifestyle and weather needs. For windstorm protection, you can opt for extra strength built into the door based on where you live. Because Harris County is so large, your home may require doors to stand up against wind speeds between 115 and 150 miles per hour.

The closer you live to the coast, the higher the wind speeds your garage door must withstand. Your location plays a vital role in the wind code rating you need for your garage doors. The surrounding area will also help you choose the score for your garage door. If you need help with this calculation, ask us at Halo Overhead Doors.

4. Are Low-Maintenance Glass Garage Doors Available?

Maintenance should factor into any fixture you have installed on your home. For garage doors, you have several options, some of which require more care than others. If you fail to care for wooden doors properly, their paint may fade, and the wood could splinter. Ill-cared-for metal doors may rust when exposed to the elements. Glass offers the benefit of requiring little maintenance, especially compared to other garage door materials. To clean the glass doors, use a soft cloth.

Don’t worry about the frame surrounding the glass either. We offer commercial-grade aluminum framing. This material resists rust and comes in numerous colors. You won’t have to deal with splinters, rusting or wear with a glass garage door.

When it comes to changing your home’s appearance, you don’t need to repaint or engage in any other heavy-effort task. A new door covering your garage will transform your home’s appearance and require less upkeep than a new paint job on your home’s trim, wooden garage doors or other renovation options. As a result, you’ll add value to your home without needing to commit to a renovation that will require extensive maintenance.

5. Can I Choose Different Colors?

Color is essential in choosing garage doors to complement the appearance of your home. We offer standard colors for the aluminum framing and matching handle. Options include:

  • Bronze
  • Brown
  • White
  • Clear anodized, or protective coating
  • Bronze anodized
  • Black anodized

In addition to these standard colors, you can also choose Color Blast® customized colors. You are the artist of your home’s appearance, and customizing your garage door is a small but crucial part of creating your masterpiece.

Along with selecting the right colors for your home, you’ll also have control over the appearance of the glass. You can choose clear glass, mirrored, frosted or other types to better balance the look of your home with your garage door.

6. Do Glass Garage Doors Have Lasting Investment Value?

In 2021, upscale garage door replacements, such as glass models, rose to the top of the list of home renovations and their value. Depending on the market, upscale garage doors added more than their purchase price to the value of the home, averaging 93.2% in the region in return on investment. This value was an increase from 2020 of 91.1%.

Compared to other exterior renovations, high-end garage doors cost less and had a more significant impact on the home’s value. Exterior projects helped raise curb appeal, which explained why most exterior projects ranked higher than interior ones. Among projects ranking in the top 13, 10 were exterior renovations, with a new garage door at the top of the list. Yes, new garage doors show an increase in the return on investment you’ll experience, and if history shows correctly, that ROI will continue to rise over the years.

Besides the financial aspect and ROI of glass garage doors, your new garage door will add value to your home because of the other benefits it provides:

  • Boosts curb appeal: An all-glass custom overhead door can improve your home’s style by giving it a unique, one-of-a-kind look. Owners of contemporary-style homes prefer this garage door material because of its sleek appearance. When it’s time to sell your home in the future, potential homebuyers may place a higher offer.
  • Makes your garage space more open: You may use your garage to store your vehicle, or you’ve converted it into an office or workspace. Having a glass garage door brings more natural light into your garage to make it warmer and more inviting. You can get more out of your overall property by bringing natural light to an otherwise darker part of the home.
  • Protects your home from weather damage or theft: Glass garage door panels contain tempered glass that’s as durable and strong as aluminum or wood. A new garage door made of glass can enhance your home’s security to give you peace of mind and protect your valuables from theft and damage. While garage doors made from other materials may need to be replaced after a few years, a glass garage door with weather protection will last a long time.
  • Maintains its appearance without paint: Many garage door materials need to be painted every couple of years to update their appearance. Glass panels, on the other hand, don’t need to be painted. All they need to maintain their appearance is a soft cloth and glass cleaner every few months. As a result of this low-maintenance garage door material, you’ll save money in maintenance over time.

Concerns About Glass Overhead Doors

Concerns About Glass Garage Doors

While glass garage doors have multiple benefits, they also have some perceived drawbacks. Some of these concerns, however, are based on myths or notions about older, less efficient garage door models. You can mitigate some problems through the choices you make before having the doors installed. How much these minor factors affect your choice comes down to whether the drawbacks outweigh the advantages of installing glass doors. Only you can answer that question for your home.

