The look of the classic carriage garage doors is very popular in new home construction. Prior to the invention of the overhead door almost all garage doors were very similar to the carriage design. Basically the two doors that make up the garage door system were hung on hinges located to the sides of the garage opening. The doors swing together to make the door close. This style of door has been used for more than a thousand years. However there are lots of problems with the design.

Traditional carriage garage doors are not really very good at keeping the elements out of any structure. In addition it is very hard to adequately secure the doors from forced entry. With the invention of the over head door the use of the traditional carriage garage doors design essentially ended. However the architectural appearance and design is very appealing to the eye. Many of the top garage door manufactures have designed over head doors that give the appearance of carriage garage doors but with all the benefits of a modern garage door.

Several garage door manufactures have specialized in creating the look of carriage doors using the standard garage door format. Some manufactures use standard rolling panel construction that has a carriage door pattern designed into the garage door. Using modern materials especially steel will make this type of garage door both secure and very durable. The use of solid one piece overhead garage door construction gives the carriage garage doors an authentic look. This older style cantilever door opens outward at the bottom and rotates upward as on solid door. This method of construction works well when using an all wood door construction.

The top carriage garage doors manufactures offer wood finish carriage doors as well. The use of a veneer plywood base over standard steel construction gives both the fine look of wood while giving all the benefits of standard construction including polyurethane foam insulated panels that provide a high R-value insulating factor. Top choices for wood veneer or coverings include redwood, cedar and hemlock. Many companies can provide an aged look to the door to further accent its looks. In almost all cases natural wood surfaces will require far more care and maintenance.

Traditional carriage garage doors construction is available for people who really want the real deal. These companies build custom wood garage doors using time proven designs. These wood doors can be designed to open manually or with specially designed automatic door openers. Due to the weakness of the design many of these custom carriage garage doors require adjustment on a regular basis. As with all wood doors they are very good looking providing a great accent to any home.