Where Did Maine Garage Doors Begin?

Living in a place like Portland, Maine can really cause a person to enjoy their automatic garage door. Nor’easters have brought blizzards to the Northeastern U.S. every year since 2003 with the exception of 2007. Cold weather is a norm in this part of the nation and it is nice to be able to be able to escape the frigid weather by stepping out of their cars directly into the garage. The push-button garage door opener has made all our lives just a little bit easier but, like most modern conveniences, hasn’t always been around. People used to be the garage door openers. So, lest we forget, let’s talk a bit about where garage doors come from.

Before the invention of the car in the late 1890′s, and thus before the garage door as we know it began to take shape, the horse-and-carriage ruled the road. The carriages were stored with the horses in a little barn that was called a “carriage house.” Then the gas-powered automobiles were introduced into the U.S. and horse-drawn-buggies were replaced. While people in Maine were driving around their carriages, there was no way to escape the smell of horses and other livestock, because they were the motor. But even after the horse was needed, the cars were stored in the carriage houses until people realized that horses tend to transfer their smells willingly. Once cars became the norm, people began to shun the odors of horses and looked for other, cleaner places to store their shiny cars.

Recognizing this need, a few entrepreneurs in Maine and all over began to offer car owners a parking spot in their small garages behind closed garage doors. Wanting to keep that “new car smell” for as long as possible, the car owners obliged willingly. In fact, these parking garages became all too popular and ran out of spaces to rent as car ownership became increasingly popular. With this new development, car owners sent their cars back to the carriage houses, but kicked the animals out. Now that the garage was specifically made for the automobile, the garage doors began to become more specialized to the task of conveniently storing a car.

At first, barn doors were the only thing available, so that’s what people had hanging from strap hinges on their carriage houses. Then people got tired of having to shovel all the snow that Maine produces in the winter, so the sliding and folding doors were invented. This sliding door was nice but the garage had to be twice as wide as the car needed to allow space for the door from side to side. When a door that was divided into several small panels allowing it to fold was made, the need for an enlarged garage was no more. To make life easier still, the doors were made to slide up parallel to the ceiling, which got the door out of the way even further. Garage doors had almost reached their pinnacle.

The only thing left to do after allowing garage doors to open up parallel to the garage ceiling was to automate them. Getting out of the car during a snowstorm in Maine is not as convenient as staying inside and pushing a button. As we’ve learned, in American society especially, if something can get easier, it will and does. Automating the garage door brought a couple of problems, though. Anybody with kids knows that a button that moves a giant door is an irresistible temptation, and is seen as a toy. After several tragic injuries and deaths of children, garage door manufacturers were required to build pressure and motion sensors into the door. When these sensors picked up an unusual obstruction, the door is sent back where it came from. Now, injuries due to garage doors are few and far between. What will be next in this evolution?

Want to find out more about Maine garage doors, then visit the Portland Glass site on how to choose the best Maine Garage Door for your house.