A quality garage door enhances the appearance of your home and keeps it safe from intruders. Most of us know this but know little about how our door works or the pros and cons of different types.
When something goes wrong with your garage door, do you even know who to call? Is it a builder, locksmith, door shop, electrician, or the RAC?
Doors can be made of wood, steel, Glass Reinforced Polyester (GRP), or ABS and finished with plastisol or powder coatings. They might be manual or powered electrically. They could be operated with conventional switches and locks or controlled by Wi-Fi or infra-red. Locks are important as garage burglaries are rising. Here is some garage door security advice from the police: https://www.suffolk.police.uk/sites/suffolk/files/garage_door_security_0.pdf.
The range of skills required is wide, so consider seeking out a specialist garage door company. For example, for garage door repairs in St Albans try a site like http://garagedoorsrus.co.uk/garage-door-repairs-st-albans/.
Here are the common door types.
Canopy doors
This is an up-and-over type. When you open one, the bottom swings outward as the top swings inward. In the open position, half the door is inside and half is outside. This is a popular and reliable door that has some advantages, including being easy to fit and operate.
Security is limited, however, and they lack draft proofing. It can be difficult to motorise them. Moreover, approximately two thirds of the door’s height must be kept available inside the garage.
Retracting doors
This is a similar to the up-and-over type but the entire door slides inside the garage in the open position. Security is quite good as four latches can be used, but they are not the safest. While opening, they require more space in front and the full door height in the garage ceiling. They are easy to upgrade for automatic opening, but some adaptations impair the security offered by the latching system.
Sectional doors
This “semi-flexible” door is made of articulated panels. It rises vertically and turns until flat in the roof. Advantages include excellent security and weather insulation. They are ideal for short drives and usually easy to convert to automatic.
Roller doors
The whole door rolls up inside the garage opening. The space required is variable but does not extend the full height of the door into the garage. Security, insulation and automation options are excellent.
