Help with converting two garage doors into one

[jcal87]

Hey guys!

I am trying to turn my two seperate garage doors into one large door. Each door is 8ft wide and separated by a two foot center column in the front. This column is load bearing. I want to knock this out and put a new header in. I have had three separate companies quote me 3 very different prices and ways to do it. This makes me nervous.

One guy said he would do a steel I beam another guy a steel lintel and the third said he would just re frame it all in with a wooden header. There is two bedrooms and a bathroom above the garage and a risk of sag or collapse is not an option. Has anyone done this before or have experience as the best way to do it and what size beam would be needed?

All the best,
Josh