The Goal
A Lakeview homeowner was doing a full exterior renovation on a restored 1920s brick two-flat. The existing raised-panel steel door was functional but visually out of place on the historic facade. The goal: a carriage-house appearance that matched the period architecture, without the maintenance burden of real wood. And the opening had 4-inch low headroom — a constraint that eliminates most standard track configurations.
The Selection
We measured the opening (9 feet wide, 7 feet tall) and confirmed the 4-inch low-headroom clearance. Selected a Clopay Canyon Ridge carriage-house door in a reclaimed wood overlay finish — fiberglass construction, polyurethane insulation core, factory-painted to match the trim color the homeowner provided as a swatch. The overlay panels and decorative hardware read as authentic carriage doors from the street while requiring no painting or sealing.
What We Did
Removed the old door, tracks, springs, and hardware entirely. Installed a new low-headroom track system with horizontal extensions cut to fit the ceiling depth. Hung the new door, set a pair of torsion springs sized for the 185-lb door weight, connected to the existing LiftMaster opener (compatible), and tested full travel and auto-reversal. The full installation took one day.
Result
Door transformed the front of the building. R-value went from 6.3 on the old door to 18.4 on the new one. The homeowner’s neighbor asked for our card before we finished loading the truck.