Coachman garage doors

Coachman takes the swing-out carriage house look, with paired-door proportions and decorative hardware, and builds it on a steel door with a composite overlay. The door still rolls up overhead on a standard track, but from the street it reads as hinged wood doors. The overlay carries the detail and the steel behind it carries the structure. Clopay describes it as giving the high-end look of wood carriage doors with the benefits of an insulated steel door, and that sums up the idea. Because the overlay carries the detail, the same door can be dressed up or kept simple through the choice of hardware and windows.

It suits a farmhouse, a craftsman bungalow, a shingled cottage or a brick colonial, any house where a plain panel door looks thin next to the rest of the front. Carriage house doors work best where the garage faces the street and is a large part of what a visitor sees first. They work less well on a modern house with flat planes, where a flush or plank door is a better match, and Modern Steel is the Clopay collection to look at in that case. Before you order, think about the house as a whole. A carriage house door draws the eye, so the front entry, porch posts and lighting should be able to hold their own beside it. A pair of simple coach lamps on either side of the opening is a common finishing touch.

Clopay lists Coachman with insulated versions available, which is worth having on an attached garage or on any door that faces the afternoon sun. Triangle summers make that a real consideration, and so does a bonus room over the garage. The version without insulation is fine for a detached garage. Because the overlay is composite and the core is steel, the door asks for much less upkeep than real wood. The R-value depends on the construction, and we state the figure for your door in the quote.

Windows are an option, and in a carriage house door they usually sit in a row across the top section. The overlay pattern, the hardware and the windows work together, so it helps to decide them as a set. Colors come from Clopay's sample range. A door in a solid painted finish reads as crisp and formal. A warmer finish reads as rustic. Your siding and roof decide which suits, and this is where samples earn their keep.

Among Clopay's collections, Coachman sits in the middle on cost. It costs more than a plain steel panel door and less than the premium faux-wood and real wood lines. If cost matters more than the finish, Grand Harbor is Clopay's lower-cost route to the same carriage house shape.

Come to the free consultation and we will measure, bring overlay and color samples, and quote the door installed.