What a fire hazard zone requires of a garage door
A garage door is the largest opening in the exterior wall, and embers find the gap around it first. The wildland urban interface code, which absorbed Chapter 7A on January 1, 2026, treats the door as part of the wall: noncombustible material and perimeter weatherstripping that resists ember intrusion. Steel and aluminum doors meet that. Wood panel doors do not without a rated assembly. We install the door, the weatherstripping, and the threshold as one sealed opening.
Matching the door to the gate
Because we fabricate the driveway gate and the fence, the garage door can carry the same profile and finish instead of being the odd one out. Horizontal slat in walnut wood-look aluminum, flush panel in matte black steel, or a solid dark bronze that reads with the gate from the street. One finish family, one property.
Openers, backup power, and app access
Belt drive openers for quiet, battery backup so the door works through an outage, and app access on the same system as the driveway gate and intercom. One app, one set of guest codes, no separate hub for the garage. See gate automation and access control.
Replacement versus new build
On a standing home, replacing a wood door with a steel or aluminum one is one of the highest value hardening retrofits per dollar, and it is usually a one day job. On a rebuild or new build the door goes in with the gate and fence at the end of the schedule, from the same drawings. Either way, the opening gets sealed properly, which is the part most installers skip.
Questions we get about garage doors
Does a garage door have to be fire rated in Malibu?
The wildland urban interface code treats the garage door as part of the exterior wall. In practice that means a noncombustible door, steel or aluminum, with weatherstripping that resists ember entry at the perimeter. Wood panel doors do not meet that on their own.
Can the garage door match the driveway gate?
Yes, and it should. We fabricate both, so the door gets the same profile and finish as the gate: matte black, dark bronze, walnut wood-look, or coastal grey.
What happens in a power outage?
The opener runs on battery backup, which California has required on new residential openers since 2019. You can get out during a wind event or an evacuation without pulling the release.