Glass Garage Doors

Call or Text For Repair Service 678-960-3360

A garage can sometimes feel disconnected from the rest of your home, a dumping ground filled with half-finished projects and extra tools that you rush through on the way to your car. But with full-view glass garage doors, it doesn’t have to be that way. These doors involve framing your entire garage door with windows. This is a stunning aesthetic choice that adds to the beauty and value of your home. Here at Aaron Overhead Doors, we specialize in installing full-view glass garage doors for homes and businesses. We work with the best glass manufacturers to bring you the most size, frame, and glass-type options.

What Are Glass Garage Doors?

Glass garage doors are usually referred to as full-view, full-vision glass, or clear garage doors. They are very similar to your standard overhead garage door; they use tracks, springs, and hinges. The main difference between a standard steel overhead garage door and a glass garage door is how it’s constructed. Glass garage doors are typically constructed with aluminum frames similar to a storefront. Standard steel garage doors are what most people have in their homes; they can have windows, but it’s mostly made of steel. They operate the same, but the glass garage door is much more transparent. 

How Much Are Glass Garage Doors?

Glass garage doors have more options than any other overhead garage door on the market. With so many options, the price can vary dramatically. A base model, small 8×7 garage door with standard glass, frame, and track starts around $2,000 for the door itself. However, it’s not uncommon for us to quote glass garage doors over $10k. We can sell the door alone, or the door and installation if you’re local. In fact, we get calls from all over the country for quotes on glass garage doors. Drop-shipping the door to you is also an option if you do not live locally.

What Options Are Available For Glass Garage Doors?

One great aspect of glass garage doors is their versatility. They can function as residential garage doors, interior garage doors in a business, or large commercial garage doors. For homes, we suggest glass sectional garage doors for their sturdy frame and customizable design options. This gives you the best of both worlds in protecting your home and creating great curb appeal. When it comes to glass garage doors for interior use, we love installing clear or frosted glass doors. They act as a movable walls to maintain privacy in an office space. However, they also allow plenty of natural light even when not in use.

Commercial glass garage doors are a great upgrade for almost any business. We especially love to install roll-up glass garage doors in restaurants or outdoor spaces. Glass garage doors for restaurants are actually a common project we have completed for local businesses over the years. Restaurant garage doors deliver all the natural light benefits of windows with the added perks of easy movability and out-of-the-way storage. Beyond just industrial sizes glass doors, however, you can also purchase countertop glass garage doors. These kitchen garage doors are small, typically 5’x4′, and function in the exact same way as a full-sized garage door. They are great for connecting indoor and outdoor spaces for entertaining or effective customer service. Really, with glass garage doors, your imagination is the only limit of design and use. 

When it comes to the door design, you have a wide range of customization options. First, choose the type of glass you want in terms of glass texture, color, and thickness. Then decide on the frame color and insulation that will complement the architecture of your home. Read through the list of common glass and frame options below.

Types of Glass

Commonly Used Options

• DS Glass
• Tempered Glass
• Laminated Glass
• Insulated Glass
• Acoustical Glass
• Impact Rated Glass
• Multi-Wall Polycarbonate
• Acrylic Glass
• Low-E Glass
• Low Iron Glass

Cosmetic Glass Options

• Frosted Glass
• Tinted Glass
• Mirrored Glass
• Self Cleaning Glass
• Self Tinting Glass
• Dry Erase Glass
• Clear Glass

Thickness Options

• Standard ⅛” glass

• ¼” glass for a small upgrade
• Insulated glass comes standard with 7/16”, ⅝”, or 1” thickness

Types of Frames

When choosing frames, you need to decide on the color and aesthetic you desire. You also should take your location into consideration in terms of the style of your neighborhood or frequent weather conditions. In most cases, anodized aluminum is an excellent, durable option that comes in many colors. The most popular are black anodized aluminum, dark bronze anodized aluminum, and clear which looks like metal.

Powder coating or painting are also options. Powder coating does the most to give the garage door a completely unique look. Powder coating does cost more, but there are advantages like rust prevention which is important if you live near saltwater. If you choose to powder coat the garage door, you can use the RAL chart to pick out a color. In addition to style, the construction of your glass garage door frame is an important consideration. Manufacturers construct frames three different ways: welded, screwed, or with rivets. Each has advantages and disadvantages, but we believe the welded aluminum frames are the highest quality with the least risk of the frames coming loose.

What Are Our Glass Garage Door Brands?

We have extensive experience installing, repairing, and maintaining glass garage doors so we have learned which brands are the best. That is why we work with highly reputable brands like Clopay, Arm-R-Lite, and CHI to bring the best glass sectional garage doors to your home. Specifically, we sell and install:

• Clopay Avante Collection
• Hormann Solaris Glass Collection 
• Amarr Horizon Glass Garage Door
• CHI Full-View Glass and Aluminum Garage Door
• Arm-R-Lite Titan 
• Arm-R-Lite Electra

How Efficient Are Glass Garage Doors?

This is a complicated question when it comes to glass garage doors. R-Value has measured garage doors for many years, but the garage door industry is starting to move to U-Value. The main difference is that R-Value measures a small portion of the door while U-Value gives you the value when the entire door is installed. However, this means that the U-Value is contingent on the quality of the installer’s work; they can install parts incorrectly which would prevent the garage from operating at maximum efficiency. To ensure the highest level of efficiency, many homeowners and businesses are choosing to urethane inject the frame and install insulated glass. However, most customers aren’t buying glass garage doors for efficiency, they are purchasing for aesthetic appeal. On the other hand, when it comes to insulated glass garage doors cost, it is a small upgrade for the added benefit. Depending on the size of the glass garage door you need, a door with an insulated frame will start around $3,500. 

