Up-and-over garage door

The up-and-over style of garage door remains the most popular model in the USA and UK and it can be ordered in a range of colored metal "panel effect" constructions, or in natural "weather treated" timber. These doors are economic to buy and robust when in use.

An up-and-over garage door is one where the door lifts and tilts up vertically and then stores in a horizontal plain above and behind (or partially behind) the garage door opening.

There are two different operational mechanisms for up-and-over garage doors and they are generally referred to as "retractable" and "canopy". This is significant because only one, the retractable door, is suitable for automated or motorised operation. (The canopy door mechanism is considered too "flimsy" and lightweight for motorised assistance unless a conversion kit is used to adapt its operation.)

1. Canopy up-and-over garage doors

A canopy garage door is the cheapest and most basic form of up-and-over garage door. Normally the door has two tracks with rollers, one either side of the top half of door panel, and a large torsion spring that spans the top of the door. Each side of the door is supported by a single lifting arm.

When the garage door is opened the door partially retracts into the opening, but with the lower one third of the door’s area projecting out beyond the face of the garage. This "canopy effect" is the reason why this type of up-and-over garage door gets its name.

The mechanical operation of this type of door is fine for manual operation, but too primitive for automation. This means that an expensive conversion kit is required to motorise a canopy garage door.

Additionally, weight restrictions mean that this kind of mechanism is unsuitable for double doors, heavy doors or insulated garage doors. (For further information about Canopy garage doors go to this page.)

2. Retractable up-and-over garage doors

A retractable garage door has a more sophisticated and smoother running opening and closing mechanism than a canopy door.

The other big difference is that, unlike a canopy door, a retractable garage door retracts completely into the garage opening, i.e. no part of the door projects beyond the front wall of the garage. This has obvious advantages, not least that it is impossible to accidentally bang your head on the projecting door.

Retractable garage doors operate in a more complex and mechanically more reliable way than their cheaper canopy counterparts. Most retractable garage doors have a complete steel sub-frame with running tracks and rollers that support the top corners of the door as its slides back into its fully open position. Cantilevered lifting arms perform a similar function by supporting and raising the bottom corners of the door and offering complete support during transition from open to closed, or vice versa.

Because a retracting garage door is supported at all four corners, the door mechanism is smooth and well balanced and this makes it an ideal candidate for automation, or the conversion of an existing manual door into a motorised and remotely controlled one.

Retractable doors are more expensive than canopy doors, but they are superior in function and reliability. There only drawback is in the necessity to have the lifting arms located inside the sub-frame. This means that when the garage door is open, the drive-through opening width will be slightly less than the opening frame width.

A retractable garage door mechanism has the ability to transit much heavier doors than a canopy mechanism and it benefits from having twin torsion springs either side of the door. These can be usually be adjusted or swapped with higher loading alternatives.

Retracting doors are the more ideal option for motorisation and remote control automation. Most existing retracting garage doors can easily be converted into automated doors. No complex adaptation or specialised conversion kit should required. (For further information about retractable garage doors go to this page.)

For a more detailed explanation of how the generic "up and over" kind of door works go to the page How and up and over door works in detail.

To find out about glass fronted garage doors, which can be used as an "up-and-over" door style, click on the underlined text.