Garage doors in New Castle

Blue Hen Garage Doors repairs and installs garage doors in the City of New Castle from our Dover office, by way of DE-1, US-13 and Frenchtown Road (DE-273). We repair springs, cables, openers and seals, and we install Haas steel and aluminum doors where the rules allow them.

This page is about the small city on the Delaware River, not the county that shares its name. New Castle served as the colonial capital, William Penn first landed here in 1682, and the historic district around the Green is a National Historic Landmark. That history shapes what a garage door job involves inside the city.

Historic district houses and the neighborhoods around them

New Castle's historic district runs from the Delaware River back to about Sixth Street and holds roughly 500 historic buildings dating from 1700 to 1940, one of the highest concentrations of well-preserved 17th- to early 19th-century buildings. A slow 19th-century economy kept most owners from remodeling, so many still look as they did in the Colonial and Federal periods. Census estimates put about 38 percent of the city's homes before 1940 and the median build year at 1959.

The city also takes in neighborhoods such as Washington Square, Van Dyke Village, Buttonwood Village, Dobbinsville, Penn Valley and New Castle Manor. If your house sits outside the historic zoning districts, a garage door is an ordinary building-permit question, and an insulated Haas steel or aluminum door is a straightforward choice for an attached garage. Inside the district, garage and carriage house doors fall under the Historic Area Commission's review.

River flooding and a tornado on record

Water is the big physical risk in New Castle. DNREC says the city's place on the Delaware River leaves it open to upstream flooding, tidal surge from downstream, or both at once, and a significant portion of the city lies in the coastal floodplain. The four earthen dikes around it (Buttonwood, Broad, Gambacorta Marsh and Army Creek), first built in the late 1600s, top out near 8.5 feet, below the 100-year flood elevation. In a garage, that means water at the bottom of the door, where seals, the lowest section and track ends take the hit. Wind is on the record too: an F3 tornado struck the north side of the city on April 28, 1961.

What we do in New Castle

Garage door repair in New Castle
Springs, cables, openers, tracks, seals
The Historic Area Commission strongly encourages repair over replacement, so in the district, fixing the springs, cables, rollers and hardware on an existing door is often the right first step.
Garage door seal replacement in New Castle
Bottom seals, retainers, weatherstripping
After high water, a torn bottom seal and corroded retainer let water and debris into the garage; we replace bottom seals, retainers and side weatherstripping.
Haas garage doors in New Castle
Steel, aluminum, wind-load options
Outside the historic district, Haas steel and aluminum doors offer insulation choices and certified wind-load options up to 140 mph.

Every garage door service we offer

Via DE-1, US-13 and DE-273

Around New Castle

Landmarks and main roads: The Green, New Castle Court House, Delaware Street (DE-9), US-13 (Dupont Highway), Delaware Memorial Bridge.

New Castle Historic District
Washington Square
Van Dyke Village
Buttonwood Village
Dobbinsville
Penn Valley
New Castle Manor
Swedes Square
Castle Ridge
Jacquette Square
Riverbend at Old New Castle
Washington Park

Real Blue Hen installs

See all our work

A wood-look carriage door on a new build.
White carriage doors on a cedar-shake garage.
Brown carriage doors on a white pole barn.

New Castle questions

Can I replace my garage door in New Castle's historic district?

Yes, with approval first. The city says all work in its historic districts needs prior approval from the Historic Area Commission and a Historic Review Certificate, in addition to any building permit. The commission meets the second Thursday of each month at 6:30 pm, and its citizen guidance says doors must be wood with a traditional panel pattern. Ask the Building Official whether your building is key, contributing or non-contributing.

Will the commission accept a steel garage door?

It depends on the building. The commission's June 2016 design guidelines list steel and aluminum as alternate door materials and call them not appropriate on street-visible sides of contributing buildings, while non-contributing buildings get more room. The doors we install are Haas steel and aluminum, so on a contributing building we will tell you to talk to the commission before you spend anything.

Does a New Castle 19720 address mean I live in the city?

Not necessarily. The 19720 ZIP covers about 38 square miles, and the city is only a little over 3 of them. Wilmington Manor and other county communities share the ZIP, and neighborhoods just past the city line, such as Castle Hills and Collins Park, are outside it too. There, New Castle County issues permits and the city's historic rules do not apply.

Garage door repair in New Castle, DE

Garage doors in New Castle

Historic district houses and the neighborhoods around them

River flooding and a tornado on record

What we do in New Castle