How we handle prices and listings

Price pages are only useful if you can trust where the numbers come from. Here is exactly what we do.

Where the ranges come from

Every figure on this site is copied from a published page, and each page links to its sources. We do not invent prices and we do not estimate them ourselves. Sources are sorted into three groups.

• Consumer guides are pages written for homeowners by publishers of cost data.
• Pro guides are written for service businesses.
• Company pages are written by garage door companies.

The range we show is the median of the consumer guides' low figures and the median of their high figures. Company and pro guides are shown in the sources table but do not change the range, because a company that sells the service has a stake in the number.

What "national estimate" means

The ranges are national. They are not Maryland prices. We label them until we have called Maryland companies and confirmed what they charge. We will show the date and the number of companies we called next to any verified price.

Different guides, different bases

Guides do not always price the same thing. One may price a single spring and another the whole visit. We say so in the sources table. If a job has only one source, we say that too.

How companies are listed

Every company is marked one of two ways.

• Confirmed by phone. We called the company and confirmed its name, phone number, services and service area. The listing shows the date.
• Not yet confirmed by phone. The details come from the company's own website. The listing shows where we found it and the date we read it. We haven't spoken to the company, so treat the details as unchecked and call to confirm before you book.

We do not copy listings from map or review sites. A company can claim its listing, correct it or ask us to remove it. See claim your listing.

Corrections

If a figure on this site does not match its source, or a listing is wrong, tell us and we will fix it.