• Contemporary Home + Modern Garage Door

    garage doors Pittsburgh PA

    Contemporary and stylish, yet minimally designed homes are gaining a new prominence. At the same time, modern garage doors in Pittsburg, PA are also on the rise. More and more people are noticing how nicely modern garage doors complement the contemporary home exterior. Homeowners can easily capitalize on this trend and upgrade their garage doors to a modern, sophisticated design. 

    Fortunately, modern garage doors in Pittsburgh, PA comes in different magnificent designs. To help you decide which is the best modern garage door for your contemporary house, here are our top picks:

    1. Steel Garage Doors

    These modern doors are sleek and stylish and are built for performance. Steel garage doors also come in a variety of styles and are cost-effective. These doors feature a combination of steel and sprayed-in foam insulation, providing with better insulation than glass or wood doors.

    The thermal efficiency of steel doors not only helps to ensure your garage is properly insulated, but it also reduces noise. Steel garage doors also have tamper-resistant bottom brackets, pinch-resistant panels for safety, and reinforced steel and struts to strengthen the framework.

    1. Wood Garage Doors

    The elegance of a wooden garage door is perfect for balancing the structured, geometric look of a contemporary home. Wood garage doors create warmth, exude luxury and rustic beauty, and add a natural touch. This garage door model creates a natural appeal, equipped with modern technology. Wood garage doors have shiplap style connections between sections, steel-pinned wood lock mechanisms and zinc-coated steel for unparalleled strength that will help lengthen the lifespan of your garage door.

    1. Glass Garage Doors 

    Enhance the classy look of your contemporary home with a dramatic, stylish and unique glass garage door. Glass garage doors look sophisticated and stand out. These garage doors are exceptionally luxurious and come with flexible bottom seals to protect your garage from dirt and debris. Glass garage doors have a lower insulation value than steel doors, but they feature frames and panels filled with foam-in-place insulation to provide thermal efficiency.

    Modern garage doors in Pittsburgh are the new trend to enhance your contemporary home. Steel, wooden and glass garage doors are the most prominent. All of these emanate a unique style and provide, a picturesque appeal but, most importantly, they offer the safety and efficiency necessary.

  • How to Open Your Garage Door When the Power Goes Out

    garage doors pittsburgh pa

    There are few things more frustrating than not being able to open your garage doors Pittsburgh, PA with the push of a button. Once you have gotten used to the convenience of having an automatic garage door opener, it is hard to ever go back to a manually operated door. Unfortunately, there are times when you’ll have no choice but to operate your door manually. This can be the result of dead batteries in your remote, a broken motor, or because your home is experiencing a power outage. While no one plans on these events happening, they do occur. These factors are why it’s important to know how to manually open and close a garage door in Pennsylvania.

    Pull the Trigger

    Nearly every garage door comes equipped with a bypass switch for just such occasions. Located on the garage opener there is a rope, generally red, with a handle on the end. This rope is the manual release that disengages the garage door from the motor, allowing it to be operated manually. Because the door can then be operated manually, it is recommended that you pull the release while the door is down, otherwise it could come slamming down causing damage and possible injury.

    Staying in Manual Mode

    The red rope you pulled to manually operate your door also controls the spring attachment in the trolley. If you are going to be experiencing an extended power outage or if your operator is malfunctioning, you’ll need to keep your door in manual mode. When using the door in manual mode, it is important to remember that you should pull the release rope down and toward the back of the garage to prevent it from getting caught on the tracks.

    Reattaching the Door When the Power Returns

    Once your home has its power restored or your door operator has been repaired or replaced, you’ll want to reattach your door in order to take full advantage of the automatic capability. To re-engage your door, you will need to simply pull down on the release cord again, this time toward the garage door opening. This will prevent the lever from engaging. At the same time, pull up on your garage door until it snaps back into place and you’re back in automatic mode. If you need assistance, simply push the button on your remote and the door track will force the spring attachment back into place.

    Important Things to Remember About the Door Release Cord

    It is important to remember that even if parts of your garage door are corrupted, the automatic system will keep the door operating as a single functioning unit. Springs or cables that are weak or broken will be supported by the track. But as soon as you disengage the track, this is no longer true.

    • If at all possible, only use the release cord to enter manual mode when the door is closed. While this isn’t always possible, remember that the door can come slamming down if the release cord is pulled while the door is open.
    • If the door must be disengaged from the track while in the open position, use 2X4s to prop the door open to safely close it.
    • When releasing the door while open, be sure to clear away all people and objects prior to pulling the release cord.
    • If the cord doesn’t release, don’t hang on it. While it does require some force to disengage the door, hanging on the cord when it won’t disengage, can result in damage to the rope or lever.

    If you find that you have to disengage your door and operate it manually because it isn’t working properly, Thomas V. Giel Garage Doors has extensive knowledge in repairing and replacing garage doors Pittsburgh, PA.