Garage Door Buying Guide for Cape Cod-Style Homes

-Garage-Door-Buying-Guide-for-Cape-Cod-Style-Homes

A Cape Cod-style home has become the symbol of the typical American home. If you live in the Toledo, Ohio, area, you might have a Cape Cod-style home with a symmetrical floor plan and simple design. You can improve the design of your Cape Cod-style home by installing a unique garage door.

Garage doors can enhance the curb appeal of any home, especially a Cape. The simple exterior design of your home just needs your creative flair to transform the cookie-cutter look of a Cape Cod into your unique masterpiece. Use this guide to help you find garage doors for Cape Cod-style homes.

Characteristics of a Cape Cod-Style Home

Characteristics-of-a-Cape-Cod-Style-Home

Puritans brought the Cape Cod-style home to America from England in the 17th century. Capes protected these builders from harsh cold climates in New England. Since the northeastern region of Ohio also experiences cold temperatures in the winter, residents of Ohio could benefit from a Cape Cod-style home.

As a standard starter home, Cape Cod homes vary in design. The three types of Cape Cod homes are Half Cape, Three-Quarter Cape and Full Cape. Most Capes started as Half Capes, and as their families grew, they added more to their floor plan.

A Half Cape includes a home with a front door on one side and two multi-paned glass windows on the other. A Three-Quarter Cape features a front door on one side, two-multi-paned glass windows on another side and one multi-paned window on the other. A Full Cape — the standard modern cape — involves a central front door with two multi-paned glass windows on either side of the door.

You’ll recognize a Cape Cod home by its unique exterior features, such as:

  • Siding made of shingle
  • Massive centralized chimneys
  • Gabled dormers
  • Symmetrical appearance
  • Central front entry
  • Double-hung windows
  • Simple exterior design
  • Steep roofs with side gables

The interior of the home has these distinguishing characteristics:

  • Low ceilings
  • Dormered or gabled bedrooms
  • Includes one to one and a half stories
  • Symmetrical layout
  • Simple interior design
  • Central hallway
  • Open-concept living space

Consider the Garage Door Material

Consider-the-Garage-Door-Material

The garage door material is what makes your home energy-efficient and attractive. You should choose a garage door material based on your home style and climate. For your home in the East North Central region of the country, you need a garage door that can withstand extreme temperatures in the summer and winter.

Here are the most common garage door materials to help you choose which one is best for your home:

  • Steel: As the most popular door material, steel is known for its versatility in design and its ability to withstand any climate. Steel is more durable and easier to maintain than other types of garage door materials. To improve the insulation of a steel garage door, you can add polystyrene or polyurethane insulation between layers of galvanized steel. You should choose this material for your door if you use your garage for additional work or living space.
  • Wood: As a classic door material, wood provides your home with natural beauty. While it pairs well with home materials like stone and brick, it usually lasts best with moderate temperatures and dry air. You should choose a wooden garage door if you want to increase your home’s curb appeal. Since humid temperatures could cause warping, you must maintain your wooden door properly with a routine finish. To create a wood look without the maintenance, you can put add a wood overlay to steel.
  • Aluminum and glass: Aluminum garage doors can be customized to fit your unique style. This material is typically paired with glass for a contemporary appearance. Aluminum and glass doors are ideal for coastal climates, like southeastern Michigan. If you live with a beach-front view, aluminum and glass doors help you take advantage of the beautiful views surrounding your property. For privacy, glass windows can be tinted or frosted. Aluminum doors are resistant to corrosion and are lightweight for easy installation. They are often more expensive than steel doors and have a low R-value.

You can boost the curb appeal of your home by complementing your garage door with your entry door. The garage door color, material and style should be similar to the entry door of your home. Whichever material you choose for your garage door should stand out and help complement your overall home exterior design.

