Garage Door Facts

Welcome to Jim Beam’s Garage Doors, your trusted provider of exceptional garage door services in Fort Collins, Colorado! While we take pride in delivering top-notch Garage Door Installation, Garage Door Repair, and Garage Door Maintenance, we also love to share some intriguing and entertaining facts about garage doors. From their surprising history to fascinating features, garage doors have more to offer than meets the eye. Join us as we uncover some fun facts that will surely pique your interest!

The Overhead Garage Door Invention

The modern overhead garage door, as we know it today, was invented by C.G. Johnson in 1921. His creation revolutionized the way we access garages, as the overhead design allowed for more space-saving functionality compared to traditional swing-out or slide-to-the-side doors.

Overhead Garage Door Openers

C.G. Johnson invented the electric overhead garage door opener in 1926 in Hartford City, Indiana. However, it wasn’t until after World War II that electric garage door openers became popular. The Era Meter Company of Chicago introduced an innovative overhead garage door opener that could be operated using a keypad at the end of the driveway or a switch inside the garage. This marked a significant advancement in garage door technology.

Many Materials

Garage doors come in a variety of materials, each with its unique benefits. The most common materials include steel, vinyl, aluminum, wood, and fiberglass. Steel is known for its durability and low maintenance, while aluminum offers a lightweight and corrosion-resistant option. Wood provides a classic and timeless appeal, and fiberglass offers an excellent balance between aesthetics and durability.

If you want to learn more about the different types of garage door materials available, you should contact us or consider reading our article The Different Types of Garage Door Materials: A Comprehensive Guide.

example of a homeowner that is keeping their garage well maintained

Open and Close


Imagine the scenario where you regularly take your car out of the garage in the morning, return it when you come back from work, and then repeatedly open and close the garage door while running errands throughout the day. If we calculate the average number of times the garage door opens and closes in a day, it can be as much as 1,500 times within a year. Now, consider the lifespan of a garage door, which typically ranges from 15 to 30 years. Over this period, your garage door would astonishingly open and shut over 30,000 times! If your garage has not been given proper maintenance recently, consider contacting us or reading our article The Importance of Regular Garage Door Maintenance.

World’s Largest Garage Door

The record for the world’s largest garage door goes to the NASA Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA. This colossal door measures an astounding 456 feet tall and 526 feet wide. It takes approximately 45 minutes to open or close fully!

Ancient Origins

Garage doors have a surprisingly ancient origin, dating back to ancient times. The concept of a large door to protect storage spaces can be traced back to ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman civilizations. In those times, the doors were often made of wood or stone and served as entrances to storage areas for chariots, wagons, and other valuable possessions. If your garage is starting to feel a bit “ancient”, contact us today for a free estimate or reading our article Garage Doors That Make Perfect Sense for Fort Collins.

The Real Front Door

Approximately 55% of homeowners utilize their garage as the primary entryway into their homes. If you fall into this category, ensuring that your garage door remains in optimal working condition is of utmost importance. This ensures smooth and hassle-free access when entering or exiting your home. If you use your garage as a primary entrance, you should absolutely read our article on How to Improve Your Garage’s Security.

Coded Messages

Your garage door opener transmits a special code to the receiver, letting it know you want to open or shut the door. Early versions of this technology had a single, static code before every use. It was easy for hackers to eavesdrop or learn the code to enter strangers’ garages. However, one of the little-known garage door facts is that today those codes automatically change after every use. Rolling codes consist of billions of number combinations to keep your security tight. Consider reading our article on garage door opener codes.

We Hope You Liked Our Garage Facts!

If you don’t know already, Jim Beam’s Garage Doors is one of the top-rated garage door installers and repairers in the Northern Colorado area. With over 120+ reviews on Google and an average rating of 4.9 stars and top-rated status on HomeAdvisor, you can trust Jim Beam’s to do the job right the first time. Get a fast and free estimate on your garage repair, garage maintenance, or garage door installation today by contacting us!

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Welcome to Jim Beam's Garage Doors! With over 15 years of garage door experience, you can count on us to provide professional garage door installation, repair, maintenance, repair, opener repair, and much more.

We service the Northern Colorado area including Fort Collins, Windsor, Loveland, Longmont, Wellington, Severance, Timnath, and LaPorte. If you are looking for the best garage door service in Fort Collins, look no further than the Jim Beam team.

Service Areas

2451 South Timberline Road, Fort Collins, CO 80525

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