What is the DoorLink Model 3610 garage door?

The 3610 is the insulated door in DoorLink's traditional raised panel line. Sections are 2 inches thick and built as a bonded steel sandwich, with CFC free expanded polystyrene pressed between two sheets of hot dipped galvanized steel. DoorLink rates that section at R-10.25. G Brothers carries it inside the DoorLink raised panel collection.

The model number is the fastest way to tell DoorLink's raised panel doors apart. A 3610 is a three layer door with a steel back skin. The 410, 411, 510 and 511 in the same style are single or two layer doors. That one difference drives the R-value, the interior finish, the width range and the warranty.

How the 3610 is built

Each section is a 2 inch bonded sandwich, and every layer is steel or foam. The outside face is 26 gauge hot dipped galvanized steel with a hemmed inside return rail. The core is CFC free expanded polystyrene, pressure bonded to both skins rather than dropped in loose. The inside face is galvanized steel with a pebble grain embossed texture, so the back of the door looks finished without a vinyl cover.

The hardware attachment points are heavier than the skin. DoorLink runs 20 gauge galvanized hinge plates the full height of each section at every hinge location, and caps the section ends with 20 gauge galvanized steel. Sections join at tongue and groove meeting rails. An extruded aluminum retainer holds a replaceable U-type vinyl bottom seal, so the seal is a part you swap.

Spec	What DoorLink publishes	Why it matters
Section build	2 inch, three layer bonded sandwich	The foam core is glued to both steel skins.
Exterior steel	26 gauge hot dipped galvanized	Galvanizing is the rust defense on a Front Range door.
Interior skin	Steel, pebble grain embossed	No vinyl back cover to tear or sag.
Insulation	CFC free expanded polystyrene	DoorLink says it will not break down from vibration or age.
R-value	10.25	This is a calculated section value, not a whole door test.
Hinge plates	20 gauge, full section height	Hinges and struts bolt into steel, not just the face.
Paint	1.0 mil, two coats	0.25 mil rust inhibiting primer plus 0.75 mil top coat.
Widths	8 to 24 feet	Covers a single stall up to a three car opening.
Heights	6 ft 6 in to 8 ft 0 in	Six standard heights, more by request.

What 26 gauge actually means

Sheet steel gauge is a scale that runs backwards. A higher gauge number is thinner steel, so 26 gauge is thinner than the 24 gauge face DoorLink puts on its model 410. DASMA publishes the conversion in its metal gauge chart. A bonded sandwich section draws stiffness from the whole panel instead of the face alone, which is why a three layer door can run a thinner skin.

Do not read gauge as a wind rating. DoorLink publishes no wind load number for the 3610, and we could not verify one. If your permit needs a rated door, ask for the rating in writing before you order. Our page on garage door wind ratings in Denver covers what the code asks for here.

What R-10.25 measures

R-10.25 describes a slice of one door section, not your installed door. DASMA draws a hard line between a calculated door section R-value and a tested door assembly U-factor, and says the two are not comparable. Parts of the door build give heat a "thermal shortcut" around the insulation, so the finished opening always performs below the section number.

That is how every insulated door is rated. Comparing an R-value to another brand's R-value is fair. Comparing it to a U-factor is not. The Colorado energy angle sits on our page about DoorLink raised panel insulation.

Sizes, colors, and window options

DoorLink lists twelve standard widths for the 3610: 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 22 and 24 feet. Standard heights are 6 ft 6 in, 6 ft 9 in, 7 ft 0 in, 7 ft 6 in, 7 ft 9 in and 8 ft 0 in, with other heights available through the distributor. A typical Denver metro two car opening at 16 by 7 sits mid range, and 24 feet covers a three car opening with one door.

Eight colors are offered: white, almond, desert tan, sandstone, brown, gray, charcoal and black. All eight get the same two coat finish, a 0.25 mil rust inhibiting primer under a 0.75 mil top coat that DoorLink says resists fading and chalking.

The eight window inserts are Sherwood, Williamsburg, Cascade, Cathedral, Stockton, Stockbridge, Waterton and Prairie. Six glass types go behind them: clear, satin, bronze, gray, Gray Lite 31 and Pattern 62. Two limits sit on the data sheet. Not every distributor stocks every glazing option, and there is no glazing in 18 inch sections.

What the warranty covers

The sections carry a lifetime warranty for the original buyer of a single family, owner occupied home. It covers defects in material and workmanship plus rust through, which DoorLink defines as the metal actually perforating. Any other residential install drops to three years from delivery. Window components are also three years.

The 3610 belongs to DoorLink's 3600 Series, which adds five years against delamination, meaning the front and back skins separating. Read the exclusions too. Weather stripping is a wear item. Labor, shipping and paint are the owner's cost. Rust that starts from a scratch or a dent is excluded, which is worth remembering in hail country.

How the 3610 compares to DoorLink's other raised panel doors

The 3610 is the only three layer door in the traditional raised panel line. The 410 is a 24 gauge steel door with a steel interior and no insulation listed. The 411 is the same door with expanded polystyrene and a vinyl backer, rated R-6.85. The 510 and 511 repeat that pair in 25 gauge steel, with the 511 rated R-6.85 behind a high impact plastic back cover.

So moving from a 411 or 511 up to a 3610 buys three things: R-6.85 becomes R-10.25, a plastic or vinyl backer becomes a steel skin, and you pick up the five year delamination coverage. The choices widen too. The 510 and 511 come in three colors and stop at 18 feet wide. The 410 and 411 come in seven colors and stop at 22 feet. The 3610 offers eight colors and reaches 24 feet.

If you like the sandwich build but not the panel proportions, DoorLink's 3690 is the same three layer section at R-10.25 in a raised ranch panel profile. Same construction, longer and flatter panels.

Where G Brothers fits on the Front Range

G Brothers installs the DoorLink raised panel line across Lakewood, Arvada, Golden and the rest of the Denver metro, and we measure the opening before we quote a size. That matters on older Front Range garages, where a 16 foot opening is often out of square and the header height decides whether an 8 foot door clears the tracks. Our new garage door installation page covers replacement day, and the Lakewood service area page covers permits and scheduling.

Weighing a 3610 against a 411 or another brand? Ask every quote for the same numbers you just read. Call G Brothers at (720) 421-6489 and we will confirm current sizing, colors and lead times.

Sources

Every spec on this page comes from DoorLink's own published documents or from DASMA, the trade association that writes the technical standards.

• doorLink Manufacturing, Model 3610 product page and data sheet, for construction, gauge, insulation, sizes, colors and windows.
• doorLink Manufacturing, Residential Sections Warranty, for the coverage terms and exclusions.
• doorLink Manufacturing, Raised Panel model range, for the 410, 411, 510, 511 and 3690 comparison.
• DASMA Technical Data Sheet 163, for calculated R-value versus tested U-factor.
• DASMA Technical Data Sheet 154, for the sheet steel gauge chart.