Consider Other Factors

As you think about what type of garage door to buy for your Cape Cod-style home, you can customize your garage door based on these factors:

  • Theme: Clopay® offers three distinct residential styles for your garage door — traditional raised-panel, contemporary or carriage house. The symmetrical, raised rectangular panels of the traditional raised-panel style complements your home’s simple, classic style. If your design style is more modern, contemporary Cape Cod-style garage doors feature a combination of metal, glass and wood. Finally, a carriage house door has a distinctive barn-door feel that can be customized to fit your unique design.
  • Panel style: You can choose from a variety of panel styles, — either Elegant Short, Elegant Long or flush. The Elegant Short style is ideal for traditional homes, while the Elegant Long style complements farmhouse-style homes.
  • Color: The Classic Premium series offers a collection of neutral colors from white to black, including hunter green. The exterior steel is complete with a woodgrain textured finish. You can use a high-quality latex exterior paint to change the color of your garage door. Choose a color for your garage door that best complements your home’s material. For example, a home with brick should have a garage door featuring colors from the brick material.
  • Finish: You can paint a steel door to make it look like wood without the maintenance that wood requires. The woodgrain finish goes horizontal on stiles and vertical on panels. Clopay’s Ultra-Grain® finish is available in Medium, Cherry or Walnut. You can add this finish to complement your home’s exterior door.
  • Additions: To complete your garage door, you can add windows and hardware. Clopay’s insulated, removable windows are easy to clean and maintain. You can also install lift handles to create the appearance of a carriage-house door while keeping the garage door’s automatic feature.

Garage Styles for Cape Cod-Style Homes

Garage Styles for Cape Cod-Style Homes

If you have a Cape Cod-style home, browse through our collection of Clopay garage doors to give your home an upgrade. Before you choose your garage door, try out our Door Imagination System. You can upload a photo of your home and use our program to imagine what it would be like to have one of our quality garage doors installed on your home.

1. GALLERY® Collection

The GALLERY® collection takes the luxurious elegance of a carriage house garage door and pairs it with durable steel material. You can have the look and feel of a carriage door with a material that’s easier to maintain and clean. Our GALLERY® garage doors can be customized, so you can create yours with a modern or a vintage aesthetic for your exterior design.

The GALLERY® collection features traditional raised-panel doors that offer different design options for you to choose from. You can install a door with either long or short groove panel style and add windows. If you’re looking for a farmhouse style for your home, you can also install lift handles to create a carriage-house appearance with the functionality of an automatic garage door.

Doors in the GALLERY® collection come in a variety of colors like standard white, desert tan and chocolate. You can complete your carriage house door look with an Ultra-Grain® finish to make your sleek designed steel look like wood. To optimize your garage door’s protection qualities, you can install insulation with an R-value of up to 18.4. We also offer insulated garage door windows.

2. COACHMAN® Collection

The COACHMAN® collection offers another carriage-house garage door design option. Like the GALLERY® collection, the doors in the COACHMAN® collection look like wood carriage doors with layers of durable contemporary modern steel. If you want a high-end look with low maintenance material, consider a garage door from the COACHMAN® collection.

Garage doors in the Coachman® Collection combine beauty and practicality with the durability of steel and a composite overlay. It has the appearance of a swing-out door while also providing you with the convenience of an automatic garage door. Our multi-layer garage doors are equipped with insulation rated at an R-value of 18.4.

Our Coachman® doors are available in standard white, almond, desert tan and sandtone. You can customize both the overlay and base colors of your garage door to create a contrasting design. You can also choose from a wide variety of arch windows, which can be removed for easy cleaning.

3. CANYON RIDGE® Collection

The CANYON RIDGE® collection combines a unique style of garage door with functional, durable material. As an additional carriage-house door in Clopay’s garage door collection, these doors are complete with multiple layers of durable steel and a wood composite overlay.

CANYON RIDGE® collection LIMITED EDITION series garage doors offer you the realism and design of wood while providing the energy-efficiency of steel. They’re made with a durable composite polymer material that contains actual pieces of wood. Like a wooden door, this composite wood door can be painted or stained.