1. Will Glass Garage Doors Reduce My Home’s Privacy?

If you want to use your garage as a living space, privacy will become a factor in choosing the right door. However, with glass doors, you do not have to choose full-view/see-through clear glass. You have several options for glass types and opacity selection. If you still want the look of glass without allowing the neighborhood to see inside your garage, consider choosing a more private option like frosted, mirrored or tinted glass.

Along with privacy, the security of glass doors often comes up. Luckily, you can choose tempered glass, which increases the strength of the material, decreasing the chances of it breaking. The extra strength of the tempered glass will also help to protect your home in a windstorm.

Privacy is critical, especially if you live in a neighborhood with homes close together. However, safety is just as important. Let us help you find the right balance between these factors for your home’s garage doors, whether you choose glass or another material.

2. How Well-Insulated Are Glass Garage Doors?

If you’ve been in Houston for any length of time, you know two things about the weather — winters are mild, and summers are unbearable. While other parts of the country require means of keeping their homes tightly closed to protect against freezing temperatures in winter, in Houston, homeowners don’t have that problem. However, residents know that summer heat can sap energy and raise electric bills.

Rarely does a summer go by in this region without at least one day where the thermometer reaches 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Typically, the days show temperatures in the 90s with high humidity. The last thing you want is to raise the cost of cooling your home by allowing heat inside.

Because glass allows the sun’s light and heat inside, you may feel like you’re turning your garage into a greenhouse. Fortunately, this scenario does not need to be the case if you choose insulated garage doors. Yes, even glass doors can have insulation incorporated into them to protect your home from extreme temperatures and increase energy efficiency.

To get the most from your insulated door, also add insulation to the walls and ceiling of the garage. If you have an attached garage, insulating it will prevent the heat or cold that collects in the space from affecting the temperature inside your home. Adding insulation also makes it easier to convert the garage into a living area, whether you want to use it seasonally or all year long.

3. Are Glass Garage Doors Expensive?

Are Glass Garage Doors Expensive?

When you’re comparing prices for how much glass garage doors cost, you should also consider how the new garage door will affect your home’s value. Anything that increases your home’s worth can raise the amount you’ll sell the house for in the future. Your home is an investment that should grow over the years, but renovations can increase that growth even more. They’re also great ways to boost your home’s resell value in the months before putting it on the market.

On average, a new garage door costs a little less than $4,000 in the Houston area. Though a glass garage door tends to be more expensive than one of a different overhead door material, it has a contemporary curb appeal that’s sure to yield a high return on investment. Choose a sturdy, secure overhead door to make better use of your money.

Whether you want to sell your home now or invest in a product to enjoy for years to come, a glass garage door is a wise investment for your property. In the 2021 study of cost versus value, any new garage door would add value to your house, but a glass garage door provides one of the highest returns on investment because of its sleek modern appearance.

AVANTE® Garage Doors

When it comes to modern glass garage doors, the AVANTE® Collection is the jewel of the Clopay® inventory. Everything about this glass garage door says modern, from its sturdy, attractive aluminum frame to its large, inviting glass panels.

You can choose several different colors to make your door’s aluminum frame stand out, ranging from Clear Aluminum or Standard White to Bronze, Chocolate, Black and even an Ultra-Grain cherry wood finish. Your biggest decision, however, will be what kind of glass you want to use to fill those panels. Remember, you are thinking about privacy vs. transparency, and can choose everything from clear or tinted glass to mirrored, obscure, frosted or even laminate glass.

Some opt for acrylic or polygal panels instead of traditional glass, and those who want the full privacy option can choose anodized aluminum panels or Ultra-Grain cherry wood panels instead.

Learn More About Glass and Other Houston Garage Doors

Learn More About Houston Garage Doors

You may already be thinking about replacing your garage door. At Halo Overhead Doors, we sell glass garage doors in Houston, TX. Our professionals can get you the doors you want to create a modern, upgraded look. If you’re still not sure whether glass doors are for you, see our other offerings. Browse through all our residential garage doors or commercial overhead doors.

Whether or not you want glass, we can help you get the perfect garage doors for your home. We’re the only Master Clopay Dealer in the Houston area. Through us, you can have a glass door from the coveted AVANTE® collection installed on your garage, giving you access to numerous customizable features.

Give us a call at (713) 224-3667 or use our contact page when you’re ready to get started on changing the look of your home or business with new garage doors. Our experts can help you customize your door for the look and attributes you need. We’ve been offering “tough doors, loyal service” to all our customers since 1991. Make us your choice for long-lasting, beautiful Houston glass garage doors, and we’ll do the same for you.

Call Us (713) 224-3667