I had imagined a large truck arriving with an installation crew, hauling along our two new garage doors. Nothing of the kind. When the service truck eventually arrived it was a company cube-like truck. It contained neatly wrapped sections of each door, along with all the metal parts and all other items required to install them. The outward journey, on completion of the installation would contain the dismantled old garage doors, for disposal.

The old doors, which had performed very well for two decades were manufactured of inferior materials, as might be expected for components used in mass production of tract-style housing. Each spring the bottom portions of the doors would be rusty from road salt carried into the garage and splashed over the bottoms of the doors. That would require that the rust be carefully removed, but in the process each time that occurred, the metal on the doors became less robust as they were prepared for re-painting.

It became time to replace the doors not only because of their deteriorating condition but also because their fit was not tight, they were not insulated, and as a result the two bedrooms partially positioned over them on the second floor were colder than they should be during the winter months. The new doors were meant to solve those problems. They are more efficient, their installation would provide greater energy efficiency.

And an added bonus is light! These doors have windows and they emit an extraordinary amount of light into the garage, where previously opening the door to the garage would mean having to put on lights because the interior was so dark. Overall, a welcome change.

That installation crew I anticipated? Turned out to be one technician. He worked from ten in the morning to two in the afternoon, dismantling the old doors and installing the new. And a fine job he did of it.