Buying a new garage door should be an exciting experience. However, with so many options available, it can quickly become overwhelming. To find the ideal garage door, you’ll need to consider the right color, material, style, and opening mechanism.
In this concise guide, we’ll cut through the unnecessary jargon to help you decide which garage door type is perfect for you. We’ll cover:
- The 4 primary types of garage doors
- Common garage door materials
- Which garage door offers the best value for money
- How to choose the right garage door for your needs
Understanding Different Garage Door Types
There are four main types of garage doors commonly found in the UK:
- Up and Over
- Side-Hinged
- Roller Garage Doors
- Sectional
Each of these garage door types is distinct due to its method of opening. Let’s explore each one individually.
1. Up & Over Garage Doors
Up-and-over garage doors are a classic fixture in British garage design. These doors are known for their reliability, high quality, and availability in a vast array of designs and styles.
As their name suggests, you open them by turning a handle and pulling the door upwards and back, so it rests horizontally towards the garage ceiling. Up-and-over doors come with either canopy gearing or retractable gearing. A canopy door moves vertically within its frame, while a retractable door slides on horizontal tracks that extend into the garage.
2. Side Hinged Garage Doors
Instead of lifting overhead, side-hinged garage doors operate on hinges, swinging outwards onto your driveway. This design provides clear and unrestricted space inside the garage, making access quick and easy.
Side-hinged doors are an excellent choice for those who frequently access their garage. For example, if you use your garage for household storage, a side-hinged door allows you to enter and exit throughout the day without the effort of maneuvering a heavy overhead door. These doors embody a traditional garage door aesthetic and are available with either a 50/50 or 70/30 split opening.
3. Roller Garage Doors
We all seek convenience to simplify our daily lives, and a new garage door is no exception. Homeowners are increasingly opting for garage door replacements that offer automated opening, and the surge in popularity of roller garage doors in recent years has been phenomenal.
Constructed from aluminium, roller garage doors lift vertically and neatly coil into a compact box positioned above the garage opening. They are available with either manual or automatic operation; with an automatic system, you’ll receive remotes that open the door at the touch of a button. Beyond automation, roller garage doors also provide enhanced security, making them ideal for homeowners who store valuable items like cars or motorbikes in their garage. You can even add extra security products to alert you to unauthorized entry. If security is a priority, a roller door is an excellent choice.
4. Sectional Garage Doors
Another fantastic option for an automated garage door is a sectional garage door. Sectionals combine the convenience of automation found in roller doors with the aesthetic appeal often associated with up-and-over designs.
Sectional garage doors rise within the opening and articulate along the ceiling, ensuring the full width and height of the garage opening remain clear. This makes them perfect for homeowners who use their garage primarily for parking vehicles. Similar to roller garage doors, sectionals come with a host of optional features, including advanced security, automation, insulation, and more.
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Exploring Garage Door Materials
The ideal garage door material should possess three key characteristics: it must be secure, durable, and have an efficient weight. In today’s market, five primary garage door materials meet these criteria:
- Steel
- Timber
- GRP (Glass-Reinforced Polyester)
- Aluminium
- ABS
1. Steel
Steel is a superb material for garage doors due to its high strength coupled with a low cost. Manufacturers favor steel because it’s easy to press a wide array of designs and styles onto its surface. The vast selection of designs, styles, and colours makes steel garage doors the most popular material choice in the UK. Up-and-over, side-hinged, sectional, and roller doors are all available in steel.
2. Timber
Timber doors are truly unique. Each door, even when reproduced, boasts its own distinct graining, knots, and shading. Modern timber garage doors also offer surprisingly long-lasting protection. Provided you wipe down the door panels regularly, timber requires less maintenance than many people assume. You can even repair timber panels if they become damaged. You can purchase up-and-over, side-hinged, and sectional doors made from timber.
3. GRP
Glass-reinforced polyester (GRP) offers the best strength-to-weight ratio among all garage door materials and is highly effective at keeping the inside of your garage warm during winter. GRP is also an excellent choice for protecting your garage door from rot or rust. Of course, these benefits come at a literal cost; while the price of GRP has decreased in recent years, it remains one of the more expensive garage door materials. Up-and-over, side-hinged, and sectional garage doors are available in GRP.
4. Aluminium
Most roller garage doors on the market are constructed from aluminium. This is because the foam-filled aluminium laths provide a powerful level of insulation that other materials simply cannot match. These laths are easily replaced or removed if damaged and operate almost silently.
5. ABS
ABS doors are crafted from a tough yet flexible material often used in car bumpers. The main selling point of ABS is its impact and dent resistance, thanks to its “bounce-back” property. When struck, the door panel flexes to absorb the impact and then returns to its original state. This makes it ideal for withstanding the rigors of everyday family life (or stray footballs from the kids!). Both up-and-over and side-hinged doors can be made from ABS.