What Kind of Garage Doors are Best for Facing Direct Sunlight?

The Bay Area sun can be intense. If you’re installing a garage door on your home’s south-facing side, you may have concerns about sun damage. What kind of garage doors are best for facing direct sunlight? Uncover which garage door styles can take the heat with help from GDI Garage Doors.

Wood Garage Doors

Are you concerned wood garage doors will turn into kindling on the south-facing side of your home? Wood garage doors require careful selection in areas exposed to direct sunlight to avoid fading, cracking, warping, or separation over time. Choosing wood, paint, or stain with a lighter hue ensures lasting performance. We also recommend regular resealing to keep your wood garage doors facing direct sunlight looking their best.

Steel Garage Doors

Steel garage doors have a reputation for providing unsurpassed security – but this material is at a disadvantage against the sun. Steel garage doors can’t escape the sun’s heat. Instead, they absorb it, becoming hot to the touch and posing a potential burn risk in high temperatures. To reduce the impact of sunlight on your steel garage door, we strongly recommend choosing a light color that reflects sunlight. Added insulation can also prevent heat gain within your attached home, helping you control energy costs.

Aluminum Garage Doors

Aluminum garage doors are a budget-friendly favorite. You can choose from designs stamped into various looks, including popular carriage house garage door styles. These metal doors are extremely low maintenance, resisting corrosion and distortion. Aluminum garage doors withstand sunlight, but they get hot to the touch like steel garage doors. However, they are more conductive than steel and transfer heat efficiently, making insulation essential to avoid heat transfer into your home. For this reason, we strongly recommend choosing a lighter color that reflects heat and avoiding dark tones.

Best Garage Door Colors for Sun Exposure

If you own a home with a south-facing garage exposed to intense sunlight, our garage door design experts recommend avoiding dark paint colors and dark wood tones, which absorb more heat. Dark, heat-absorbing colors could cause warping and panel separation. With some manufacturers, choosing a dark shade could also invalidate your warranty. We recommend white and other colors with a high light reflectance value (LRV) for lasting use. If you must have a dark-colored garage door, we’ll help you find the combination of materials that will work best.

Find the best garage door style and color for facing direct sunlight.

‍Ensure lasting beauty and performance with help from GDI Garage Door’s garage door design experts. Contact us for help finding the perfect new garage door for your Livermore, Pleasanton, Lafayette, Walnut Creek, San Ramon, Brentwood, or Alameda home today.