I am looking at getting a new garage door to replace 2 roller doors that have seen better days. I’m a big fan of the timber-look doors that are quite popular at the moment but I went to Dandenong Garage Doors (stockist of B&D garage doors) to get an idea of price and the guy there literally talked me out of getting a B&D "Timber Coat" door. He said they were powder coated and as a result were near impossible to repair in terms of damaging a panel, they couldn’t simply respray/replace the panel because the colour of the replacement panel wouldn’t match the rest of the door.
He was more favourable towards their "Timbergrain" doors (which apparently are made differently and could be repaired if damaged) but there are only 2 colour options in this door and in my opinion don't look as good.
Can anyone give me any advice/recommendations? (Doesn't have to be B&D related, that's just where I happened to go first).
Hi Jacqui,
Finishes applied to materials used for garage doors are often in the following categories
- PRE-PAINTED SURFACES (METALS)
- PAINTED OR STAINED SURFACES (METALS, TIMBER, COMPOSITE MATERIALS)
- GLAZING (GLASS AND SIMILAR TRANSPARENT/TRANSLUCENT MATERIALS)
Factory or prefinished coatings have become common usage due, amongst other things, to
- Consistency of coating thickness
- Consistency of pigment colours
- Durability of finish
Normal environmental conditions over time can affect the pigment colouration in a pre-painted surface and, differences to new material with the same pre-painted colour can be evident in the event of panel replacement due to damage etc. depending on the time the ‘old’ material has been exposed to normal environmental conditions and / or different manufactured batches of the pre-painted material.
In particular, differences in formulation of any touch up paint used may present a different colouration to that of the whole surface.
Painted / stained surfaces are also liable to colouration differences over time.
There is no short answer to what you're asking as to choice of colour systems / products etc. to mitigate the risk of the possibility of occasional damage and resultant paint / product match up.
It really comes down to researching the range of products on offer, different types, manufacturers and finish systems to best suit your preferences and budget. Future consideration of colour matching / differences needs to be a personal risk tolerance choice against potential causes of damage and the like.
As a comment from the owner of a roller door, 5m wide and west facing, no damage has been experienced, from windblown foliage, bird droppings and the like, and fortunately no heavy object impacts. Washing has sufficed to keep the door with reasonable uniform appearance. And now after 26 years with the original colour having slowly faded a little from the original colour, the door has been fully spray painted to an entirely different colour as decreed by she who has the superior design and colour sense in the household.
Kind regards,
Dennis Hill
Secretary
Australian Garage Door Association
