How Long Should a B&D Garage Door Last? Key Insights for Homeowners

You've probably done some research online about garage doors already. If so, you'll have likely found most installers agree on something. They say garage doors typically last somewhere between 10 and 30 years, depending on several factors. We'll get to those factors shortly.

What you may not have learned are the lengths B&D goes to ensure our doors will still be going strong at 30 years and beyond.

We put every new design through months of gruelling stress tests, where we open and close them thousands of times in succession to try to make them fail. Our minimum benchmark is 30,000 cycles. That's equivalent to 30 years' use, assuming average homeowner usage of 1,000 cycles per year.

Anything that doesn't withstand 30 years' worth of testing goes back to the drawing board.

Remarkably, many of our standard models endure well beyond 30,000 cycles in testing, with some making it beyond 60,000!

Incredible as that may sound, there's plenty of evidence to back this up in the field, with many examples of B&D garage doors from the 1970s still going strong. There are even examples of B&D's original model, first produced back in 1956, still guarding their original doorways, and working just fine.

In fact, our installers often say there's a good chance you'll want to replace your garage before your B&D garage door needs to be replaced.

One famous example of a B&D garage door that has stood the test of time is an installation under the scoreboard at the Adelaide Oval, installed prior to the photo circa 1980.

Our domestic garage doors are designed to withstand average to high levels of typical domestic use. If you're opening and closing your garage door 20 or 30 times a day, it's inevitable your door will experience more wear and tear than the average domestic installation. Repeated rapid opening and closing in quick succession is especially stressful for the components as they will heat up.

That's why we make a different range of doors and shutters for commercial use, which are designed for much more intensive use.

Like most things on the exterior of your home, harsh weather and other environmental conditions will impact your garage door's lifespan.

High winds, in particular, put garage doors under a lot of stress. But please note if you live in a high wind area, we offer special high wind certified models to help withstand the extra wear and tear.

Doors that withstand prolonged periods of direct sunlight will inevitably age faster than those in shade, as will those that have to endure excessively wet conditions for extended periods; or those doors located within one kilometre of the coastline.

Taking good care of your garage door helps it last longer. Like any machine with moving parts, your garage door faces daily wear and tear from the environment. Here's what we suggest to keep your B&D garage door at its best:

• Regular Inspections: Check hardware, test safety features, and assess door balance.
• Professional Servicing: Book annual check-ups with a certified B&D installer to catch issues early and keep your door running smoothly.