Which Garage Door?
At Garage Doors South West, we are here to help you choose your new Garage Door, an experience which should be both enjoyable and hassle free, giving you, the customer, the opportunity to enhance your home.
We are on hand to offer you all the information you require about buying a new garage door and as well as being able to answer any questions you may have Choosing the right garage door for your home can be quite daunting nowadays, it wasn’t so long ago it was simple as there were only up and over, side hinged or a few roller shutter doors.
We have tried to give ideas below that match your personal requirements from the door to give you a starting point.
We are also only a free phone call away from offering you as much assistance you need to make sure we can provide the right garage door for you.
UP & OVER GARAGE DOORS
Up & Over doors are available in either Canopy or Retractable (Tracked) options, if you are thinking of automating your door then we highly recommend the Retractable gear has it is alot smoother in operation than the Canopy.
Ideal for single garage door openings up to about 10 ft wide as a manually operated door.
Although they are manufactured over this size up to and including 16 ft wide Sectional or Roller doors tend to be a better option in the larger sizes and a better price too.
Up and over doors are in the main very easy to install, especially if you purchase the door with the optional steel fixing frame as the whole unit comes pre fitted and are ready to secure to the garage opening with brackets.
The double sized doors are a bit more involved with the steel frames coming in kit form ready for onsite assembly and obviously more weight to deal with.
We would advise the up and over garage doors if you want a garage door for a garage which doesn’t require weather protection, sealing or even insulation although the Garador, Hormann and Cardale doors are about as good as you can get, especially if ordered with the optional steel frames.
Another reason for having an up and over door is if you require a specific design in timber or GRP as the standard designs available for up and over doors are quite a lot more varied than others.
The steel doors available are more limited in designs and will only ever have the smooth finish surface in although over the last couple of years manufacturers have been adding colour options, although great if you want white as this is the industry standard colour.
Up & Over doors are available in Steel, Timber GRP & ABS.
Although they are manufactured over this size up to and including 16 ft wide Sectional or Roller doors tend to be a better option in the larger sizes and a better price too.
SECTIONAL GARAGE DOORS
Quite a masterpiece in engineering the sectional garage door offers probably the highest levels of sealing, insulation (insulated double skinned only doors), security and style of any garage door.
The sizes are almost limitless as are the painted colour options and there are so many variations in glazing, design elements, gear options and surface finishes you should be able to find the perfect complement to your house style.
The sectional door opens and closes in a vertical action which also makes them perfect for short driveways or even short internal garages as you can park right next to the door and still operate it unlike the up and over door which swings out and in when opening.
Sectional doors are available in steel, timber and GRP but the majority sold are steel as the colour and design variations are numerous and in the double skinned panel versions they will offer the best of everything.
There are many sectional door manufacturers but by far the best manufacturer is Hormann (and there sister company Garador) they offer a very extensive range of door sizes, window designs and colours including woodgrain effect doors.
Unwanted visitors do not have a chance with Hormann’s automatic sectional doors, once the garage door has been closed using the automated system, the operator security latch automatically engages in the guide boom’s stop, locking it immediately and making the door burglar-resistant. This door latching functions purely mechanically and, in contrast to competitor operators, continues to secure the door even when the power fails. With an up to 50% faster opening speed, a Hormann sectional door combined with a SupraMatic garage door operator the perfect combination
The main consideration is to make sure the roller door you buy is manufactured by a company who really knows what they are doing as so many are ‘knocked up’ as a basic roller door with little finesse or regard to safety or legislation, we highly recommend the Aluroll Roller Garage Doors, which are made to the highest standard and conform to all the current regulations
There are others we know but as simple as they may seem roller doors do have many moving parts and need to be manufactured and installed with a certain amount of precision to ensure a descent lifespan.
They are an ideal door type in many cases as they open and close vertically like the Sectional doors but the big advantage over sectional doors they dont have tracks inside the garage hanging from the ceiling.
The basic roller door is the continuous steel curtain type although this does have a bigger roll than the more sophisticated aluminium insulated type.
There are several options on the insulated roller garage door in terms of the slat size used for the curtain, this also means there are huge variations in the colours and finishes available.
Most single width roller garage doors can be manually operated with the electric operation as an option, we always recommend doors over 10ft be automated, and the insulated doors are genuinely automated as standard.
Roller Doors are available in Steel (Plastisol coated) or Aluminium
SIDE HINGED GARAGE DOORS
‘Swing type’ garage doors are becoming more popular again, especially as many people do not use their garage for a vehicle and require easy access on foot to many household items kept in the garage.
Also if the garage is used for another purpose such as a office, storeroom, utility room, playroom, or even a gym then there are a multitude of hinged doors available.
Standard steel doors with various designs and window options, right upto fully insulated options as well as being very secure.
We can offer hinged garage doors in steel, timber, GRP and double skinned steel with an insulating foam core with matching side doors in many cases, if required.
Many hinged doors can be produced in either a 50/50 split or a 70/30 split to give a smaller pedestrian door if constant access is required.
It is also worth mentioning we only sell timber side hinged garage doors from manufacturers who not only make their doors from cedarwood as it is a stable, but from companies who obtain their timber from sustainable sources
Steel and GRP side hinged garage doors are only made by a few specialist companies – Garador (Steel) and Wessex (GRP).
Insulated double skinned steel hinged doors in a double rebated steel sub frame are now made to order by Carteck and Legbud.
