Garage doors installation - How to do it properly?

Along with the installation of carpentry, one of the biggest costs when building a house is garage doors installation. As in the case of PVC carpentry, there is a large selection of garage doors installation companies on the market, but before you start looking, you need to know what kind of door you want.

Types of garage doors

Roller door

Roller garage doors installation can be likened to blinds as they both operate using a similar mechanism. Both the door and the blinds are lifted vertically into a container that is placed above the opening. Roller garage doors are perfect for garages that are low and narrow in size. They do not require sufficient space as sectional door does. Unlike sectional doors, which can be hard to lift and lower manually, Roller doors are easy to raise and lower, they stay in the position they were left in.

You are correct that roller garage doors generally have less thermal insulation compared to sectional doors. This is because roller doors are typically made from a single panel of material. They are rolled up into the housing unit. Sectional doors on the other hand are made up of multiple panels that are insulated. This means that roller doors can be less effective at keeping the garage warm in cold weather.

Additionally, as mentioned earlier, roller doors typically do not have an additional pedestrian door that can be installed. This means that if you want to enter the garage, you would have to open the entire door. Some roller doors can have a personal door installed, but it is not as common as sectional doors.

You can watch this short video to see what this type of door looks like.

Sectional garage doors

This type of garage door is most common on family houses. The doors are divided into panels and rise under the ceiling. If you don’t have any other entrance to the garage, you can install a smaller door on it, through which you will enter in case of a power outage or if there is no need to raise the entire door.

Sectional doors are significantly heavier than roller doors, so they are also more difficult to lift manually. It shouldn’t be a deciding factor because the question is whether you will ever lift them like that.

Roller doors have no limitations, you can install them in almost any situation. However, with sectional doors, you have to be careful about some things.

The challenge is to find a company that does garage doors installation wider than 5 meters – In my case, I quickly eliminated almost half of the companies that install doors because they are wider than 5m. Many companies have said that such doors are industrial and do not do this. Fortunately, there are still plenty of them who will install the door without it being a problem. Almost no one in Croatia produces their own door panels, so this is obviously a limit imposed by the manufacturer.
You must have at least 10 cm of wall on each side – When I saw how garage doors were installed somewhere, I was always annoyed when I saw that there was 20-30 cm of wall on each side on which the door supports stand. When I started construction, I immediately said that I didn’t want it, because if I have a 5m opening, I want the door to be that wide as well. After consulting with companies that install garage doors, I realized that it is possible, but not cost-effective. Metal brackets on which the door stands can be installed, but in addition to being significantly more expensive, you lose thermal insulation because there is no insulation on these brackets. If you leave 10 cm of the wall on each side, it will be enough to install a door, and you will still have an almost equal opening for the entrance to the garage.
You have to pay attention to the lintel above the door, but also to the windows in the garage doors installation – Yes, you read that right, the windows in the garage and the lintel above the garage door are connected. Namely, most garages, especially those connected to the house, have windows on one side. I had a situation where the garage door opening is 2.20 m high, and the total height of the garage is 2.90 m. The 70 cm overhang is more than enough to install the door, but the windows are 30 cm below the ceiling at a height of 2.60 m. Usually, the higher the opening, the higher the door is made, but in my case this would mean that the brackets from the garage door pass right in front of the window, which could no longer be opened. It’s surprising how many craftsmen came and said ” Yes, that’s right, we can’t do otherwise, you have 2 more windows in the garage, so you can open them“. I didn’t want to agree to that and I found a company that came and said ” We will put another panel, the door will be 2.70 high and the supports will go above the window, it’s not a problem “. It was logical to me from the beginning, but it is incredible that at least 10 people had to come and look for one person to say how he can do it.
Pay attention to the position of the lights in the garage – One thing that I did not pay attention to when making the main project was the position of the lights. Namely, it was quite logical for me to have the lights in the ceiling. The moment the door was installed, I realized that out of the 4 lights, 2 would not light up when the garage door was open. This is something you only realize when you install the door, So, if you can, think about it before installing it.
Do not install the door as soon as you plaster – A lot of people, and the person who installed my garage door confirmed this, Want to install the door as soon as they plaster. Before you install them, it would be best to paint the garage. Any work around the supports after they are installed will be very difficult. If you want to make it easier for yourself, do the final work first, and only then install the door.

Electric motors for garage

I understand, research on the motors for roller garage doors may not be as extensive as the other features and options. Many companies offer garage door installation, they usually provide a selection of two or three manufacturers. Customers can choose from the provided selection.

Most of them have engines from Italian or German companies, and I really don’t know which one is better. They are all made in China anyway. The only thing I would recommend is to look online for that engine. See if there are any manuals available before making a purchase. I couldn’t find one engine they offered me on the internet, so I immediately gave up on it. If there are no instructions on how to program the remote for that engine, I fear what would happen if it had to be serviced.

Another thing that you will be able to choose is a chain or strap to lift the door. The chain is of course stronger and longer lasting, but the belt is much quieter. Most of the time, a belt is installed to make the door very quiet. Then you almost don’t hear them when they open. This doesn’t matter if the garage is separate from the house, But if you have an attached garage, a belt is a great option because it won’t make noise in the house when opening or closing.

If you want to see an excellent choice of building a prefabricated garage, watch the following video.