Garage Designs

Clopay “Gallery” Series vs. Wayne Dalton 9700 Series

It’s that time again- your favorite time! Oh boy, it’s comparison time! Today we are going to compare the Clopay Gallery garage door against the Wayne Dalton 9700 series. Now, these doors are worlds apart in terms of design- one is simple, with just a touch of pizzazz, while the other has a bit more visuals and is a bit more obvious. We’re going to compare everything so that you can make an informed purchase- I know, we’re saints.

• Aesthetic Appeal – In our opinion, the Gallery simply looks better. It’s cleaner, not quite as busy, and is a bit more understated. However, it’s options are rather limited- you have the choice between short and long panels. The 9700 has much more selection, so you will probably have better luck finding something that suits your tastes.As far as steel doors go, both have pretty good designs. While the Gallery looks better, we feel that the greater selection offered by the 9700 makes it the winner of this category. While we may like the Gallery better, we know that more people will appreciate the selection of the 9700.Winner: Wayne Dalton 9700.
• Functionality – The Gallery is available with manual hardware and the optional roof-mounted opener, which makes it practical for everyday use and useable in the event of a power outage or emergency. It has decent weight to it, but it is surprisingly easy to open manually. The 9700, however, takes the cake here as it offers better selection: either roof mounted or wall mounted openers, as well as manual operation.People love choice, and once again the 9700 has more of it.Winner: Wayne Dalton 9700.
• Value – The Gallery is very affordable, looks great, and is loaded with technology. The optional insulation also helps cut down heat costs in the winter. The 9700 is a bit more expensive (at least, it was when we talked to local contractors) and comes insulated.As much as we’d like to give this one to the 9700, we’re going to have to say that the Gallery is the better value. Not all homes need insulation, as if you’re in a warm climate why would you need to insulate your garage? This choice, combined with the good looks and ease of use, makes the Gallery a better value.

Overall

The 9700 won more of the categories, but the winner here is clearly the Gallery. While the 9700 is technically the “better door”, the Gallery looks better from the get go, is light enough to be lifted easily, can be insulated or not (your choice), and has a variety of window styles and finishes.

For a single garage door, this one is our favorite.

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 14th, 2007 at 11:39 pm and is filed under Garage Door. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site. Your comments will be moderated but will appear as soon as humanly possible.