8 Iconic Garage Door Facts - Top 8 Garage Door Fun Facts
Barn style wood garage doors with an overlay

8 Iconic Garage Door Facts

Allow Iconic Garage Door Services to Make History

In the greater Phoenix area, our family-owned and operated company has been hard at work for all residential and commercial properties cementing the iconic name. We strive to make history with our iconic customer service, pricing, and workmanship. On the topic of history, we wanted to share 8 garage door fun facts which help us reflect how long we’ve depended on garage doors. Which of the following 8 garage door facts did you already know about?

garage door fun facts

1. The first garage doors were made of wood and were manually operated.

We can take the history of garage doors back to the Roman Empire where they had to park their chariots, horses, and battling equipment in a designated space. We could even go back a couple more millennia when the first wheel was invented. Early civilization had to park their form of transportation somewhere! It just probably wasn’t parked indoors and attached to their homes. 

The first garage doors were doors attached by hinges and opened outward. Barn doors and carriage doors were the most popular style back then, which still make their appearances to this day! 

Barn style wood garage doors with an overlay

2. The first overhead door was invented in 1921 by an inventor named C.G. Johnson.

Fast forward to the early twentieth century, and no one wanted their open horse carriages or early automobiles ruined by rainwater or snow. Once Henry Ford invented the automobile and roads proliferated the country, a salesman from Detroit in the automobile industry, Clarence Gilbert Johnson, invented the first overhead door. 

Not everyone had the real estate to build a barn to house their vehicles, but there was a need for garages, so they started to be built as part of their home. Up until the invention of Johnson’s overhead door, people were still wrestling with overworked hinges, built-up snow, or uneven construction.

3. Many believe Johnson also invented the first electric garage door opener just five years after the first overhead door in 1926.

The first overhead door was essentially a single panel operated by two hinges on either side of the garage. It is argued that Herbert Cady Blodgett, a mechanical engineer who worked closely with Johnson, is the rightful inventor of the first garage door opener. He thankfully filed his patent application, however, Johnson’s enterprise, selling tactics, and additional skills trumped Blodgett’s name from the garage door industry entirely.

An additional garage door fun fact: Although the first opener was invented in the late 1920s, automatic garage door openers did not become popular until the 1950s.

Iconic Banner - Make Your Garage Iconic

4. Garage doors used to receive signals via radio waves. 

Before motherboards, Wi-Fi, and smartphones, the radio was everybody’s form of technology. The remote control for your garage door would send signals in the form of radio frequencies to open or close. 

When you pressed a button on the remote control, it would emit a specific radio frequency signal that corresponded to a unique code. This code is programmed to match the receiver unit in the garage door opener.

5. Many modern inventions were born out of the garage.

Not necessarily anything to do with our garage door services, but without the benefit of owning a garage door, it wouldn’t have granted additional work space and opportunity for inventions like the personal computer, the telephone, Mattel toys, the quadricycle (the earliest version of the Ford automobile), the Dyson vacuum, and so much more. If you have a carport or a detached garage that you would like converted into a traditional covered garage, request our carport conversion service today to get started on the world’s next greatest invention!

iconic garage door facts

6. The average garage door weighs about 200 pounds.

garage door installation

Depending on the material, your garage door could weigh much more than a couple hundred pounds. The garage door weight is supported by wound-up tension thanks to garage door springs, making your door virtually weightless. Aluminum and steel materials make for a lighter garage door, while wood, glass, or added insulation greatly tip the scale.

7. The tallest garage door in the world is NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) located at the Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, FL.

Now this garage door fact is strictly just for fun! Garage doors are mainly for storing vehicles, but it is a space that can be converted to store virtually anything you want. (Peek one of our RV garage door installations to the right.) NASA took the cake by having their four VABs where they assemble rockets! The tallest part of the VAB is referred to as the high bay, where rockets can be fully assembled and stacked vertically before being rolled out to the launchpad. The VAB doors are 456 feet high, and take 45 minutes to fully open or close.

rv garage doors

8. The most popular garage door color is white.

garage door fun facts

Since the first overhead door, stark white was the dominant color of people’s homes, or it at least complemented the exterior. The general rule is to paint your garage door a color that will go with any style or color home, and white is still the most popular garage door color to this day. Learn more about complementary colors and recommended garage door styles from our Before & After Garage Door Projects and gallery.

