A Beginners Guide to Roller Garage Doors

 

Ever increasing in popularity, a roller garage door offers some great benefits to homeowners that cannot be achieved with other forms of physical security solution. The following information will detail all these benefits along with explaining the various types of doors on offer, what options are available and what potential pitfalls might occur when installing one.

 

The Main Benefits of a Garage Roller Door

  • The simple vertical lift design saves space inside the garage and on the driveway.
  • The door does not retract back into the garage.
  • Require no frame so the maximum width and height of the opening is maintained.
  • Are smooth and quiet to operate and do not rattle and bang like traditional forms of door.
  • Available in manual or electric operation.
  • Have a versatile design enabling them to be installed in a variety of configurations.
  • Achieve high levels of security.
  • Available in a wide array of painted colours and laminated finishes.
  • Can provide thermal performance using a foam filled core.

 

What are the main differences between the 2 door types?

Single Skin Roller Doors – Simple yet extremely effective as a physical security barrier, a single skin door offers real value for money. Manufactured using a single sheet of steel that is roll formed to put a corrugated profile into it so as to provide added strength, the curtain rolls up around a drum wheel as it rises within the opening providing space saving benefits both inside and outside the garage.

To make operation lightweight, manually operated doors are spring tensioned inside the drum wheel so that as the curtain lifts, the majority of the weight is taken by the springs. This method of manufacturing enables even large double doors to be operated by hand and therefore perfect for installations where no power is available to provide automation.

 

Double garage fitted with white single skin garage roller doors

 

Designed to be face fixed inside the garage, the roller mechanism is designed to fit behind the lintel and as such requires around 430-450mm of headroom to be available. Due to this, the door may not be suitable for all garages however there are options available that use a more compact roller mechanism but the costs are slightly higher.

Available in a selection of colours, single skin garage roller doors are manufactured in bespoke sizes to ensure the perfect fit with the only real drawback to this design is that it does not offer any insulation value.

 

Insulated roller door components

 

Insulated Roller Garage Doors – Whilst this form of product shares the same design as the above steel door that is where the similarities end. Rather than been manufactured using a continuous sheet of steel, the curtain is made of individual sections (door lath) that interlock together to form a single unit. 

Despite the door being much thicker than the above design, the material is able to coil into a smaller roll meaning it can be installed into locations with more restricted amounts of headroom. In addition to this, because the door uses a different type of guide, the method of installation is a more versatile and as such can also be fitted outside the building or between the opening in the same manner as a traditional up & over garage door would.

 

What are the price differences?

Prices will vary according to the size you require however single skin manual doors start from around £300 for a single door and £600 for a double door. Automated doors are more expensive and will start from around £500.

Insulated garage doors vary dramatically in price however we strongly recommend that you avoid anything costing less than £900 as it will likely be made from cheap imported parts that will not be durable.