Garage doors, also called garage gates, are often found at the front of houses. A garage gate is a huge door typically in a garage which normally opens with a mechanical or automatic motor. Garage doors can be very large, such as those that open onto a car park, and these are often used as a main entrance to a building. More modest garage doors can be created in a single panel which tilts up and down along the garage ceiling. This is one type of fold-up garage door which has the advantage of easy opening and closing.
Roll up garage doors are a type of door that is similar to a door in that the panels are hinged together and roll up to close. There are two types of roll up garage doors – the hydraulic roll up door and the wood roll up door. Both doors use springs to lift the panels and roll them up to cover the opening. Hydraulic doors are more effective because they don’t exert too much force on the door; a wooden door would have to be extremely strong in order to be able to withstand the same forces. The only drawback with a wooden door would be that it would rot.
The majority of modern garage doors are constructed from either steel or fiberglass. Steel door frames are very strong and sturdy, however, they are susceptible to damage if they are not maintained properly. Wood is usually coated with a finish to prevent the wood from rusting when it is exposed to the elements, but once the coating is stripped away it is vulnerable to damage under normal conditions. There are several different types of steel used in making garage doors; such as galvanized steel, cold rolled steel, galvanized aluminum and cold rolled coatings. Each type of steel has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Galvanized steel is perhaps the strongest and most commonly used material for garage doors, as it is fire-resistant. However, this is not to say that it can never rust, and this is why they coat it with an anti-rust coating. Galvanized steel is also very expensive as compared to other materials. Aluminum, on the other hand, is less expensive than galvanized steel, but is prone to rusting and is easily damaged. Fiberglass, on the other hand, is relatively inexpensive and is available in all kinds of colors.
Another issue with fiberglass garage doors is the potential for the opener to become stuck. If the door does not roll up smoothly and opens without effort then there is a high probability that the opener will become stuck between the panels. If you notice that the rollers get stuck up or the opener becomes stuck, you should check the rollers to see if they are badly damaged. If so, the best solution would be to replace the entire section. A small replacement is usually sufficient since the damage would not be very severe.
When it comes to aluminum or steel door sections, you should first determine whether or not the sectional garage doors need to be replaced. If you find that the damage is minor then you can continue to use the sectional door. However, if the damage is significant, it may be better to replace both the sections. The main problem with fiberglass sectional garage doors is that if one section breaks, you cannot replace the entire panel, thus resulting in the entire door becoming unusable.
