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What makes a garage door a carriage house door
Short answer
A carriage house garage door is a sectional overhead door styled to look like a pair of swing-out doors, with a center seam, overlay boards, windows and decorative handles and hinges; Angi puts carriage house door installs at about $1,200 to $8,000 depending on material. The hardware is decorative, so the door still opens with the opener.
The job
The look of swing doors, the convenience of an overhead
Before overhead doors, garages had swing-out or sliding doors like carriage houses. Carriage house garage doors copy that look with a center line, vertical or diagonal boards, often arched or square windows across the top, and black or bronze strap hinges and handles. Behind the look is a normal sectional door on tracks and springs.
The choice is mostly about material. Steel carriage doors are the most practical and the most affordable. Composite overlays look closer to wood without the upkeep. Real wood carriage doors look best and ask the most of their owners.
Cost
What a carriage house door costs
Angi puts carriage house door installs at about this range; material and size drive it. It is a planning figure, not our quote.
- Steel, composite or wood
- Single, double or three-car opening
- Insulation
- Window style and glass
- Decorative hardware package
Compare the options
Steel, composite or wood carriage doors
All three give the carriage look. They differ in upkeep, weight and price.
| Steel | Composite overlay | Real wood | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Look up close | Stamped or overlay boards | Deep molded boards | Real boards and grain |
| Upkeep | Wash, touch up | Wash | Refinish every few years |
| Weight | Lightest | Moderate | Heaviest |
| Price | Lowest | Middle | Highest |
What is included
What a carriage door install includes
- Measuring the opening, headroom and side room
- Choosing material, windows, color and hardware
- Removing the old door, springs and tracks
- Springs sized to the new door's weight
- Decorative hardware placed to line up when closed
- Opener reset, photo eyes and safety reverse test
Steel carriage doors
Steel carriage house doors
Steel carriage doors stamp or overlay the board pattern onto an insulated steel door, often with a woodgrain finish. They hold up well to Naperville winters, keep the weight down for the springs and opener, and are the most common way homeowners get the carriage look. See steel garage doors for how the steel and insulation options compare.
Composite overlay doors
Composite overlay carriage doors
Composite carriage doors put a molded wood-look overlay on a steel or composite base, so the boards have real depth and texture. They resist rot and do not need refinishing, which suits a door that faces the street through every winter. They cost more than steel and weigh more, so the springs are sized to match.
Decorative handles and hinges
Decorative handles and hinges
The hardware is what sells the look: strap hinges, pull handles and sometimes a faux latch, usually in black or bronze. It is decorative and does not move, so it must be placed where it will not hit the track or catch the opener. We set it to the door's sections so it lines up when the door is closed.
Around Naperville
Carriage doors on Naperville houses
Harold Moser started Naperville's residential building boom with his first subdivision in 1956, and the city's housing now runs from those postwar ranches to custom rebuilds; more than 300 older homes came down between 2008 and 2017. A carriage door can suit both ends of that range, which is why we size the windows and hardware to the house rather than recommending one look for every street.
How the visit runs
How a carriage door install runs
- 1
Measure and choose
Opening, headroom, material, windows and hardware.
- 2
Order the door
Built to size, springs sized to its weight.
- 3
Remove the old door
Tension released, old door and tracks out.
- 4
Install and trim
Sections, tracks, springs, cables and seals.
- 5
Finish and test
Hardware aligned, opener reset, safety reverse.
We install and service doors from Clopay, Amarr, Wayne Dalton, C.H.I. and Raynor, among other makers.
- LiftMaster
- Chamberlain
- Genie
- Clopay
- Amarr
- Wayne Dalton
- C.H.I.
- Raynor
- Haas Door
- Overhead Door
- Windsor Door
- Marantec
Answers
Questions about carriage house garage doors
Most do not. They are sectional overhead doors styled to look like swing doors, and they open with a normal opener.
Many are. Steel and composite carriage doors are commonly built with foam insulation.
Decorative handles and hinges can be added to many doors, but they will not create the board pattern of a true carriage door.
They need springs sized to their weight, which is often more than a plain steel door. We size them at install.
Many HOAs regulate garage door styles and colors, so check your covenants. We can give you the door details to submit.
Same group
Related door work we handle
Garage Door Replacement
Old doors out and new ones in, with springs sized and the opener reset.
Insulated Garage Doors
Insulated steel doors for attached garages that sit through Illinois winters.
Steel Garage Doors
Raised, long and flush panel steel doors in the gauges that hold up.
Wood Garage Doors
Real wood doors and wood-look composites, with the upkeep explained.