Garage doors

[slofox]

If I buy the place I am looking at I will have to convert an open carport to a secure garage - mainly by putting a door on the front.

Not having any experience with such modern day doohinkies I thought to draw upon the combined intellectual prowess () of KB.

Sooooo what I need to know is...

1. Are there good and bad doors?

2. Are there good and bad companies to deal with?

3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the tilt, roller or sectional doors?

4. Any other traps for the unwary?

Ta.

[Mully]

IMHO:

1 - Like anything, a company you've heard of would be the preference

2 - As above

3 - Tilt doors tilt outwards - anything parked too close will get whomped.

4 - Make sure you don't need a permit. Get power, etc put in ASAP.

[Bald Eagle]

4 - Don't get one with marine ply lining - it'll be a bugger to manually open if the power goes off - damhik

[slofox]

O Kaaaay. Thanks guys.

Mully: Power is already on in the carport so no probs there...permit check will come IF I buy the place. OH and the gf has a tilt door so I already know about busting up cars...

BE: I shall look out for that!

[pzkpfw]

My last place had a roller door. When closed the curve of the roller at the top meant quite a bit of air blew in and out, garage was always cold (I had an unrealised "plan" to build a box around it).

Also, that became a rain trap and I could see the door rusting out, along a line where the top of the doorway was.


My current place has a sectional door. It's great - "seals" well, doesn't have the tilt-door-bang-car disadvantage, and doesn't have the rust trap of the roller door.

[wynw]

sectional would be my pick of the 3 but generally is the more expensive, however a lot more convenient to use(have recently done what you are looking at on my own property). If installed correctly type/weight of cladding should not be an issue. There are also some pretty clever low head kits available now if headroom is an issue.

[YellowDog]

Easy job to do yourself, however if you were here in Auckland : No permit = No go.

An easily removable is a good option

[Toaster]

If I buy the place I am looking at I will have to convert an open carport to a secure garage - mainly by putting a door on the front.

Not having any experience with such modern day doohinkies I thought to draw upon the combined intellectual prowess () of KB.

Sooooo what I need to know is...

1. Are there good and bad doors?

2. Are there good and bad companies to deal with?

3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the tilt, roller or sectional doors?

4. Any other traps for the unwary?

Ta.

Contact bmz2 - he repairs doors and may have a good insight into what is good or not as far as the doors themselves go.

[BMWST?]

depends.If you have some side room and for any reason dont want the door sliding back into the garage the a roller door is the go,(for example you may have stuff stored in the ceiling) other wise a sectional is the go. The roller door should be as weather proof as any other,the previous poster sounds like he had very little head room.The spring mechanism should be set to balance the door so that it should take very little effort to open manually.

[slofox]

Estimate I got today from Garador reckoned the sectionals were a cheaper option...it would certainly be the better option where I hope to go because the driveway is shared and I might end up parking the car permanently outside as per usual...somehow there is never enough room in the garage to fit the car in...

There is plenty of headroom. Where I am now there is a roller door which is quite low - if I have the helmet on I have to duck the head or chip the helmet...can't say it has ever let water in though...

[vifferman]

I had our two horrible roller doors replaced with a single sectional door - it's great, but cost a bit, as I had to get an engineer's report and stick an I-beam in the lintel. Still, at least it's safer - the two single doors (of which there are a myriad in our subdivision) were indirectly responsible for me having the worst accident, resulting in a broken nose, 6 stitches in my eye, a cracked eyebrow, and several months of physio for a rotator cuff injury. The new door was lovely... for a few weeks, until some stunt driver in a BMW managed to spin it up and crash backwards into it, writing it off only minutes after the vifferbabe removed her Peugeot for a run to the supermarket.
The 'identical' replacement door was not quite as good quality, with some metal filings under the powdercoat. It's since been further degraded by retards with a paintball gun using it for target practice. The paint washed off, but left a faint pale 'sploosh' behind.

So... get a sectional door made out of 5mm thick stainless steel. It'll require a 30hp motor to lift it, but at least it'll be safe from vandals with BMWs, egg bombs, or paintball guns...

[JimO]

dont get your fingers caught in a sectional door, just sayin

[meteor]

dont get your fingers caught in a sectional door, just sayin

ha ha ha ha ha and you know this how???

I've got a double sectional door, it's great! Had bad experiences with tilt doors and cars parked too close when kids want to get out! And the roller doors now look old and like an Otara Dairy frontage... just sayin!

[steve_t]

I have garador sectionals. They're great