# Garage door repair in Bethany Beach, DE > Grid-street beach homes east of Route 1, suburban lots to the west: garage door repair across Bethany Beach. Page: https://www.bluehengaragedoors.com/bethany-delaware For garage door repair and installation in Bethany Beach, Blue Hen Garage Doors drives down DE-1 from our Dover office, over the Indian River Inlet. We repair springs, cables, openers and seals, and we install Haas steel and aluminum doors. Bethany had 954 year-round residents in the 2020 census and draws some 15,000 more people in summer. Its housing is about 97 percent single-family, and much of it went up in a 1980s building boom. Since FEMA's 2015 flood maps, about 80 percent of town sits in a Special Flood Hazard Area, which shapes what a garage door has to do here. - County: Sussex County, Delaware - ZIP codes: 19930 - Permits: Town of Bethany Beach Building Department (https://www.townofbethanybeach.com/225/Building-Department). The town's Building Inspector issues building permits and inspects new construction and remodeling inside town limits. With about 80 percent of town in the mapped floodplain, ask about flood-zone rules before replacing a garage door. ## 1980s beach homes, teardowns and a suburban west side The town's 2023 Comprehensive Plan describes two Bethanys. East of Route 1, beach homes sit in a grid on modestly sized lots, and small summer cottages keep giving way to larger beach homes. West of Route 1, around Bethany West, the streets curve and the lots get larger. About a third of Bethany's homes were built in the 1980s and about half between 1970 and 1989. A door original to one of those houses predates the 2021 International Residential Code rule that a garage door carry a permanent label showing its design wind pressure. Rebuilding is steady, too: the town issued 29 construction permits and 15 demolition permits in 2022. The town licenses any home rented at any time of year, and the 2020 American Community Survey put Bethany's vacancy rate at 82.4 percent, a figure the plan attributes mainly to seasonal and summer rental homes. A garage that sits shut all winter deserves a spring and opener check before the first renters arrive. ## Flood zones, nor'easters and the Loop Canal Most of Bethany north of Garfield Parkway (Route 26) and east of Route 1 is mapped in coastal AE and AO flood zones, oceanfront lots can fall in VE, and Bethany West and Turtle Walk were recently added to the floodplain as AE zones. Most of the town's stormwater drains to the Loop Canal. The storm record is rough: in 1962, waves estimated at 20 to 30 feet hit the boardwalk area and the surge destroyed more than 30 homes, and a January 1992 nor'easter with 85 mph winds flooded eastern Bethany. In an A zone, FEMA limits a garage below flood elevation to parking, access and storage, with flood openings in the walls or the door. ## Services - [Garage door spring repair](https://www.bluehengaragedoors.com/garage-door-spring-repair): A spring that sat through a damp, salty off-season can rust or snap when the house opens for summer, and DASMA's trade magazine notes galvanized springs may resist rust better than bare oil-tempered ones. - [New garage door installation](https://www.bluehengaragedoors.com/garage-door-installation): Replacing a 1980s door is the time to add a wind-load label and insulation, and on an AE-zone garage, to keep any flood vents the old door had. - [Garage door opener repair](https://www.bluehengaragedoors.com/garage-door-opener-repair): Renters count on the opener, remotes and keypad from the first day; we repair motors, sensors and keypads and test that the door reverses when the photo eyes are blocked. ## Neighborhoods and nearby areas Bethany West, Villas of Bethany West, Turtle Walk, Lake Bethany, Bethany Glen, Cotton Patch Hills, Sea Colony, Middlesex Beach, Sussex Shores, Salt Pond, Savannah's Landing, Ocean Way Estates ## Questions ### Is my Bethany Beach garage in a flood zone? Likely, if your home is north of Garfield Parkway and east of Route 1, on the oceanfront, or in Bethany West or Turtle Walk. Since FEMA's March 2015 maps, about 80 percent of town is in a Special Flood Hazard Area. The Building Department can help you find your lot's base flood elevation, which tells you whether the garage needs flood openings and what a new door must keep. ### Does a garage door replacement need a permit in Bethany Beach? Ask the Building Inspector first. The town's permit page says a permit is required to build a new structure, to repair a damaged structure, or to install equipment such as a fuel tank or air-conditioning unit, and it does not mention garage doors. In the flood zone, a door replaced as part of a larger renovation can count toward the town's 50 percent substantial improvement threshold over ten years. ## Contact Blue Hen Garage Doors, 110 Lafferty Ln, Suite F, Dover, DE 19901. Phone (302) 735-0046. Email Dalton@bluehengaragedoors.com. Office hours: Monday to Friday, 8am to 4:30pm.