Wood Garage Door Skins from a Pro’s Perspective

With the advancement in printing capabilities on garage door sections, woodgrain garage doors have become all the rage. Take a quick drive through any neighborhood, and you will find color styles ranging from walnut to cedar.

While these options are beautiful, the more realistic bidirectional patterns have become so expensive they have priced themselves out of the market. This has left a gap in the market that has spurned new companies to be born that offer wood garage door skins that will transform the look of your garage door.

Let’s take a closer look at what garage door skins are and the pros and cons associated with purchasing a product like this from a pro’s perspective.

What are Garage Door Skins?

Garage door skins are a cost-effective way to update the look of your homes exterior without having to do a complete garage door replacement. A company rightly named Garage Skins is manufacturing magnetic panels that will transform a basic garage door into a faux wood overlay door in a matter of minutes.

This option is far less expensive than purchasing a true wood overlay door, which is one of the most expensive garage door options available. A true wood overlay door is something I never recommend because the annual upkeep for these doors is expensive, especially if you live in a hot climate where the stain is always fading.

While I love the entrepreneurial spirit of small business individuals who come up with creative ways to solve problems, adding additional weight to any garage door should be done with careful planning.

Do Garage Skins Look Good?

Yes, Garage Skins look great in person. We recently did a service call for a customer who ordered these magnetic wood panels in Walnut for three garage doors. It is a very impressive from an aesthetic standpoint and would dramatically change the look of your home.

How Much Do Garage Skins Cost?

At the time of writing this article, Garage Skins were starting at $1149 for a single-car system and $2299 for a two-car system. They claim this is roughly 1/6th the cost of a real wood replacement garage door. As a professional in the industry, I would agree with these claims.

To give you an example, a two-car faux wood bidirectional woodgrain color garage door with a printer pattern on metal sections would cost around $4,000-$5,000 today. While this is a beautiful door, it does not have wood overlay nor is the door completely made of wood.

Once you get into the custom garage door arena with carriage house wood doors, everything changes. The buying process is much different, with sign off approvals needed at multiple stages of the build to make sure the manufacturer and the customer are on the same page. It is a much more complex purchase.

How Much Weight Do Garage Skins Add to a Garage Door?

The Garage Skins website states that 50–60 lbs are added to a two-car standard garage door, and 25–30 lbs are added to a one-car door. This is a significant amount of weight, especially when considering a standard non-insulated 16×7 door weights around 155 lbs.

By adding 50–60 lbs to the outside face of the door, you are adding 1/3 of the original weight of the door without changing springs and hardware. In the garage door industry, this would not be recommended without first assessing the quality and condition of your door.

Will a Spring Adjustment Be Enough?

It depends. We adjust springs on garage doors all the time when we have to add additional reinforcement struts to sagging sections. The maximum weight we add to a door is around 30 lbs or less, so the door is still properly balanced after adjusting the spring.

If you have to adjust a spring on a garage door to accommodate an additional 50–60 lbs, the automatic opener may have issues closing the door because the springs have too much tension with the door in the up position. This could also cause issues when opening the door because the automatic opener may get an excessive force error, meaning the door is too heavy.

Do Not Install on a Builder Grade Garage Door

If you have a Wayne Dalton 9100 garage door, I do not recommend installing any additional weight to this door. The reason for this is the build quality is subpar and additional weight will dramatically reduce the life of this door. The 9100 garage door was specifically designed with builders in mind to be installed as quickly as possible for efficiency and maximum profits.

Unfortunately, in the Garage Skins Hear from a Pro video, this is the door that is used as an example and I can’t endorse this based on my extensive experience with this model. As demonstrated by the photo above, a common issue with the Wayne Dalton 9100 is the end stiles will start to separate from the section in under five years of use. This is not a door that can handle additional weight.

Another example of a builder's grade garage door that should not have any additional weight added to it is the Windsor single stile door, which is usually model 714 or 724. As illustrated by the photo above, the manufacturer has removed two rows of stiles that essentially act as the structure or backbone of the door. This garage door barely has enough metal in it to hold itself in the up position.

If You Are Moving Forward with Garage Door Skins

Adding additional weight to any garage door can dramatically reduce its lifespan. Making some changes and adjustments will guarantee many more years of service from your door.

• Make sure you are starting with a quality garage door
• Replace or adjust your torsion springs
• Look into having reinforcement struts installed on every section (and have new springs installed if needed)
• Make sure you have good ball bearing nylon rollers
• Strong 14 gauge commercial hinges, especially on the end stiles will help
• Horizontal tracks with longer reinforcement angle are good
  

How Much to Have All These Parts Replaced?

To have a pair of torsion springs installed, three additional struts, new heavy-duty rollers, and six 14 gauge hinges installed on the end stiles would run you about $650-$750 with labor depending on where you live. If you were to have your horizontal tracks replaced, you could easily add another $400 to the price. Replacing your horizontal tracks on your garage door is more labor-intensive than other repairs.

Buying a New Garage Door to Use with Garage Skins

If you are purchasing a new metal garage door intending to install Garage Skins, here are some tips when ordering your new door.

• Order a door with a 24 gauge outside face
• Make sure the hinges are 14 gauge
• Order the door with full reinforcement struts
• Upgrade the length of reinforcement angle on your horizontal tracks
• Talk with your garage door dealer so they can order the door with the additional weight of Garage Skins calculated so the counterbalance of your springs is correct
• Stay away from Wayne Dalton and Windsor doors
  

Other Website Reviews of Garage Skins

You can find articles online from home improvement websites talking about how quickly you can transform the look of your home with garage door skins. Most of these articles are written by influencers who know nothing about garage doors.

Downsides of Garage Skins

• Added weight to a garage door can decrease the life of the door
• When adding thickness to the face of a garage door, the sections can have a tendency to hit the header
• The spring most likely will need to be adjusted or replaced on your garage door to accommodate the additional weight
• The Garage Skins you order may not fully cover the face of the garage door leaving a small gap on the sides like shown in the photo above
  

Conclusion

This article is not an endorsement for or against Garage Skins. I actually find it to be a great invention that dramatically changes the curb appeal of your home in a matter of minutes. The magnetic panels look real and believable.

They offer a great range of colors to accommodate all styles of homes. The designs are three-dimensional and rich in texture and color, which will make a bold statement on your home.

With all of this being said, there is more to the story when adding weight to a garage door. Especially when adding weight to newer builder grade doors that have been released in the past ten years or so. Just keep this in mind when moving forward so you can have a garage door that will last for many years.