The Challenges of Designing Garage Doors for Homes on the Coasts

Coastal homes offer beautiful views, relaxed lifestyles and cool breezes. This makes them an attractive choice for many homeowners, but this also provides a challenge for designers of custom garage doors and entry doors. The coastal region exposes garage doors to many weather elements that can cause all sorts of damage. This means that extra protection must be built into the doors to increase their durability. A garage door is meant to be an investment for a home, and it’s up to designers and architects to deliver a product that lasts a lifetime.  

These are the challenges designers and builders of coastal home garage doors face and how our team at CAMBEK mitigates the negative effects of this challenging region. 

Rust: Prevent Corrosion

Rust is one of the challenges designers and builders face when engineering garage doors for coastal homes. This is because coastal regions have very high humidity and saltwater in the air. When water and air come into contact with metals containing iron alloys and iron, they form rust. This is why wood doors are ideal for coastal homes. Wood is not susceptible to rust, yet it still has the durability of metal overhead doors.  

At CAMBEK, we also apply a powder coating to our galvanized steel track and custom hardware, which protects against the high humidity and salty environments of coastal areas. 

Warping: Prevent Buckling

Since the coastal regions often experience high levels of moisture and humidity, doors made from low quality materials can swell and warp. Warping causes some doors to bow, and this can happen in both wooden and steel doors. Moisture absorption compromises the appearance and strength of garage doors, leading to damage and improper insulation and sealing. 

To prevent damage from moisture, we build our doors to be heavily moisture and water resistant. Everything from the internal components to the exterior millwork and finish of our doors help shield against damage from lingering moisture and persistent humidity. 

We also use a three-coat, water-based stain finish that is extremely flexible and doesn’t crack, flake, chalk, blister, or lift from wood substrate when applied. This allows our wood doors to withstand direct exposure to rain, sunlight, and moisture, while still allowing the wood to breathe and maintain its natural beauty. 

Storm and Wind Damage: Protecting Against Debris

The coastal area is known for strong winds during storms and hurricanes, so garage doors must be built to withstand these extreme weather elements and preserve their beauty and utility. Storms bring flying debris that can cause severe damage like dents, bends, or dislodgment. Specific panels or sections may also crack, break, or detach completely. 

Additionally, custom garage doors should be designed to withstand strong winds, especially when closed. Closed doors can create wind stress and pressure on the doors, causing them to bend and break.  

At CAMBEK, we build our doors to be heavily storm and wind resistant. They are built to withstand wind speeds of up to 150 miles an hour. They also exceed the protocols and standards of the Notice of Acceptance in Miami-Dade and Broward County and the Florida Building Code product approval.  

Fading: Protection Against Sunlight

The coastal region is known to experience days with prolonged and intense sunlight. These can cause garage doors to fade and to lose their aesthetic appeal. Our finish (mentioned above) is also highly resistant to fading from the sun. 

Rot: Protection Against Deterioration

The high humidity levels experienced in the coastal region originate from rain, fog and ocean breezes. These elements create a favorable condition for the survival of rot-causing fungi, which some garage doors are susceptible to.  Moisture exposes doors to rot, resulting in structural damage. At CAMBEK, our doors are built to resist rot. From the materials we source to the woodworking techniques we use, everything we do mitigates this damage and so much more. Learn more about how our doors are designed to resist rot.

Ready to design a door for a coastal home? Get in touch with CAMBEK today!

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