Massachusetts garage doors contend with nor'easters, heavy snow, deep cold and salted roads, plus salt air along the coast. Many homes are old, from capes and colonials to triple-deckers and farmhouses, and many of their garages were tacked on decades after the house or carved out of an old barn or carriage house.
Here's what that means for repair and replacement across the Commonwealth, from Peabody and North Reading north of Boston to Franklin and Attleboro in the south, and out to West Springfield and Southwick in the Pioneer Valley.
Detached, drive-under and barn-bay garages
Massachusetts garages come in more shapes than the standard suburban two-car box. A detached single-car garage sits behind many older capes and colonials, split-entry houses on hillsides often have a drive-under garage beneath the living space, and plenty of farmhouses still park in an old barn bay. Each brings its own fitting problems: nonstandard widths, low or sagging headers and walls that lean slightly out of plumb.
A door can be ordered to a custom size, and low-headroom track lets a sectional door work where the ceiling sits close to the top of the opening. The framing comes first, though: if the header has sagged under decades of snow or the jamb bottoms have gone soft, a new door will leak air and run crooked until they're rebuilt.
In a local historic district established under Chapter 40C of the state's General Laws, the district commission reviews exterior changes visible from a public way, and a garage door can fall under that review. Talk to the commission before ordering; a door that suits the house's period makes approval simpler.
Snow loads, ice dams and nor'easters
Massachusetts winters can bury a garage in a hurry; Boston logged more than 100 inches of snow in the record winter of 2014–15, most of it in a few weeks. On older detached garages, that weight bears down on the roof and header, and a header that deflects even slightly can drag on the top section or make the door stick as it closes.
Ice dams are the other winter culprit. Meltwater runs off the garage roof, drips onto the threshold and refreezes, gluing the bottom seal to the concrete. Free a stuck seal by hand before pressing the button so the opener doesn't rip it, and keep the gutters over the door clear.
- Clear snow from in front of the door before it can melt and refreeze.
- Pull heavy snow off a detached garage roof with a roof rake, working from the ground.
- Hose salty slush away from the threshold whenever a thaw allows.
- If a spring snaps mid-storm, leave the door down and park outside until it's repaired.
Cape Cod, the islands and the South Coast
From Cape Ann to Buzzards Bay, and especially on Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, salt air works its way into springs, hinges and roller bearings, and coastal storms drive rain sideways under worn seals. Doors that face open water take the worst of it.
Barnstable County and the islands carry some of the highest design wind speeds in the state building code, so ask the building department what rating a new door needs before you order. Stainless or galvanized hardware, nylon rollers and a freshwater hose-down every month or two in summer keep salt from seizing parts.
The Pioneer Valley and the Berkshires
In the Pioneer Valley, including West Springfield and Southwick, and up into the Berkshires, nights run colder and snow lingers longer than around Boston. Rural properties often have large, older doors on barns and outbuildings, and those heavier doors ride on bigger springs that should only be serviced by a professional.
Insulated doors and snug weather seals help keep garages and adjoining rooms warmer. A pre-winter check of springs, cables and the opener catches most problems before the first cold snap.
Stretch-code towns and insulated doors
Massachusetts has some of the more demanding energy codes in the country, and many towns have adopted the stretch energy code. Those rules focus on the home's heated space rather than an unheated garage, but if your garage is attached, an insulated door and tight seals limit cold air reaching shared walls and the rooms above.
For an attached garage, a polyurethane-insulated steel door with a thermal break between its inner and outer skins, plus weatherstripping on all four sides, is a practical choice.
Last updated by the American Garage Door Team.