Original research
Data nobody else publishes
Garage door failure is driven by climate and building code, and both are measurable. These datasets are free to reuse and cite with attribution.
Garage door spring lifespan by climate
How many years a garage door torsion spring actually lasts where you live, derived from annual freeze–thaw cycle counts. Methodology and per-city figures.
Garage door wind code by county
Design wind speeds and impact-rating requirements for garage doors by county, including Florida's High-Velocity Hurricane Zone rules and permit timelines.
Garage door repair cost index
Published price ranges for every common garage door repair, what drives the variance, and how to tell a fair quote from a bait price.
Garage door opener safety standards, and why 1993 matters
Federal law has required automatic reversal on residential garage door openers since 1 January 1993. What changed, what UL 325 covers, and how to date your opener.
Garage door spring cycle ratings explained
What a spring cycle actually is, what 10,000 and 25,000 cycle ratings mean in years, and how to calculate the expected life of the springs on your own door.
Garage door weight and spring sizing
Why garage door springs must be sized to the exact weight of the door, what happens when they are not, and how to check whether yours are correct.
Garage door insulation by climate zone
Where an insulated garage door returns its cost and where it does not, by DOE climate zone — and why the bottom seal outranks the panel rating in cold markets.
Regional garage door failure patterns
Garage door components fail in different orders in different climates. What breaks first in cold, coastal, hot and high-wind markets, and why.
The standards that govern garage doors
A plain-language reference to the standards a garage door and its opener are built and tested against: UL 325, ANSI/DASMA 102 and 108, ASTM E1886/E1996, Miami-Dade NOA.
When a garage door job needs a permit
Which garage door work requires a building permit and which does not. Repairs are almost always exempt; full replacement usually is not, and the rule is set locally.
What housing age predicts about garage door failure
Median year built, from Census ACS data, predicts which garage door components fail in a market — and whether the openers there predate the 1993 safety mandate.
Garage door contractor licensing, and how to check it
Licensing for garage door work is set state by state and sometimes only at city level. How to verify a specific contractor's licence, insurance and bond before they arrive.