# Garage door repair in Fenwick Island, DE > A barrier spit between ocean and bay, entirely in the floodplain: garage door repair for Fenwick's low-lying garages. Page: https://www.bluehengaragedoors.com/fenwick-island-delaware Blue Hen Garage Doors repairs and replaces garage doors in Fenwick Island, straight down DE-1 from our Dover office to the Maryland line. We work on springs, cables, openers and seals, and we install new Haas steel or aluminum doors. Fenwick sits on a narrow barrier spit between the Atlantic and Little Assawoman Bay, and the town's 2024 Comprehensive Plan says the whole town lies in a Special Flood Hazard Area. About 343 people live here year-round, and the plan puts the summer population above 2,600. When the bay reaches the Weather Service's moderate flood stage, the plan notes, the water gets into some houses and garages at ground level. - County: Sussex County, Delaware - ZIP codes: 19944 - Permits: Town of Fenwick Island Building Official (https://fenwickisland.delaware.gov/building-department/). The Building Official issues permits for work inside town limits only and enforces the town's floodplain rules. Construction is not allowed on Sundays or major holidays, or on Saturdays from May 15 to September 15. ## Cottages, canal lots and three-story custom homes Fenwick started as summer cottages; in 1941 the state let cottage owners buy their lots, and 175 lots were sold. Homes built from 1950 to 1980 tend to be one to one-and-a-half stories with simple rectangular forms, and the 1980s and 1990s brought many two- to three-story custom homes. Height matters for doors, because DASMA counts mean roof height among the factors that set a garage door's required wind rating. The bay side is made land. In the 1950s, canals were dug through marsh west of Coastal Highway from Bayard Street to Indian Street to create about 300 building lots, and a decade later another 300 lots went in south of Bayard Street along the bay. Those canal lots have the least elevation in town, and the plan calls bayside flooding there a chronic concern. Only 27.9 percent of Fenwick's housing units were occupied in the 2016 to 2020 survey data, so most garages belong to second homes and rentals. ## Bay flooding, salt air and a town inside the floodplain Flooding across a large part of the bay side seems to happen at least once a year, the town plan says, and both its frequency and its severity are rising. In late September 2026, a nor'easter came with a forecast of major coastal flooding for the Delaware coast, and afterward the town scheduled a bulk pickup for flood cleanup. FEMA's rules for an A-zone garage below flood elevation allow only parking, access and storage, require flood openings, and let those openings sit in the garage door when the walls lack room. With salt coming from both sides of the spit, stainless or hot-dipped galvanized hardware and an aluminum door make sense here. ## Services - [Garage door cable repair](https://www.bluehengaragedoors.com/garage-door-cable-repair): Tide water and salt reach the bottom brackets and lift cables at floor level, and DASMA warns those parts hold extreme spring tension, so rusted ones should be replaced by a technician. - [New garage door installation](https://www.bluehengaragedoors.com/garage-door-installation): A new door on a garage that needs flood openings has to keep them, and on a three-story custom home the wind rating should account for roof height; Haas offers certified wind-load options up to 140 mph. - [Garage door spring repair](https://www.bluehengaragedoors.com/garage-door-spring-repair): On a spit with salt coming off the ocean and the bay, a broken spring is the time to switch to galvanized, which may hold off rust longer than uncoated oil-tempered steel. ## Neighborhoods and nearby areas Pittsburgh Beach, Delaware Beach, Bunting Avenue, Little Assawoman Bay, Fenwick Island State Park, South Bethany, Ocean City, Maryland ## Questions ### When can garage door work be done in Fenwick Island? Weekdays are the safe choice. The town's building page says construction is not allowed on Sundays, on New Year's Day, Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving or Christmas, or on any Saturday from May 15 to September 15. The town's Building Official handles permits inside town limits only, and Sussex County covers work outside them. ### My garage floods at high tide. What door should I get? Start with what the floodplain rules require, then choose materials. If your garage's flood openings are built into the door, the replacement has to keep them, since FEMA does not count a closed door or the gaps around it as openings. After that, an aluminum Haas door, galvanized or stainless hardware and a solid bottom seal stand up to Fenwick's salt and tide water. ## 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.