Most brands of garage doors make stamped steel carriage house garage doors in 4 sections when the door is 7′ high (5 sections for 8′ high doors). There are some quality and design differences between the different brands, however, that can mean the difference between a poorly proportioned door and one that looks super nice. We’ll be considering three brands: Clopay, CHI and Amarr. We’ll be giving you a fully honest assessment, as our main goal is to get you the door you want. We are happy to install any door listed on this page – or anywhere out there in the garage door world.
Our Overall Assessment (the TL/DR)
Our Overall Ranking on 4-Section Stamped Steel Carriage House Garage Doors
- Clopay Gallery Collection Doors
- CHI Stamped Steel Carriage House (Very, Very Close 2nd) – A Great Alternative
- Amarr Hillcrest, Heritage, and Designer’s Choice (Distant 3rd)
Some Points to Consider
- You can see images of all of these doors here and find prices on them here
- You Can’t Go Wrong with a Clopay Gallery Collection door or a CHI brand stamped steel carriage house door.
- We have a slight preference for Clopay doors, but not by much. Our preference is increased when you do arched windows, as Clopay has a truly arched window frame and glass.
- We would avoid the Amarr 4-section stamped steel carriage house doors, mainly because of poorly proportioned windows, but also because they are a step down in quality from our experience.
- Where Amarr really shines is in their 3-Section Classica garage doors. Expect to pay a good amount more for these doors, with a small – though probably insignificant – decrease in quality. These doors look incredibly nice, though. These doors are NOT included in the analysis on this page because we consider them to be in a different category. You can see pictures of a handful of Classica doors that we’ve installed here, you can look at different design options here and check out pricing for them in our catalogs here
First, Consider the Windows
Winner: Clopay Gallery Collection Windows
Window Size: Clopay Gallery Collection doors come with the largest window size among the 3 brands we’re considering in this type of door. The windows are large and stately and nicely compliment pretty much any house they are used on.
Arched Windows: The arched windows on Clopay Gallery Collection doors are truly arched windows, meaning that the outside frame and the glass itself are arched, which makes for a much nicer, richer look, in our opinion. Obviously, this only matters if you are doing arched windows.
2nd Place: CHI Stamped Steel Carriage House
Window Size: CHI brand stamped steel carriage house garage doors have larger windows than standard steel raised panel doors. If you’re doing any type of rectangular windows, the difference between these windows and Clopay’s windows (which are slightly larger) is not major and might not tip the scale for you when other factors are considered.
Arched Windows: The arched windows on CHI doors are made only with the plastic insert that goes in front of the window. This is not as good of a look as the true-arched Clopay windows. This might be a deciding factor for some people. Others might not be bothered by the difference.
3rd Place: Amarr Hillcrest, Heritage, and Designer’s Choice
Window Size: Small windows can be a problem. They can look poorly proportioned and can definitely detract from your house’s curb appeal, especially on larger doors. Consider the picture below. Amarr does not increase the window size on these types of carriage house doors when compared to standard steel raised panel doors.
Arched Windows: The arched windows on Amarr doors are made only with the plastic insert that goes in front of the window. This is not as good of a look as the true-arched Clopay windows. This might be a deciding factor for some people. Others might not be bothered by the difference.
Next Consider The Panel Design
All of these doors come in short-panel beadboard and long-panel beadboard designs. They have all added a recessed panel design, also. If you want a raised panel door Amarr is the only one in this class of door that does it.
Three Way Tie: Clopay Gallery Collection Panels