Talk to us about your garage door!

Today, garage doors can be made to look like wood, customized with any kind of accessory, and even designed to look and open like barn-style and carriage house doors from over a century ago. With over 45 years of combined experience, Iconic Garage Door Services knows everything there is to know about garage doors! 

When you call us for broken garage door spring repair, faulty garage door opener repair, or emergency garage door service we make a point to explain the process to our residential and commercial customers in the greater Phoenix area. Please see our full list of service areas so you can book a thorough service appointment near you. In the meantime, let us know which of the 8 garage door fun facts surprised you the most!

Nicholas MartinezNicholas Martinez
02:07 11 Jul 24
Karsten and Nick did an excellent job installing our new garage door. They were very professional and friendly and were in a great mood. We were an afternoon install and they stayed quite late on a hot day to ensure our door was completed and it looked great. They took extra time at the end of the install to go over set up and programming as well which was much appreciated!
Susie JordanSusie Jordan
21:50 09 Jul 24
This company was amazing!!! Karsten the installer, the staff's commincation, the companies reliability and so much more...well exceeded our expectation!!!!!!
Dan DematioDan Dematio
21:29 09 Jul 24
Karsten did a great job installing the Overhead door for my customer, very professional attitude, and quality work.
Skyler EllisSkyler Ellis
22:54 25 Jun 24
Karsten did a wonderful job with the garage installation. He was very professional and had a smile on his face the whole time even in this heat!
Sanjeev AroraSanjeev Arora
17:42 19 Jun 24
Prompt response ans scheculing.Amazing service
Hans KieblerHans Kiebler
16:57 12 May 24
I was the first person to get a CHI garage door from Iconic. They did a fantastic job, and three years later the door still looks as good as when it was installed. My house was built in 1974, but Iconic has the door fitting snuggly.This is one contractor I am very happy I used.
DaveDave
00:57 02 May 24
From the sales process to installation of 2 new garage door everything was excellent. They programmed all the cars, remotes and MyQ app. The installers were professional and courteous and cleaned and removed all debris.
Neal LeggerNeal Legger
20:35 23 Mar 24
The Service Scheduler took our Friday evening call and scheduled our Repair Technician for the next morning.Victor called us with his ETA and arrived on time to evaluate and repair our door springs...and related parts to get our garage door up an running.."Great job!!"N&M
Carina Montes de OcaCarina Montes de Oca
19:48 15 Mar 24
Big shout out to both Liz and Joey!!! 😀 Please let them know of their great service!Liz was kind and courteous to schedule a quote appointment the next day, working within my availability.And Joey kindly repaired my garage door that same appointment day! He arrived early and was very friendly, efficient and professional given we were his last stop on his "Friday". Without rushing, he walked my husband and I through the issue and the best options available with invested interest that our needs were met. Once done, he double checked his work with us and helped set up the app for the opener and answered any pending questions we had.
Jacob FlickJacob Flick
20:30 02 Mar 24
Iconic Garage Door is awesome! I found them on Google and called on a Friday afternoon for best availability. I was pleasantly surprised they were able to get me an appointment Saturday at 8AM, no additional emergency fee.The tech, Caleb F, was fantastic to work with! He completely explained my options, the cost for each, the pros, and cons until I was entirely satisfied we were making the right choice. He was thorough, and helped me set up every last bit of technology and remotes to exactly how I wanted them.Not to mention Caleb F is a super nice guy and personable. It's not very often I enjoy paying money to fix stuff around the house, but made the whole experience fun. He really went above and beyond to help me and connect with me as a customer!I couldn't recommend Iconic enough for your garage door servicing, replacement, or upgrade. They went from a cold call on Google to my service provider of choice in just one visit! Absolutely top notch service!
js_loader
Scroll to Top