Different types of garage door
Nobody in the market for a new or replacement garage door can ever claim to be short on options there are lots of them. Garage doors come in a range of operational styles with some formats suiting a particular garage opening size, or garage use, better than others.
For an in depth look at each of the different types of garage door you can use the main menu (above), however, if you just want a brief summary of what each types is and how it works, read on
Up and over garage door
An up-and-over garage door lifts up and above the garage opening when it is in its open position. This is a popular and cheap garage door option.
There are two types of up and-and-over garage door, a canopy door (where part of the door projects beyond the front wall of the garage) and a retractable door (where the complete door is retracted into the garage).
Retractable doors are more expensive than canopy doors, but they have a superior mechanism and lend themselves to motorization and remote control. For more information, got to the up and over garage doors page.
Roller garage door
A roller garage door is composed of a number of horizontal panels or sections that are hinged and that run up and down vertical tracks on both sides of the garage opening. These tracks can be positioned inside the opening, or just behind it (attached to the back of the garage wall piers), and they direct the door to a horizontal drum around which it is stored.
When the roller garage door is opened, its hinged (or flexible) panels wind around the drum requiring a minimum amount of space for storage. The roller drum is located inside the garage directly above and behind the opening.
Roller garage doors make ideal candidates for remote control automation. For more information, got to the roller garage doors page.
Sliding (or slide around the corner) garage door
A sliding garage door is composed of a number of vertical panels or sections that are hinged to allow them to bend around corners.
This kind of door runs along horizontal tracks at the foot and head of the door's opening and continues around (or away from) the opening to the location where the doors is stored. This will normally be against one of the garage's side walls. For more information, got to the Slide (round the corner) doors page.
Sliding garage doors make ideal candidates for remote control automation.
Sectional garage door
A sectional garage door is composed of a number of horizontal panels (or sections) that are flexibly hinged. When in transit, the door travels up vertical tracks mounted on either side of the garage opening and then into similar tracks that turn through 90 degrees and run horizontally behind and above the garage opening (at roof level).
When open, the door is supported in a flat plain within the garage's roof space. The door is not folded or rolled around a drum. For more information, got to the Sectional garage doors page.
Side hinged garage doors
A side hinged garage door is the oldest and simplest garage door style. It has two side hinged doors that open outwards and that open and lock with a handle and a key.
This style of door is normally made of wood and the garage opening width can be split into two equally sized doors, or a one third to two thirds ratio. This enables the smaller door to be used as a "people only" access door. For more information, got to the Side hinged garage doors page.
Pedestrian access (or wicket) garage door
These are garage doors that have some kind of pedestrian access door incorporated into their design.
They include a 1/3 to 2/3 side hinged door set, and an up-and-over or slide-round door with and encapsulated smaller door incorporated into the main door's design.
The object of this style of door is to enable pedestrian entry and access through a standard sized door without the need to open the garage door. For more information, got to the Garage door with pedestrian access page.