Can I order a custom-size garage door, or only standard sizes?

How custom sizing actually works at the factory

Garage doors are not carved from a fixed blank; sections are roll-formed to length, so a factory can produce a 15-foot-4 door almost as easily as a 16-foot. Standard sizes (8x7, 9x7, 10x7, 16x7, and 8-foot-tall variants) are cheaper only because they are batched and sometimes warehoused. Order custom and you wait for a production slot: figure three to five weeks to Oklahoma instead of two to four, and a 10 to 20 percent premium on the door itself. Height moves in different increments than width for some brands because section heights come in fixed profiles; a good dealer designs the section stack (for example, four 21-inch sections versus three 24s and a 21) so the finished door lands exactly at your opening height.

The odd openings we measure every week in OKC

• Pre-war garages: 1920s and 30s garages in Mesta Park, Crown Heights, and the Paseo district were framed for cars the size of a modern golf cart. Openings of 7-foot-10 or 8-foot-6 width are normal, and a custom-width door beats reframing brick every time.
• Tall trucks: lifted pickups around Mustang and Tuttle need 8-foot doors, and enclosed trailers or RV bays push to 10 or 12 feet, where residential-style sections give way to commercial door systems.
• Golf cart and mower doors: 5- and 6-foot-wide custom doors for backyard shops are a fast-growing order category.
• Low headroom: not a door size problem but a track problem; older garages with 8 inches above the opening need low-headroom track kits, which we spec during the measure.

What not to do

Do not let anyone cut down a stock door. Trimming sections destroys the end stiles that hold the hinges and voids every warranty in the paperwork. Do not order from rough framing dimensions on a new build either; doors are ordered to the finished opening, and half an inch of jamb wrap changes the answer. And skip the temptation to just pad the opening with lumber to fit a cheap stock door; it looks exactly like what it is. The right sequence is a professional measure, then the order. Ours is free with any installation estimate, we photograph and record headroom, side room, and backroom while we are there, and if the opening turns out to be standard after all, you just saved the custom premium. CHI's build-to-the-inch program, detailed on our page about the Arthur, Illinois factory, is our usual pick for the truly odd holes.