What Are The Sizes Of Glass Garage Doors?

Common sizes for glass garage doors are 8×7, 8×8, 9×7, 9×8, 10×7, 10×8, 16×7, 16×8, 18×7, 18×8. However, we specialize in countertop and extra large commercial glass garage doors. The smallest glass garage door we’ve installed was a 5×4 in a residential basement/outdoor living space. We’ve also installed glass garage doors that were 21’ wide and 10’ tall for a tire business. Each manufacturer of glass garage doors has restrictions on sizes, but we can order one custom-built to your specifications. We will help you find the right manufacturer for the door size you need.

How Much Does a Modern Garage Door Cost?

Upgrading your home with a modern garage door doesn’t have to come with a high price tag. In fact, a modern garage door cost can range from just $1000 to $10,000. With this cost range, we can find the perfect new modern garage door to suit any budget. 

How Long Does It Take To Get A Glass Garage Door?

Turnaround time can vary based on the manufacturer, but in most cases, your glass garage door should arrive at our warehouse in 3 – 6 weeks from the time of your order.

What Type Of Track Is Required For Glass Garage Doors?

When choosing the track, you need to consider the headroom and goals for the space. The most common track we’ve used to install glass garage doors is a standard 15” radius. We also install specialized tracks for low headroom (rooms with little to no headroom above the opening), high lift (the door goes up and back to provide more room for things like car lifts), and roof pitch (the door follows the pitch of the roof).

What Is The Best Garage Door Opener For Glass Garage Doors?

We recommend the LiftMaster 8500W. The 8500W is a side mount opener that uses a torsion tube to raise and lower the door. This motor comes with a backup battery, Wi-Fi, Time-to-Close, and many other features. We love this opener with glass garage doors because of the way it reduces stress on the top of the door. Standard trolley openers cause stress on the top middle of the garage door, which is the weakest point of the door. You can eliminate this stress by going with a side mount opener.

Are Glass Garage Doors Expensive To Maintain?

Glass garage doors can be heavy, resulting in bigger, more expensive springs to counterbalance the weight. You should replace springs every 10,000 cycles. In some cases, that’s as early as 5 – 7 years. However, we recommend doing annual service on all garage doors which can extend the lives of your parts. During annual maintenance, we will lubricate the springs, hinges, and rollers in addition to checking your entire system to make sure everything runs smoothly. If you’d like the glass cleaned, the cost of the service will be slightly more expensive.

Are Glass Garage Doors Safe?

Glass garage doors are as safe as any other garage door, especially if you purchase the auto slide lock from LiftMaster. The slide lock acts like a deadbolt and holds the door down when the opener closes the door. As for the glass, we suggest only installing tempered glass as it is much safer than DSB glass. DSB tends to cut people if they break it while tempered glass will break into a bunch of little pieces and fall out to sweep up more easily. It’s our professional opinion that if you use the correct glass and service the door annually, it’s as safe as a steel door.

Can You Add An Entry Door To A Glass Garage Door?

Yes, we call them pass-through garage doors. We offer glass garage doors with ADA-compliant pass-through doors. The other option is a 4” step over the pass-through door. This allows for entry in and out, and you can even open the overhead garage door to allow for indoor/outdoor space utilization. Clear garage doors are an especially popular choice for these this type of entry door.

What Happens If The Glass Breaks On A Glass Garage Door?

This isn’t as big of a deal as most would think because a gasket or frame holds the glass. If the glass breaks, pop the frame out and the gasket comes off. Pull the glass out and replace it with a new piece. For example, we installed a glass garage door for a client who had a gravel driveway; his lawn care company kicked a rock and cracked the window of his garage. But it was an affordable, simple repair for our company to accomplish quickly.

What Are Some Alternatives To Full-View Glass Garage Doors?

There are two options that you can consider when seeking a different type of glass garage door. Option one is slightly cheaper than a full-view glass garage door: a standard steel garage door. A steel door with long panel windows in every section can resemble an aluminum glass garage door. However, the steel door typically has plastic frames and the space between the glass is larger, so if you’re seeking smaller frames, this probably isn’t the door for you. If you are concerned about the lower energy efficiency of glass garage doors, this door also comes in polystyrene or polyurethane insulation and insulated glass.

The second option is a frameless glass door. The frameless glass garage door—also known as an infinity glass garage door—is a steel garage door with glass on the front with no frames. Manufacturers place the glass on top of a flush panel steel door and glue it to the front. You can also choose to have windows cut into the steel portion of the door resulting in the ability to look out. See pictures for examples. However, these doors can cost as much or more than an aluminum glass garage door.

Overview

We consider glass garage doors a modern style garage door. They are a design necessity for a wide range of modern homes like mid-century modern, farmhouse modern, and contemporary homes. (Learn more about modern garage door trends here!) They have been steadily growing in popularity over the past five years. Common trends involving glass doors include enclosed patios, porches, pool houses, kitchens, office spaces, restaurants, and basements. It can be a little intimidating going through this process, but the end product always looks amazing! With brand-new roll-up glass garage doors on your home or business, you are guaranteed stunning curb appeal.

Aaron Overhead Doors is a leader in glass garage doors in the Atlanta area, and we even drop-ship glass garage doors all over the country. Whether you need glass garage doors for interior use or want to upgrade your home, we are the garage door installation company for you. If you’re interested in purchasing a glass garage door or just seeking a consultation, we’ll gladly work with you to find the right glass garage door for your home and budget. Call or text us at 678-960-3360!