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Q:What is the Best Type of Roller Garage Door?
When looking for an electric roller garage door you will probably already have seen there is an enormous choice and if you look quickly, surely they are all pretty much the same? Absolutely not! - the differences are enormous in roller door brands and you should be cautious and ask a lot of questions to be sure it will be the right roller door for you.
Which roller garage door is best?
Firstly, there are two main types of roller garage door in the UK - a single skin continuous curtain steel roller door with very basic performance and then a double skinned, foam filled, insulated aluminium type, manufactured with a massive variation of curtain slats in not only size, but also quality.
The single skin door is great for a basic roller door where insulation and security are not a priority and you also have plenty of headroom. They are ideal for a manual door in single sizes and spring loaded for easy operation, larger sizes really need to be motorised however for ease of use.
The double skinned aluminium roller door is made from individual foam filled slats and will roll into a tighter roll size. The door is generally quieter, usually always electrically operated and will provide higher levels of security and insulation for sound and temperature. BEWARE however of cheap versions of this type of roller door!! Anything with remote control operation under around the £1,000 mark installed in a single width size is to be kept well clear of and you are better off with the single skin steel roller door as it will serve you better and longer as well as being legally compliant in the UK.
To say one roller door is the best is dependent on useage, size and other factors but there are some clear leaders in roller door manufacturing: Seceuroglide, Hormann, Alluguard, Gliderol and Samson to name just a few.
As so many roller garage doors can look the same, making a decision on which is best can be difficult. However, it is a fact that the quality of the componenets that makes the difference.
Although low prices may be tempting, we know all too well the trouble and frustrations of buying cheap roller doors. This will always lead to reliability issues as there are so many moving parts that all have to perform together for the door to operate correctly.
Click here to see a comparison of Seceuroglide door features.
What makes a good Roller Garage Door?
The components you cannot see are ultimately the most important ones for a roller door: the barrel, the linkage between the barrel and the curtain, the tube motor inside the barrel and so on. These parts are what make the door function really well for a long time, or just long enough to maybe see a warranty period out if you are lucky. Look for roller doors using German or Northern European manufactured aluminium slats for strength and durability as they are one of the most experienced at these types of products. Look for manufacturers who have been producing doors for at least 5 years as this is the minimum period for a good reliable motor drive unit to have a guarantee for, and you should expect a lot longer without issues anyway. Make sure the door is using the latest control systems and safety devices for opening and closing the door.
What Security is Available for Roller Garage Doors?
As mentioned previously, it is possible to specify certain roller doors to a 'Secured by Design' Level 1 specification.
Basic design features in a roller door will make it very secure as standard but it is also surprising how easy certain roller doors can be to break into when there is little attention paid to the method by which the curtain is held secure when closed. The electric motor is what holds a basic roller door closed and secure, but with a door like the SeceuroGlide it also has a patented security system holding the curtain firmly in place when closed to give no chance of lifting the curtain from outside and applying force in an attempt to dislodge the curtain internally. Security is the main consideration for most garage doors so pay attention to the locking system on any door you may choose to look at.
There are now roller garage doors available with high specifications that offer the very best in security for the door type. For instance, the Qompact was originally manufactured for hurricane-proof applications, and is now available for domestic garages with excellent security certifications and wind ratings. It even has the smallest, discrete box available for roller doors!
Safety Features
The regulations are simple for remote controlled electric roller garage doors.
The door must have a leading edge safety sensor system to detect an obstruction at any point during the closing cycle and stop immediately, and preferably, reverse. This is the regulation and a single or multi-point infrared beam system is NOT compliant with these regulations.
A set of infrared beams can be used as additional safety if required, but on their own the roller door cannot be CE marked and considered compliant and legal in the UK.
Other safety features can include a full hood cover to prevent fingers being trapped in the roller curtain as it rolls up and this should be always considered at heights less than 2.3m anyway. Some doors have this hood cover as standard.
Which Roller Door Accessories are Best?
For most electric roller doors you should expect two hand held transmitters with radio signal control to open and close the door from up to 20 metres away.
You should also have an internal control box and receiver unit with a courtesy light built in that comes on for about three minutes when the door is operated. An internal manual override system is also an essential standard item which is a winding handle that engages on the motor side to drive the motor in the event of a power failure. Above this, you can specify control accessories such as external digital keypads or key switches. Emergency external manual override systems are also available to ensure access to the internal override if you do not have another door into your garage, or even a battery back-up system to give several normal operations even when there is no mains power.
Options for the actual door itself include vision slats to let natural light into the garage using cut-out sections with polycarbonate glazing inserts, extra wide side guides for increased security, aluminium hood covers for the curtain roll to enclose the entire rolling mechanism and sloping bottom slats for where the ground is not level. Other options include tricks such as smartphone apps to give control of your roller door from your mobile phone - alarm systems to detect if an attempted break-in is taking place - auto closing facilities so you never forget to close your door and 'Secured by Design' specifications to give total peace of mind for security.
What Colours are available?
The standard colour range for aluminium roller doors is usually 10 - 20 tough painted colours and for single skin steel doors is usually a plastisol coated colour range of about 20 colours. For more choices you can specify laminate coated, woodgrain effect finishes offering up to nearly 50 beautiful choices to match oak, rosewood, mahogany and many other finishes associated with either real wood or Upvc doors and windows from other manufacturers.
What Sizes are Available?
For domestic roller garage door specifications, the largest width available is generally 5000mm and the maximum height is 3000mm. Larger doors are available up to 6000mm wide but the slat type and specification may change and be larger or in double skinned steel. The guides and roll size would also change at doors over 3000mm high, and careful consideration would need to be given to installation on very large doors making sure the structure you are fixing to is sufficiently sound.
If you have any questions about Roller Garage Doors just give our expert team a call on 01933 229135.
