Custom garage doors
Garage doors with windows in any panel you like.
Glass can go across the top row, down one side, in just the middle two panels or over the whole door. The bigger decisions are which kind of glass, and whether anybody will be working in that garage.
Quickest is a call: (615) 810-6415
Where can the glass go?
Anywhere you want it. The days of glass only in the top section are long gone; we can find a door with glass in every panel, to the left, to the right, or only in the center of the middle two. A modern house usually wants it in a vertical pattern, stacked down the door, the look that fills Pinterest boards right now. A carriage-style door, from Amarr in steel or Carriage House Doors in wood, more often takes a row of windows across the top section.
The biggest one we’ve done was on a home on top of a mountain: a massive all-glass door on hydraulics, so the house got the full sunset.
Vinyl insert or tempered glass with a baked-on design?
It’s a trade between easy to fix and hard to break. A decorative vinyl insert frames the glass, so when a kid puts a baseball through it, the pane is easier to replace. Tempered glass with the design ceramic-baked onto it is harder for that baseball to break in the first place, and it costs a good deal more.
Either way, patterns go out of production and out of style. Sometimes that’s the point: on a mid-century modern house, a pattern that looks dated may be exactly the look you’re after.
Is insulated glass worth $500 or more?
If people use the garage, yes. Insulated glass can add $500 or more to a door over non-insulated glass, so it’s worth asking who it’s for. If the garage is an office or living space and you want the daylight, get a high R-value door with insulated glass; barndominiums are the classic case, and we cover those on the garage door installation page. Your car and your lawnmower are perfectly happy without it.
Matching an old window insert
Here’s a tip from a lot of these jobs. If your HOA is fine with it, it’s often quicker and easier to choose a new glass design for every panel than to hunt down a match for an old vinyl insert. And sometimes the door doesn’t need replacing at all: switching from a decorative insert to a coated privacy glass can freshen the front of the house by itself.
When glass goes into a new section of an existing door, the page on panel replacement explains how matching works. For the other choices on a new door, Clay or Chad can start you at custom garage doors.
Answers
Garage doors with glass: questions people ask
Are garage doors with windows more expensive?
Generally, yes. Glass sections cost more than solid ones, tempered glass with a baked-on ceramic design costs more than a vinyl insert, and insulated glass can add $500 or more to the door. How many panels get glass moves the price as much as the type of glass.
Are glass garage doors safe?
Garage door glass is usually tempered, so it’s much harder to break than ordinary window glass and crumbles into small pieces instead of sharp shards when it does. Tempered glass with a baked-on ceramic design is the toughest of the decorative options, and privacy glass keeps the inside out of view.
Can you add windows to an existing garage door?
Sometimes. If the manufacturer still makes a glass section for your door’s model, size and color, a solid section can be swapped for one with windows. On an older door that’s often no longer possible, and a new door with glass where you want it is the cleaner answer.
Can you replace the glass in a garage door window?
Usually. Vinyl inserts are built so a broken pane can be replaced without replacing the section. Matching an older decorative pattern is the hard part, since patterns get discontinued, which is why a new design in every panel is often faster when the HOA allows it.
What is privacy glass on a garage door?
It’s glass with a coating or texture that lets daylight in while blurring the view inside. Switching from decorative trim to coated privacy glass is one way to refresh a door that’s otherwise in good shape, without replacing the whole door.
Do garage doors with glass lose more heat?
Yes. Standard glass insulates less than a solid insulated section. If the garage is heated, or used as an office or living space, insulated glass in a high R-value door narrows the gap. For a garage that only holds a car and a mower, it rarely matters.