# Garage door repair in Laurel, DE

> Doors for Delaware's largest historic district, the Broad Creek waterfront, and the rentals and newer homes around them.

Page: https://www.bluehengaragedoors.com/laurel-delaware

In Laurel, garage door repair and new installs come from Blue Hen Garage Doors, working out of our Dover office. Springs, cables, openers, photo eyes, seals and doors that have jumped their tracks are all on the list, along with new Haas steel and aluminum doors.

Laurel was laid out along Broad Creek in the 1790s and named for the laurel bushes on its banks. Its historic district, listed on the National Register in 1988, is the largest in Delaware by the town's count, with 709 contributing buildings, sites and structures. That age shows in the garages: a third of the town's housing was built in 1939 or earlier.

- County: Sussex County, Delaware
- ZIP codes: 19956
- Permits: Town of Laurel Planning and Code Enforcement (https://www.townoflaurel.net/planning_and_code_enforcement.htm). The town directs building permit and inspection questions to its Director of Code Enforcement at 302-875-2277. Call before you replace a door, especially on a rental property.

## Old Town, West Laurel and the Broad Creek waterfront

Laurel's houses are much older than Delaware's as a whole. The 2018 comprehensive plan says a third of the housing dates to 1939 or earlier, against 9.1 percent statewide, and the historic district runs from the late 1700s to the 1930s. The plan also notes the town has no local historic preservation commission. For an old detached garage or carriage house, a carriage-style steel door with the right panel and window layout keeps the look without the upkeep of wood.

Old Town, the town's original section, sits inside the district, and West Laurel dates to the 1790s as one of Delaware's oldest free Black communities. About 44 percent of homes are rentals, and the plan says the town's code enforcement unit regularly inspects rental properties. Along the water are the gated Villas on Broad Creek and Abbotts on Broad Creek, both Laurel Redevelopment Corporation projects.

## Broad Creek dampness and settling old frames

Laurel's doors live with creek air and old framing. Broad Creek is a tidal stream that feeds the Nanticoke River, and the town's plan maps flood zones along it and steers waterfront redevelopment away from the floodplain. Close to the creek, moisture swells wood doors and rusts hinges and track bolts. On garages built before 1940, the structure around the door matters as much as the door: check the jambs, header and slab for rot or settling, because an opening that has gone out of square makes any door bind.

## Services

- [Haas garage doors](https://www.bluehengaragedoors.com/haas-garage-doors): For carriage houses and detached garages in Laurel's historic district, we help pick a Haas carriage-style door whose panels and windows suit an older house.
- [Garage door repair](https://www.bluehengaragedoors.com/garage-door-repair): Landlords with Laurel rentals can get broken springs, cables and openers fixed so the door opens, closes and locks before the next tenant moves in.
- [Off-track garage door repair](https://www.bluehengaragedoors.com/garage-door-off-track-repair): On a pre-1940 garage, a settled opening can twist the tracks and pull a door off its rollers; we rehang the door, replace bent track and rollers, and check the opening for square.

## Neighborhoods and nearby areas

Laurel Historic District, Old Town, West Laurel, North Laurel, Villas on Broad Creek, Abbotts on Broad Creek, Portsville, Bacons, Lowe, Sycamore

## Questions

### Does Laurel's historic district limit what garage door I can install?

Not through a separate design board, according to the town's 2018 comprehensive plan, which says Laurel did not adopt a local preservation ordinance or set up a commission. A National Register listing by itself does not restrict what owners do to their property. You still need to ask the Director of Code Enforcement about a building permit. For a house in the district, a carriage-style Haas door keeps the street looking right.

### Is Laurel in Blue Hen's service area?

Yes. Laurel is part of our Sussex County service area, from Old Town and West Laurel to the Villas on Broad Creek. We handle spring, cable, opener and seal repairs and put in new Haas doors. If you want a new door, the estimate is free and next-day, and the office keeps weekday hours, 8am to 4:30pm.

## 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.