Our garage doors are complete with a polyurethane-insulated steel door for energy-efficiency. Doors in the CANYON RIDGE® collection LIMITED EDITION series offer a 20.4 R-value for year-round comfort in any climate. With a variety of colors, panel styles and window designs to choose from, you can create your ideal garage door for your Cape Cod-style home.

As well as the CANYON RIDGE® collection LIMITED EDITION series, we also feature Clopay’s CANYON RIDGE® collection Ultra-Grain® series. As an attractive and affordable alternative to the LIMITED EDITION series, the Ultra-Grain® series doors are complete with an Ultra-Grain® wood finish. You can choose a Medium, Walnut or Slate finish for your garage door.

4. CLASSIC™ Collection

The CLASSIC™ collection features your typical steel garage door to complement your Cape’s simple exterior design. With options that can be customized to your liking, you can have a durable, energy-efficient door with a modern or vintage flair.

CLASSIC™ doors are insulated with polyurethane for optimal temperature regulation for your southeastern Michigan home all year round. They feature a three-layer sandwich construction, with a layer of thick insulation nestled between two panels of galvanized steel. Our CLASSIC™ doors have an R-value of up to 18.4, with the option to add insulated windows.

You can choose from a variety of elegant panel designs and different colors. You can also complete your look with an Ultra-Grain® finish to give your steel door the appearance of wood. Along with the standard CLASSIC™ collection, we also have other series within this collection:

  • CLASSIC™ WOOD:The CLASSIC™ WOOD collection includes wooden doors to provide your home with natural beauty and an authentic look. You can choose a handcrafted door made from cedar, hemlock or redwood. These handcrafted wooden doors feature traditional raised, flush or recessed panels for you to select for your architectural design. CLASSIC™ WOOD doors offer custom options for your windows and panel style. Since the doors are made of wood, they can easily be painted or stained. In a humid climate like Toledo, Ohio, you will need to maintain your wooden garage door to prevent the wood panels from warping.
  • CLASSIC™ Premium: As part of the CLASSIC™ collection, the CLASSIC™ collection Premium Series offers garage doors with galvanized and pre-painted steel bonded and molded to polyurethane insulation. Insulation provides your door with more durability, a higher noise reduction rate and greater regulation of temperature. Since your garage likely shares a wall with the rest of your home, any garage door insulation will also create a comfortable temperature throughout your house. You can choose from a wide range of colors, from standard white to hunter green to black.
  • CLASSIC™ Value Series: Garage doors in the CLASSIC™ Value Series provide a more economical option. These single-layer steel garage doors are more affordable than the other models in the CLASSIC™ collection. You can choose from three types of panel styles, a variety of window designs and five factory design colors to customize your simple garage door.
  • CLASSIC™ Value Plus Series: A step above the CLASSIC™ Value Series, the CLASSIC™ Value Plus Series includes insulation to provide an affordable door with optimized protection. A layer of galvanized, pre-painted steel is bonded and molded together with polyurethane or polystyrene insulation. Like the standard Value Series, the CLASSIC™ Value Plus Series also features three different panel styles, five design colors and several unique window options.

Contact Quality Overhead Door for an Estimate on a New Garage Door for Your Cape Cod-Style Home

Contact-Quality-Overhead-Door-for-an-Estimate-on-a-New-Garage

Our reliable team at Quality Overhead Door can help you find a new garage door for your Cape Cod-style home in northeastern Ohio or southeastern Michigan. As a Clopay Master Authorized® Dealer, we’ve been providing the Toledo, Ohio, area with unique, energy-efficient garage doors since 1982. Make your simple Cape Cod-style home stand out by upgrading to a stylish garage door.

At Quality Overhead Door, we inspect, repair and replace your garage door. We also provide doors and openers for the rest of your home. Call us today at 419-578-8700 for a free estimate. You can fill out a contact form online for more information.


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