What’s one thing that realtors, home builders and home buyers all agree on? If you want to maximize your property’s value, you need to focus on improving your home’s curb appeal. Sprucing up your garage door can add significant value to your home. In fact, a home’s value typically rises by 1 to 4 percent with the addition of a new garage door.
However, replacing your garage door can be hard to justify, even with the added home value, if there is nothing operationally wrong with your door. However, there is a way you can get that new garage door look without replacing your existing door: decorative garage door hardware! If you’ve never considered installing decorative hardware before, here are a few expert tips from our garage door contractors in Nampa, ID.
Stay consistent
Some people get excited about the many available options when installing decorative hardware, and they forget that the style of their garage door still needs to match the style of their home. If your home is modern, you wouldn’t want to install rustic hardware. While you may not be able to match your new hardware to your home exactly, it should at least be in the same general “family” of decorative hardware.
Keep it functional
The most beautiful garage door is worthless if it isn’t functional. When choosing decorative hardware, make sure that it won’t impede the everyday operations of your door.
Simple is best
When you start looking into the world of decorative hardware, you will quickly discover that the options are endless—cross rails, cross bucks, panels, handles, knobs, hinges… the list goes on. While you should choose something that suits your taste, the best advice we can give is to keep it simple. A little decoration can go a long way, so stick to one or two types of decorative hardware.
Be careful about placement
Most of the decorative hardware we buy today had a real purpose, other than decoration, at one point in time. Latches and locks were actually used to close and lock old-fashioned carriage house doors. When installing your hardware, think of where it would make sense. For example, don’t install decorative locks or latches too high or too low.
Best practices
When it comes to installing your hardware, here are a few other best practices to keep in mind:
- Strap hinges should be installed at the top and bottom rails of the door.
- If using hinges, strap hinges should be the same length, but intermediate hinges can be shorter.
- Your strap hinges should be at least one fourth to one third of the width of the door opening..
- Latches, pull handles and ring pulls on the door should be a minimum of 34”, but go no higher than shoulder height of the door.
If you want to improve the look and style of your garage door and increase your home value without having to replace your door, decorative hardware is a worthwhile investment. If you would prefer that an expert handle the installation of new hardware for you, be sure to call Haney Door Service, your local garage door contractors in Nampa, ID!