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Jun 16, 2013

garage doors to carriage doors



When we built our pole barn house and it came to picking options sometimes we had to choose functional over the look we actually wanted. There were a few things that factored into this and availability along with price were two of them. We absolutely love our garage doors but we have bigger doors than your average house so we only had the industrial options to work with. When it comes to industrial grade, you want durability over pretty. I am very thankful that I had the option of grids in my windows!


There's one problem with our doors. They look like garage doors and our
house looks like a barn. I wanted to give them that carriage door look so they would flow better with our barn house. I didn't want to spend a lot of money on this project because this project was not going to improve the function of the house.


I wasn't going to put cheap hardware on my beautiful white doors, either. I saw a lot of pins on Pinterest where you can "Update your garage door for only $12!!!" When you spend only $12 on hardware, you're asking for trouble down the road. I worked at an industrial fastener supply company for 2.5 years - I knew better.

While doing some research, I came across a website that offered magnetic hardware for your garage doors. Yes, magnetic hardware. That was the answer to my problem! It was a small investment and there is no drilling, no damage and absolutely no risk. It's a magnet. If I didn't like it, I could peel it off!

So once I figured out how I was going to update our garage doors, I ordered my magnetic hardware from garagedoorhardwaredirect.com and I picked out this kit because you receive the four hinges and the two handles for $29.95. As an added bonus, they offered free shipping! I ordered two kits all together so we're looking at $60 dollars to update my garage doors versus thousands and thousands and thousands. Have you priced fancy garage doors lately? Yikes. Especially a 12x16!


My package arrived on a very rainy night and of course it rained the last several days whenever I had some free time to slap these babies on. I was getting very anxious. We finally were able to get started on the project this afternoon. It was probably the easiest upgrade I have ever done.


First I applied the handles. I centered them on the door at a height that seemed natural given the doors actually had to be opened with a handle.




 They're not exactly 3D but from far away they look real. Honestly, even up close they don't look that bad. After all, they're not functional. Just for looks. As a disclaimer, you will not be able to use these handles to assist closing or opening the door in the event of a power outage.

Handles were finished and it was time to move on to the hinges which involved a ladder for the upper two.


Super easy!! Check out that technique... it's almost like I have been installing magnetic garage door hardware my entire life.


Dan was hard at work installing the hinges up top.


You'll notice that the hinge is not flush with the edge of the door. You want to avoid installing it flush so it doesn't interfere with the seal of the door. This is only noticed if you're up close and personal with the hinge.


And, drum roll please for the final outcome of our very professional garage door update :

Drrrrrrrrrrrrrrr drrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. (Ok enough of that)


I like it. What do you think? I hope the hardware doesn't look too small for our doors. Down the road, I may look for a kit that is more to scale but this works for now. It was cheap and has helped us to achieve the look we were going for without giving my husband a hard attack at the request of having to drill into our expensive metal doors.


You should try it! It could make such a huge impact on your home especially on a normal sized garage door. I feel like our hardware gets a little lost with the big door but it still works and makes a big impact. Keep in mind, our doors are a lot taller than normal. Tall enough to fit a semi or a tractor through!




8 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. It is really amazing how a simple hardware could transform the look of one’s garage. It would make your garage door different from that of your neighbour. And I love the idea that it’s magnetic. It won’t cause much damage to the doors when you decided to change it.

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  3. Its a wonderful experience! very nice site and a series of useful links here.

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  4. I have recently installed Sectional Garage doors. And these magnetic hardware are just perfect in style and looks. If it was to stick I must have ponder over it but as these are magnetic, so no need to think that much. Thanks for the idea tho

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  5. Just wondering, since this is just a flat magnet, why couldn't you just make your own out of magnetic sheets? Just take what you have and increase the size on a grid, then trace to magnet sheets, cut them out, and there you go, bigger versions of the hardware, for a tiny fraction of what you paid for the first set.

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