Steel, wood, and aluminum each handle the Lower Mainland climate differently. The right choice depends on whether your priority is minimizing maintenance, maximizing insulation, or matching a specific architectural style.
Steel dominates the market for a reason. A 24-gauge or 25-gauge skin with a baked-on polyester finish resists the salt air better than bare metal ever will, provided the coating stays intact. The weak points are the cut edges at hinges, struts, and the bottom seal retainer — anywhere the factory coating was breached. Once rust starts there, it creeps under the paint film. A punctured panel from a basketball or a backing-in incident exposes raw steel immediately. Touch-up paint helps, but the factory bake is a different beast. Insulated steel doors use polystyrene or polyurethane cores; the latter adds rigidity and a higher R-value per inch, which matters if the garage shares a wall with a heated room.
Wood looks right on a 1930s craftsman or a modern cedar-clad infill. It also demands a finishing schedule. Clear coats fail fast under UV and moisture — expect to refinish every one to two years on a south or west exposure. Paint lasts longer, five to seven years if the prep was solid, but it hides the grain you paid for. The core issue is dimensional stability. A solid wood panel expands and contracts across the grain with every humidity swing. That movement stresses joints, cracks finish, and eventually warps the stile-and-rail frame. Engineered cores (LVL or finger-jointed pine with a veneer skin) move less, but they are not immune. Rot starts at the bottom rail where water pools against the weather seal. Stainless or hot-dipped galvanized hardware is non-negotiable; standard plated hinges will bleed rust streaks down the face within a season.
Aluminum shows up mostly as full-view doors — narrow stiles, large glass lites, modern aesthetic. The alloy itself does not rust. It does corrode: white powdery oxidation at scratches and, critically, galvanic corrosion wherever stainless steel fasteners or hinges contact the aluminum frame in a wet, salty environment. The fix is isolation — nylon washers, coated fasteners, or anodized hardware — but not every installer bothers. Aluminum dents easier than 24-gauge steel. A stray hockey puck or a wind-blown recycling bin leaves a crease you cannot pop out. Thermal performance is poor unless you specify a thermal-break frame and insulated glass units, which pushes the price into custom territory.
Wind load matters on the coast. A 16-by-7 double door sees significant pressure in a southeast outflow event. Steel doors rated for WindCode W4 or W5 use heavier gauge skins, additional struts, and reinforced jamb brackets. Wood doors meet the rating through mass and through-bolting. Aluminum full-view doors rely on the extrusion profile and mullion spacing; many standard residential lines are not rated above W3. If your exposure is open — waterfront, hilltop, or a new subdivision with no wind break — verify the rating before you order.
Insulation is not a material property; it is an assembly property. A 2-inch polyurethane steel door delivers R-16 to R-18. A 2-inch polystyrene steel door sits around R-9. A solid wood panel 1-3/8 inches thick is roughly R-5. An aluminum full-view door with single-pane glass is R-1 to R-2; with dual-pane low-E and a thermal break, maybe R-4. If the garage is conditioned space, the steel polyurethane assembly wins on performance per dollar. If the garage is unheated storage, the delta matters less than air sealing — bottom seal, perimeter weatherstrip, and a threshold that actually contacts the floor.
Maintenance reality: steel gets an annual wash with car soap, inspection of the bottom seal, and touch-up on any chips. Wood gets that plus a finish cycle every few years. Aluminum gets a wash, oxidation polish on raw spots, and a check on the glass gaskets. All three need hardware lubrication — silicone on rollers and hinges, light oil on springs — and opener force limits verified after the first cold snap.
Hardware is the great equalizer. A premium wood door on standard 11-ball nylon rollers and 14-gauge hinges will ride rough and wear tracks fast. A mid-range steel door on 13-ball sealed-bearing rollers, 11-gauge hinges, and a solid-shaft torsion spring system runs quieter and lasts longer. Spec the hardware package independently of the skin material.
There is no universal best. A steel polyurethane door with upgraded hardware solves the most problems for the least ongoing effort. Wood buys you authenticity and you pay for it in time. Aluminum full-view buys you light and sightlines and you pay for it in thermal performance and dent resistance. Pick the tradeoff you are willing to live with.
Call 778-873-7282 — Metro Vancouver.