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Q:How much headroom do I need for a sectional garage door?
There are many different ways a sectional garage door can operate with various springing mechanisms, positioned according to the gear required. Double width door headroom requirements will differ from single width sectional doors generally for a start. A sectional garage door has several panels that rise vertically, curve around a bend and then the panels run horizontally along the tracks into the garage. The amount of headroom required above the door ordering height depends on where the springs are and what is required inside the garage. Most people do not realise you can also tailor the headroom to suit the garage in order to get the sectional door to go as high as possible and maximise the space inside the garage.
Normal Requirements For most standard sectional garage doors the headroom required is between 100 and 240mm and this is required for the curve of the tracking system above the door height ordered. A standard single width Hormann sectional door will have side mounted tension springs for lifting the door panels and therefore the tightest headroom at only 100mm. Once the weight of the door panels increases on double width doors the spring system is a torsion type and is placed above the top of the door panels so requires more headroom at around 210mm for most sectional door manufacturers. More fixings are required too as the spring has a lot of tension and is quite heavy.
Different Solution - A Teckentrup sectional garage door uses a different springing method to most others, with tension springs situated alongside the high level horizontal tracks entering the garage. This means for the majority of sizes the headroom required is only ever 115mm, which has many advantages in flat roof garages for example or where the door needs to be installed inbetween the opening and therefore underneath the lintel. There is no requirement either for the several fixing points along the front to support a heavy and powerful torsion spring and this can help enormously with the installation and finishing. The Teckentrup sectional door will generally offer the best final drive through height when fully opened and using an electric operator system
Special Applications It is possible to have the tracking on some sectional doors going straight up vertically if required!! In the main however we have specified what is called 'high lift' tracking and this means the tracks will go up as far as they can before turning to go horizontally. The use of this high lift mechanism is particularly useful in garages with higher ceilings and keeps the door panels and all the tracks as far up as possible out of the way. Torsion springs have to be used for this type of gearing and always at the front for mounting.
Summary Generally for most sectional doors in the UK you need between 100 and 220mm of headroom to accomodate the curve in the tracks and this is all above the height of the door ordered. If you do not have sufficient height inside the garage then it is not a problem but you will have to look at how the gap is finished between the top of the door and the shortfall in the headroom and this is normally sorted with a steel fascia section supplied as standard with most higher quality sectional doors.
Tension side springs and springs in the top tracking are preferred by most people as the tension springs sitting above the door are more difficult to tension and maintain over time whilst taking up the most headroom as well. Very large sectional doors over 6m wide will always use tension sorings however as they have more power.
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