Making a good first impression

First impressions create a long-lasting impact, whether it’s deciding what to wear for a job interview or what you see first on arriving in a new city.

The same principle applies to houses; improving the street appeal is never money wasted—most people are strongly influenced by the look of a property when they’re out house hunting.

So, when you are thinking about how you want your home to look from the street, spare more than a moment or two for the garage door.

On average, this not-so-small detail accounts for 25 per cent of the front face of your house. So, to achieve the best possible look for the house, you’ll want your garage door to reflect the value of your property and complement its style.

Dominator Garage Doors has researched the market and, as a result, has created two styles of garage doors to include in its range for homeowners wanting a premium product—Sierra and Nevada. Both are custom-made, enabling architects and designers to specify the perfect size, colour and finish for every home they plan.

National Sales Manager—New Zealand, Mark Rippin, says the real advantages of the company’s Sierra and Nevada designs are that architects are not restricted in any way when they are dealing with the garage; they can design a door in the size and proportions they want to suit the house and they can be confident of achieving a perfect fit every time.

“Dominator has recognised with these two products that an architecturally designed home needs an architecturally designed product, rather than a standard garage door,” says Mark.

Both styles are designed to complement a modern aesthetic, with Sierra offering a striking, flat finish that creates a visually crisp aspect. On the other hand, Nevada features a prominent negative detail on the join between each panel to produce bold, horizontal lines that contrast with modern, flat cladding finishes. The negative detail on this door style is proportioned to hold its own against the horizontal appearance of homes with weatherboard exteriors.

While these garage doors are primarily being fitted into new homes, they are equally suitable for retrofitting and installing into homes being renovated, enabling homeowners to significantly improve the value of their property and modernise its appearance.

Both Sierra and Nevada doors are manufactured from heavy gauge steel and every door is supplied with a customised finish. Architects and homeowners can select from a choice of more than 200 pre-painted steel and powder-coated colours to match the style and finish of the home.

Additionally, designers can confidently specify finishing the doors in one of the darker colours—such as FlatPod, Grey Friars and Sandstone Grey that are trending in the market at the moment. Because they are made from heavy gauge steel, these styles of doors will not experience issues such as paint finishes rippling in the heat, which can occur with dark-coloured doors made from a thinner grade of steel.

Dominator: exceptional door to door service

To ensure homeowners can fully utilise their garage spaces, Dominator also provides its Sierra and Nevada garage doors with the option of being fully insulated. Insulation regulates the temperature inside the garage and helps to reduce sound transmission both into and out of the space.

“We realise that a garage isn’t a garage as it used to be. Often this space is utilised, either in part or fully, as an extra bedroom, an office, a gym, or for noisier activities like band practices, where sound insulation is a real bonus. So this space really needs to be tailored to suit the requirements, assets and lifestyle of the homeowners,” says Mark.

Of course, function is also essential, so Dominator has designed its garage doors to be operable via an automatic garage door opener, which can be integrated with the Wi-Fi technology in your home if so required. Where a garage door is fitted into an existing home, the 'smart' opener can be programmed to work with the current set-up of the home.

As a premium range, Sierra and Nevada's motor and door package comes with an industry-leading, 10-year warranty.

Find out more about the Sierra and Nevada ranges from Dominator Garage Doors.