Garage Door Service Smyrna GA
How Modern Garages Were Invented
Garages came into play in the early 1900s when automobiles started to become popular. Before the invention of the automobile there was really no use for a garage, but as they became more commonplace there was a new need to have a place to store the vehicle. Before the creation of garages outbuildings were used to keep a horse and buggy safe. An outbuilding was an area that was not attached to a home that provided a roof over the head of the animals but usually did not have any type of garage doors. They also frequently were used to keep all transportation tools inside of them much like a garage stores outside appliances.
People naturally started to put their automobiles in the outbuilding along with their horses and the buggy. However, the main people to buy cars when they first came out were the rich high society consumers. Of course, they quickly figured out that storing their automobiles with the horses meant that their new car would end up smelling more like horse poop than anything else. Pretty soon a new method of storing automobiles came onto the market in the form of the original garage.
The very first garages had one level and were heated. They looked a lot like a parking lot that had an enclosure around it. The parking spots could be rented per month and there was generally room for about 100 cars. They could be owned privately or publicly with the owner responsible for making sure that the garage stayed clean. However, it was expensive to rent a spot and not convenient since people would have to walk from their homes to the garage to get to their car. In addition, as cars became more popular in the 1910s there were just too many to fit into garages.
The problem was solved with the first garage to be built by an architect in 1912. It resembled a shed that could withstand wear and tear with garage doors that resembled barn doors. The doors would swing outward when they were pushed out. The hinges over time however would rust causing the screws to fall out. Snow once again was an issue as it was very hard to open and close the doors in deep snow leading to another invention. Sliding garage doors were created that could fold around the corner so that garage was much easier to open.
Of course, over time builders continued to build on their previous designs to create better garages with a lot of the focus centered around easier to use garage doors. C.G. Johnson created the overhead garage doors that are most popular today in 1921. The garage door would lift up towards the ceiling and then folded so that it ran parallel to the ceiling of the garage. Just five years later he made the design even better by creating an electric door opener so now everyone could use their garage doors. This allowed people who were not strong enough to open wooden garage doors a better option.
At this point garages started to resemble what people use today, but of course more improvements have continually been made as time ticks in. In the fifties Emanual Mullet created technology that improved garage door openers, made tamper resistant bottom brackets so they were not easy to break into, and created pinch resistant doors to help reduce the danger associated with garage doors. Today the focus is largely on using new materials to make garages better insulated and safer.
At All Four Seasons Garage Door Service Smyrna GA, We’ve seen it all. That’s why we’re always on top of the latest innovations int garage door design. Call us: (770) 517-7078 or click now: All Four Seasons Garage Door Service Smyrna GA