How you can secure your property with insulated roller doors…
By Alice Dove, Director at The Garage Door Centre
This was an interesting project, as our client first contacted us in August 2020 saying that he had been told by every other garage door firm, that they “would not touch it”, which was interesting to hear!
Initial Workings
Our client has three openings in a beautiful renovated cart lodge, on sloping ground. Each opening is sloping and each one is on lower ground than the next, making each opening different from the next and not square. Here is an exaggerated drawing of their alignment:
Once we had initially estimated the job through phone calls and emails for the client, using some very good client measurements, the client confirmed that he wanted to go ahead. Our experienced surveyor headed over to the site on the 1st September 2020. This triggers a final, formal, detailed quotation. The sloping bottom slats had to be specified individually for each curtain as they were a nonstandard width and height.
Manufacture & Installation
As soon as our client had received the final quotation and digitally approved it, we went ahead and got the three doors manufactured. Each door was unique in every way, so this required extra checks and measures to ensure a fault-free project.
On the 10th November the three doors were finally installed beautifully by our installation engineers, and as you can see for yourself, they are smart, safe, secure and functional!
Roller Garage Door Features
These roller doors are Police Approved, Secured by Design and manufactured in the UK. The roll cover boxes are black, the same as the curtain in each case, and the guides each side are 75mm and black too. Each has its own LED light that comes on when the door is in operation, along with two inclusive remote control handsets that can be attached to a keyring.
In addition, there are options for external digipads, manual releases in case of power outage, smart home systems (that can be integrated wit Alexa, for example), and other additions, if required. All these doors have safety edge technology in case of cats, dogs, bikes, children, etc. and are warrantied for up to 7 years.
Costings
For one of these roller shutter doors, straight at the bottom, manufactured by SWS in any colour from 17 in the standard range, installed within our catchment area including removal, disposal and fitting, and VAT with a matching full roll cover box, 75mm guides, Police Approved Secured by Design, is likely to be £1750.
Call us on 01933 229135 to talk through your own individual requirements and we will be pleased to estimate yours for you.
How to reduce your outlay when you are working on a timber cladded home. “Open for Infill” Versus Ready Made!
By Alice Dove, Director. September 2020
Beautiful timber up & over matching the surrounding cladding
Having seen some beautiful home development work recently on my travels, this made me put pen to paper to describe how you can match your new development to the garage door whilst managing your outlay, which is particularly useful if you are destroying your budget on your development, rather than doing this the other way around by organising a garage door that is “open for infill” after you have already decided on your cladding type. The latter is the more bespoke and therefore a higher cost option.
Option OFI!
Let’s say, you have been given the wish list by your client, or you have personally decided to stick to a specialist timber, such as “Siberian Larch” or oak style cladding on the new home. Certain breeds of timber can be heavy, or your predefined cladding could be thick. You may choose a timber that is not available in the world of garage door manufacturing. This means that once you have contacted us, your friendly garage door specialists, and we work out the right garage door “open for infill” which can carry your chosen timber style and weight, it results in a higher price due to the sheer power it will require to move the timber and the made to measure aspect. After we have provided the open for infill door you still have the job of getting it filled with your own cladding.
As an example, I am estimating here for a Hormann N500 style 400 up and over style of garage door, with a frame, of 12 feet wide and 6ft 6 inches high, plus frame, in the standard factory spray finish. This will be £3,654 plus delivery to you. This is including VAT and of course, comes ready for you to clad to match the home, within the panel, as well as around the frame. Remember, it is empty of timber when it arrives with you. If you wanted the steel framework spraying to match anything else in the home, in a specialist RAL of your own choice, this would be an additional £620
Option Garador Ready made!
If you choose the Garador up and over garage door with steel factory fitted frame, which comes fully finished in RAL 8028 brown, for a standard size of 12ft wide by 6ft 6inches high, plus the frame, in either horizontal or vertical layout, with a black nylon handle, as shown, in cedarwood, plank effect, it would be £2867 plus delivery and including VAT. This can be upgraded to a fully finished stain by the factory for only an additional £182 including VAT, which allows for you to have light oak, antique wood, mahogany, walnut, chestnut or ebony stain and finish completed at the factory.
As you can see this means the timber infill is already done and all you have to do is ensure that your cladding for the home is the same, and the opening was a standard size to accept this garage door, which does require some advanced planning and discussion with all who will be living there!
Vertical Designed Door
Horizontal Designed Door
Electric Operation
Add a Motor for £333 including VAT to either of these garage doors, complete with two handsets and LED light inside when the door is in use, you can also get an app that is compatible with this garage door operator.
With newly introduced guidelines, including hygiene upkeep and social distancing, our excellent and dedicated team have been back to work, installing quality garage doors of all types.
This is just one of the new doors recently installed by The Garage Door Centre in Northamptonshire. It really shows off the difference it makes when you install a sectional garage door between the brickwork opening, whilst finishing off the look with a frame.
Here, the fitting team have used the executive framing kit from SWS,
In most basic models of roller shutter garage doors there is little or no security at all and they can actually be quite easily lifted up from the bottom. As most roller garage doors are electrically operated in the UK, the electric motor simply lifts and lowers the door curtain and relies entirely on gravity for the operation. When fully closed, the roller curtain is simply hanging from the barrel inside. Although many models will state there are various security ‘straps’ attaching the curtain to the barrel and performing some kind of security function, the reality is they are either totally ineffective or easily pushed back against or broken.
Thinking of investing in a pair of side hinged garage doors, or not quite sure which garage door type is best for you? Well, he’s four simple reasons why side hinged doors can be an excellent choice for your home and garage…
1) Modern Technologies
STEEL Side Hinged Garage Doors
Side hinged doors offer a traditional operating mechanism, making them perfect for those with more traditional homes and garages. Despite this, there are now various modern options in regards to materials, with manufacturers such as Carteck, Ryterna and Hormann constructing steel side hinged doors that boast great levels of insulation and security, two factors that are frequently required.
Our range
of steel side hinged doors consist of both insulated and non-insulated options,
with locking upgrades on certain models also available.
We have seen the popularity of colour Anthracite Grey (RAL reference 7016) increase rapidly over the past few years, to become the most requested colour other than specific whites, blacks and traditional variations on primary colours.
Anthracite practically conforms with almost any colour scheme and can work wonderfully on old and new properties alike. Anthracite is a chalky and earthy near-black or very dark grey. Anthracite itself is a form of coal used in thermal power stations for generating electricity.
Over the 32 years we have been selling and installing various garage doors, the one single thing that so many people tend comment on is the internal tracking mechanism required by so many garage door types, particularly on larger width doors.
Imagine a one piece up & over garage door which has no tracks whatsoever, even at a huge 6m wide! No tracks and no central boom for the electric motor drive. The door can be manual or electrically operated in all sizes because this door operates via a counterbalanced system that uses widths either side to effortlessly lift the door during opening.
Woodrite garage doors epitomise the beauty and real value of timber, and with every one of our installations they continue to look fantastic.
Our recent installation of the three Woodrite Up & Over doors, photographed below, are manufactured with Idigbo timber – the ultimate choice when it comes to an alternative to Oak!
If you are considering having a roller garage door installed, you will quickly come to realise that there are hundreds of companies on the internet claiming they have the best roller shutter garage door either in the UK or the world. One of the main problems initially is that they all look very similar, with the horizontal lines and a lot of the same colours showing on the images you will inevitably scan through.
So, how do you decide on which roller door is best for you?
