Is your garage door beginning to show its age? If you're tired of looking at that old garage door each day, it's time to give some serious consideration to making some changes. How far do you need to go to improve the appearance of your garage door? Here, you'll find a few ideas that will help you decide what to do to your garage door.

Condition

Before you go out and begin making any plans, you'll need to stop and look at the true condition of the garage door and all of the hardware. If things are beginning to rust and fall apart, it's probably in your best interest to save the efforts that you'd put into restoring your old garage door and invest in a new one.

Gel Stain

Gel stain can do great things for aging garage doors. Gel stain can be used on most garage door surfaces but does exceptionally well on wood, aluminum or fiberglass. A gallon of gel stain will cost you about $20 and will likely be enough to coat the entire garage door at least once.

Gel stain is applied using brushes, rollers and old rags.

• First, clean the garage door and wait for it to dry.
• Tape off hardware and trim that you don't want to get stain on.
• Brush or roll the stain onto the surface in small sections.
• Wipe the stain off of the garage door – you want to stain it, not paint it.
• Wait for the stain to cure and apply two coats of clear sealant.

Garage Door Wrap

You know those vinyl wraps and magnets that people put on their cars to advertise for their businesses? Well, they have a similar product for your garage door; the only difference is the design. You can get wraps to completely cover the garage door and give it a brand-new look.

You can choose from a number of designs: everything from traditional wood or white panels to carriage doors can be found.

The wonderful thing about wraps is that they can be used on pretty much any garage door and can be easily removed and replaced on another door. So if you rent your home and don't like the garage door, you can purchase a door wrap and use it, and when you move, take it with you for your next home.

If you're unsure if your garage door is in good enough condition to restore, talk with your local garage door repair expert.