Recently my step-son backed into the garage door, which apparently can affect it's operation. As a result of this oversight, I spent Saturday shopping for a new garage door. I really hadn't a clue as to what to expect cost-wise, and I began on the web with my search (as all things begin these days). I first learned that if you have the guts to install it yourself, you can actually get a 16x7 foot door for about five or six hundred (medium quality).
I decided against the gutsy route rather quickly, and went to Home Depot to look at their doors. Their doors aren't 
cheap, and for the cheapest door they had (metal, with no insulation or windows), installed, would be about $1,400 with tax. We decided to stop over at Lowe's and compare prices, which turned out to be a wise move. At Lowe's this same type of door came in at around 900 with tax (right).
I decided I didn't want the cheapest door in town, but wasn't looking to shell out over three grand for a top of the line wooden door either. I settled on the 4th (out of five rankings) best door Lowe's had in the metal variety.
This type of door offered double metal and a thin layer of insulation, and came in at $1,200 with tax and installation, which apparently takes about 3-4 weeks (left).
An extra $300 would have actually got me their best door, with the heavy insulation (lower right), but times are frugal and one must cut back here and there to survive.
The best door at Home Depot was of the same quality and would have been a little over $2,000.
Now Lowes did have a super cheap door that was around $600 installed, but only comes in white. There are so many types and styles of doors to choose from these days it's mind boggling. Just adding windows to your door is about $256.00 extra on average.
Suffice it to say, one can spend anywhere from $600 to $4,000 or more for a door, but for the average Joe, you can squeak by at about a thousand for a quality door installed with a 20 year warranty. So it wasn't as bad as I had thought; when my wife and I stood there looking at that mangled door, she asked "How much" and I could only say "I have no idea".
Now I know, as do you.
Sad thing was, the door wasn't damage that badly form him hitting it. However, when he attempted to operate the door with the remote, the damaged panel became jammed in the tracks (since it was no longer straight), and the motor continued to pull until it finally broke the top panel. Now it's a mess. The doors are fairly cheap, but as always, installation kills you.
They're not very competitive in many respects. I went there two weeks ago to buy a washing machine, and the one I wanted wasn't in stock; they refused to sell me the floor model.
I went to Lowe's to get a similar model washer (and it was the same price), and also not in stock; They sold me the floor model without hesitation.
I even told Home Depot I would go to Lowe's if they wouldn't sell me the floor model, and they gave me directions!
Michael,
Lowe's used to offer a 10% discount to Realtors. You may want to check with the Board of Realtors about that.
In an update to this story: it should be noted that Lowes took 6 weeks to deliver the door, and were very unresponsive to our repeated request for informaiton regarding the status of the delivery. Each time we called, we were assured they would call us back with an answer, and they never did.
We went to the store to get and answer, and again were told they wold call later in the day to let us know what happened to our door, they never called. The delivered door was not the shade of beige we ordered, but we kept it purely out of need.
Good post. Will surly help people save a time and money.
David