We have a new door and can actually open it!

We got our brand new garage door installed today (www.hamiltondoorsystems.com/).  It doesn't appreciably change the look of the house (same colour, slightly different style), but it will make the garage a warmer place in the winter. It is a sectional door that slides up to open, while the old one was a solid one-piece steel door that swung out to open.

Our new garage door

The old door was bent from Adam's previous interaction with it, and this bend created huge gaps all around the door where the cold could come in.  It was also not insulated. The new door fixed both problems at once and is both insulated and seals out the weather.

This is the old door in the closed position - notice the gap all around.

This is the new door - look, no gaps!

We also got a new garage door opener, and this one is actually much quieter than the Chamberlain Whisper Drive that we had previously... the one that stopped working just after the 3-year warranty was up. Grrrr!

A feature that I think I will really be able to enjoy is the self closing timer - after a set amount of time with no activity, the door will close on its own.  No more forgetting to close the door, and no more waking up in the middle of the night and wondering if it is still open. 

No more texting the kids to open the door for us as we come home. Best of all, we can now drive into the garage without: 

1. getting out of the car
2. unlocking the front door
3. walking through the house
4. going into the garage
5. pushing the wall button
6. getting back in the car
7. driving into the garage
8. getting out of the car
9. pushing the wall button to close the door. 

Phew!  I'm exhausted just writing about it!