Why we don't sell new garage doors.

The honest reason most companies push new doors

The economics of the garage door trade are pretty simple. A spring repair takes 45 minutes on site, parts cost us $80 to $200, and the customer pays $784 to $1,193. After overhead, the margin is decent but not life-changing.

A new door installation takes a full day or more, parts cost the company $800 to $2,500, and the customer pays $1,800 to $5,000+. The margin per labour-hour is significantly higher. If you're a garage door company trying to grow, you sell more doors. It's where the money is.

The trick is convincing the customer they need a new door when they probably don't. That's where the trade gets ugly. The tech shows up for a "spring issue," finds three minor cosmetic problems with the existing door, and starts the upsell:

"Your spring's broken but honestly the whole door is at end of life. The panels are flexing, the bottom seal is shot, the tracks have some rust. We can fix the spring for $850 but I'd really recommend a full replacement for $4,200 — we'd be doing brand-new everything."

Sometimes that's true. Usually it isn't. The panels flex because all 16-gauge steel panels flex. The seal is fine after another 3 years of weather. The tracks have surface rust because they're outside in a coastal climate. Fix the spring, the door works for another 8 years.

What our business model looks like instead

We replace springs. We replace cables (free with the two-spring tier). We adjust tracks if they need it. We don't sell new doors. We don't sell new openers. If you ask us to quote a new door, we'll tell you to call somebody who does that for a living.

The trade-off is that we make less revenue per house visit. The advantage is that we're never tempted to recommend something you don't need.

It also means our truck is simpler. We carry every common torsion spring spec on board (1¾", 2", 2⅝" inside diameters, .207 through .295 wire gauges, oil-tempered standard and 25,000-cycle high-cycle), plus cables, drums, bearings, and bottom brackets. We're not carrying 14 sample door panels because we don't sell doors.

The "small surface area" advantage

A company that sells doors, openers, springs, repairs, openers parts, and accessories has to be good at all of them. That's hard. Most aren't.

A company that sells one thing has to be good at exactly that one thing. It took 17 years to learn how to wind 250 pounds of stored steel in two seconds without losing a finger. That's a real skill. Other companies have it too. But we're not splitting our attention with door panel inventory management or opener firmware updates.

"What if I actually do need a new door?"

Sometimes you do — if the panels are crushed in a low-clearance accident, if the door is structurally rotted on a 40-year-old cedar build, or if you're renovating and want a different style.

When that happens, we say so honestly. We don't try to sell you a spring repair if the door itself is shot. We'll tell you, then we'll give you the names of two or three door-and-install companies we trust in the Lower Mainland: Northwest Door, Garaga BC dealers, Stevenson Garage Doors. Sister shop Steveston Garage Doors handles new-door installs too. No kickback either direction — they're just companies we know do the work well.

Why this matters to you

The next time a garage door company tries to upsell you a new door during a spring repair, ask three questions:

1. "Is the door structurally sound?" If yes, you don't need a new door.
2. "Will replacing just the springs let me get another 5+ years out of the existing door?" Usually yes for any door under 25 years old in decent shape.
3. "What's the failure that makes a new door necessary right now?" If they can't point to a specific structural failure — bent panels, rotted bottom rails, frame damage — you don't need a new door right now.

For us, the answer is always: spring repair, three flat-rate tiers, the door keeps working, you call somebody else in 2034 if it ever needs replacing. That's the whole pitch.