How much does a new
garage door cost?

Almost nobody in this trade will tell you a price before they're standing in your driveway. Of the fifteen garage door companies serving Grand Rapids, exactly one other publishes a number at all. That's a rotten way to shop for something that costs more than a washing machine, so here are ours in print.

What a new door costs, installed

These are starting prices for a standard single door, and they include the door, the labor, and hauling your old one away. They are the number a typical West Michigan garage starts at — not a teaser you'll never see again.

• Basic steel — from $1,099. A 24–25 gauge raised-panel steel door. The sensible pick for a detached garage or one you don't heat.
• Insulated steel — from $1,599. Double or triple-layer, higher R-value, and a good deal quieter. This is the one to buy if the garage is attached to the house.
• Carriage or custom — from $2,199. Steel carriage-house styling with decorative hardware, and lifetime springs plus a smart opener bundled in.

The four things that move your number

Two houses on the same street can be several hundred dollars apart. Almost always it comes down to these:

• Single or double. A double-wide door is the single biggest jump — more steel, a heavier spring system, and two people to hang it. Budget meaningfully above the single-door numbers above.
• The opening itself. A taller-than-standard opening, an out-of-square frame, or a low headroom garage needs different hardware, and occasionally a low-clearance track kit.
• Insulation and windows. Insulation adds cost and buys you warmth and quiet. A row of windows adds cost and buys you daylight and looks. Both are genuine choices, not upsells.
• What's behind the door. A new door on tired springs, worn rollers, or a fifteen-year-old opener is a half-finished job. We'll tell you what still has life in it and what doesn't.

Before you replace — check whether you need to

A lot of doors that look finished aren't. The most common reason a homeowner calls about replacement is a door that won't lift, and the usual culprit is a $479 spring, not a $1,599 door. Some honest comparisons:

• Broken spring — from $479 ($599 for both). The door is fine; the spring that counterweights it snapped. Most are done in one visit.
• Cable repair — from $189. A cable jumped its drum and the door hangs crooked. Looks catastrophic, usually isn't.
• One dented section — from $349 labor. Backed into it? We colour-match and swap the single panel rather than the whole door. The panel is billed separately.
• Off-track and rollers — from $149. Re-seated safely and worn rollers swapped for quiet nylon.

The line between fixing and replacing is genuinely worth thinking about, and we've written it up properly in repair or replace.

What about the opener?

The opener is a separate purchase from the door, and a healthy one will usually run a new door without any changes at all. If yours is failing, a chain drive installs from $549 and a quiet belt drive from $649 — and getting both done in the same visit saves you paying twice for the drive out. See opener installation.

How to compare two quotes properly

Garage door quotes are easy to make look cheap. When you're holding two of them, check that both actually include the same things:

• Is haul-away in there? Removing and disposing of the old door is real work, and it's a common line to leave off a quote to make the total look smaller.
• What springs are on it? A standard 10,000-cycle spring and a 25,000-cycle one are hundreds apart and both just say "springs" on a quote. Ask which.
• Gauge and layers. "Insulated" covers everything from a thin foam sheet to a proper triple-layer sandwich. The R-value is the honest comparison.
• Who carries the labor warranty, and for how long. The door manufacturer warrants the door. The company that hangs it warrants the work.

The short version

A new single garage door in Grand Rapids realistically starts around $1,099 for basic steel, $1,599 insulated, and $2,199 for carriage styling, installed and hauled away. A double door runs meaningfully higher. And before you spend any of it, it's worth ten minutes finding out whether a $479 spring gets you another decade out of the door you already own.