What Are Up & Over Garage Doors?

Up & Over garage doors are the most popular doors installed into most Uk homes. The basic design of this type of garage door makes them very easy to use.

The majority of up & over garage doors fall into 2 categories

• Canopy

• Retractable

What Are Canopy Up & Over Garage Doors?

Up and over garage doors that feature canopy type lifting gear are the most basic form of door available. As the name suggests, approximately one third of the door will protrude out of the opening when the garage door is fully open.

Canopy garage doors require a sub frame to fix the door to and as such a certain amount of drive through width will be lost once the frame has being fixed. Installed correctly, the garage door is very lightweight and easy to operate thanks to the use of torsion springs to assist in the operation of the heavy door panel.

The drawbacks to canopy garage doors is that they are normally only available in widths up to 2440mm (8ft) and are not really suited to electric operation without the use of a correctly specified “bow arm convertor” and garage door motor.

What Are Retractable Up & Over Garage Doors?

This form of garage doors is increasing in popularity thanks to the simple fact that it is easily automated and is relatively affordable to the mass market. As the door opens, the door panel will retract back into the garage to be supported on horizontal metal runners. This type of door can be automated using an appropriate strength garage door operator. Normally available in a wide range of sizes up to 4877mm.

As with the canopy door, the retractable garage door requires a frame to fix too. In addition to this loss in drive through width, the lifting gear will also reduce the drive through width slightly as the arms that lift the door sit inside the door frame.

What Are Up & Over Garage Door Made Of?

Up and over garage doors are available in a wide variety of materials depending upon the look the homeowner is looking to achieve. Here are some of the most popular materials used to construct doors for the UK market.

• Steel

• Wood

• Aluminium

Steel Garage Doors

The most popular form of door material is steel. As a readily available material, they provide a cost effective solution to securing a domestic garage. Steel is a very workable material and because of this are available in a wide range of designs. With most homeowners selecting a white or brown garage door, many manufacturers offer this as standard. For an added extra, many other colour steel garage door are available. The drawback to steel is that in time, unless properly maintained, the garage door will start to rust. Modern up and over garage doors are also available in laminated finished to replicate the look of real wood.

Wooden Garage Doors

The natural appearance of a wooden garage door is second to none. Timber creates a unique look that simply cannot be replicated using any other material. As such, they are considerably more expensive than any other garage door material. With the really high quality wooden garage doors, time served craftsmen will hand build the garage door to your exact specification allowing for endless design possibilities to be constructed.

The downside to a wooden garage door is that it will require regular maintenance to keep it looking its best. Every couple of years, the door will require refinishing using a good quality stain. Failure to adhere to this maintenance schedule may result in the deterioration of the condition o f the door panel as moisture starts to rot the door.

Aluminium

Not many up and over garage doors are constructed from aluminium. A few manufacturers are now starting to offer insulated garage doors constructed from this lightweight material as homewoners are increasingly looking for a more energy efficient product to install into their homes.

Please click here for more information on our range of up & over garage doors.

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