Dream Garage with Dream Garage Doors

When Jamie and Jamison Rantz decided to create their dream home they didn’t stop at the front door. They also looked at creating their dream garage. Complete with radiant in-floor heating, their 900-square-foot drive-through garage features both curb appeal and functionality.

“We could actually live in this new two-car garage,” says Jamison Rantz, co-author of the Rogue Engineer blog. “Between the in-floor heating and the great R-values on the garage doors we selected from Haas Door, the garage is always comfortable, even in our cold Michigan weather.”

Two-inches thick with a full thermal break and an R-value of 13.45, the two American Tradition™ Series doors on the front of the garage complement the modern farmhouse style of the home to create exceptional curb appeal. On the back of the garage, Rantz chose a single full-glass RA360 Series door with Dark Gray glass to match the look of the home.

On-Line Designer Tool
When the husband-and-wife design/contractor team decided to manage their dream home project themselves, they took their 37,000 Facebook followers along for the ride. Regular website and video postings show everything from installing decking to laying tiles to lighting fixture selections. It’s also the way the couple gained input to select their garage door design.

“We started by using the online HaasCreate visualizer to initially select several garage door options and then shared those designs online,” says Jamie Rantz. “We had our followers vote on their favorite styles to provide input on the process. The visualizer made it easy to take several different styles for a ‘test drive’ to see how they’d look on our home’s garage.

“Next we had almost 1,900 people weigh in on the garage door design selection. We knew the American Tradition™ Series was the winner for us. Our home has a modern farmhouse style, so the carriage house-style garage doors were perfect. Fortunately, the voters liked the same garage doors. If that hadn’t happened we could have had a real problem!”

Decisions, Decisions
After selecting the style of garage doors, the Rantzs then tackled the specifics. “One feature we love about the American Traditions Series is the custom glass,” says Rantz. “You can mix and match to really create a unique garage door for your home. Another feature is the variety of overlay designs. There are so many choices that we felt it was easy to find the perfect fit for our style.”

With the decision made — and confirmed by their followers — the Rantz team moved ahead with ordering the two steel American Tradition Series doors for the front of their garage. They selected Cool Black on both the traditional carriage house-style doors and the overlays, plus they added specialty glass for the glazed four-pane windows.

“We went with Aqua over Frosted for our glass option,” says Rantz. “From the outside, it complements our lights which have similar glass plus creates a nice texture to the light filtering into the garage. And, from the inside, the frosted glass gives us tons of privacy.”

Drive-Thru Back Door
According to the Rantzs, one of the best decisions they made in designing the garage was to include a pass-through garage door, enabling them to literally “drive through” the garage as needed. They selected a Residential Aluminum 360 Series (RA360) door with all glass panels for the back garage door.

“The full view garage door allows tons of natural light into the garage and truly showcases our outside view when we’re in the garage,” says Jamison Rantz, an aerospace engineer. “This full glass door is a show stopper to guests.”

The Rantzs chose a Black Anodized rust- and corrosion-free RA360 garage door in a modern contemporary style. The high-end commercial grade aluminum door includes tongue-and-groove section joints and straight line looks. The Dark Gray specialty glass allows them to see out, but not let 100 percent of the natural sunlight inside the garage.

“Even with all that glass, it’s still an incredibly energy efficient garage door,” says Rantz. “When we don’t have the radiant heat turned on in the garage, we’ve found that just a portable heater makes the space comfortable. We’re impressed at how well the garage stays tempered in the winter months.

“Ultimately, everyone wants beautiful garage doors, but no one wants the maintenance that comes along with them. With both the American Tradition Series and RA360 Series, we’ve got the best of both worlds — distinct-looking exteriors that are low maintenance”