roller garage doors

Hi,

What is the life expectancy of a roller garage door?

I bought something that looks a bit like this:

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It has a motorised central cylinder which rotates, wrapping the slatted door "curtain" around it.

I bought ours about five or six years ago. It was an unbranded door from a company that I had not heard of but who were recommended to me by word of mouth. My experience has not been great from the first day (door of wrong size supplied, subsequent door had dented slats, micro switches failed in remote control, etc)!

Amongst other things, where the door wraps around itself when lifted, the paint has worn off, yet it was advertised as a maintenance free finish. I worry that trying to paint it might make it look worse rather than better.

I think I bought this type of door to maximise wall space: up and over doors would protrude into the garage, restricting where I could put up shelves.

I think this type of door is best suited to empty garages used to store cars. Our garage is used as a shed to put all the things that have nowhere else to go. Sometimes things get knocked and slip into the way of the door. If the door is lowered it hits an obstacle and continues to turn. I realise that's our fault for putting clutter near the door. I did wonder whey the door could not be built like a car window, where it would stop or even reverse if it hit an obstacle. Is this just because of cost or is it because of security (in case this feature was exploited to open closed doors)?

The last time the door jammed it caused two of the four hinges to snap. The door is currently being lifted by just two of them until I get round to ordering two more. Are two enough or is it better to have four?

There are two recesses on the motor that you use an Allen key to adjust and they determine where the door stops at the top and bottom of its travel.

Whenever the door jams, it causes these top and bottom adjustments to go wrong. In fact, the hinges snapped because the door hit the ground and kept turning last time this happened!

The problem I now face is that the "receptacle" that the Allen key engages with has been damaged. I guess it has been rounded out by over use!

This means I have been able to adjust the top limit of the door but not the bottom one. I have had enough problems with the door, so replacement seems the best solution for my mental health! But I am wondering if there is a temporary fix. Perhaps aralditing a bolt into the recess and using the bolt to turn it?

I'm also looking for a source of long Allen keys to make any future access easier. Do you know any suppliers?

What have been your experiences with garage doors? Should I replace it with a branded one or is there a better type of door to consider?

TIA

Reply to
Fred
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We have had a Gliderol manufactured roller door for a few years and four neighbours have had them longer - no problems that I am aware of. From memory ours came with a 10 year guarantee which includes the plastisol finish. They come in automatic and manual versions and the automatic ones have a safety device which sends them back up if they encounter an obstacle.

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Amazon lists sets of long hex keys.

Reply to
rbel

I looked at roller doors when we had a new double garage built a few years ago, and was appalled at how flimsy they seemed.

I ended up with a motorised sectional door - which is German, and built like a brick s**t-house. When it opens, it does go back a long way into the garage, but there's room for shelving units along the sides - below runner level, and I've got lots of planks and pipes, etc. stored (suspended) between the ceiling joists. These can only be accessed when the door is closed, but that isn't a problem.

My door *does* stop (and reverses a bit) if it hits an obstacle.

Reply to
Roger Mills

In message , rbel@?.?.invalid writes

We have a professionally fitted securoglide. OK so far, about 10 years. Photo cell stops it lowering if obstructed but I have never tried standing underneath it:-) Probably averages 4 operations per day.

There was a thread about an inferior door with a similar name.

The usual trick is to braze a hex length into a socketed T bar but you may not have the right tackle.

Reply to
Tim Lamb

Mine's an "Autotherm" by Autoroll, but it looks just like that, and from your description of its workings, is the same thing.

To answer your original question: I don't think the life expectancy is very long, even if I do take extra-good care of it. If I get your 5 or 6 years, I'll be happy, and surprised. As you say, it seems a bit flimsy: all the components are sturdy enough, but taken all together they don't make a strong construction. It's also what I'd call noisy. And slow ...

I have experience of another kind of door at the place where I do a bit of gardening: this is a steel roller door, worked by a big, f.o., motor. This door works very fast, almost silently, and has a pressure sensor on the lower edge which detects any obstruction and immediately reverses the motion. I'd guess that that door is a good dozen years old or more, possibly much more.

HOWEVER: doors like that cost 000s. I got my door by asking a neighbour where he got his, and he put me on to a guy who mounts them in his spare time. This chap is really excellent: very precise, works like billy-oh, and of course has mounted scores of doors, so knows exactly what he's doing. My door cost me 750 quid, including labour. (BTW door is about

2.5 meters wide, 2m high.)

"You get what you pay for." My door currently looks great (have had it almost a year now btw), and it's created far more space in the garage, as well as widened the door for driving the car in and out (wow! Yes! I garage me car!) And also the garage is now MUCH better insulated: no draughts whatever.

However: one month after installation, I propped a brush up against the running channel on the side; and forgot about it; and closed the door. The magic eye, which prevents the door operating if an object is cutting the beam, could not see the brush handle. The door closed, continued when it hit the broom, and snapped all four brackets in the roller. (Aside: by the way it continues to run when closed for a few seconds because it is closing the gaps between each slat - the geezer told me this.) In this case it continued to run until all the brackets had snapped, because it never "reached bottom".

I called up the guy, he came that very evening, and fitted four new hinges for 50 quid (which I was very glad to pay!). Again: he has done this many times before!

The wear on the face of your door is caused by not keeping it clean of dust etc (I use a soft hand-brush): the company told me this after I'd enquired about a pressure bar for the bottom edge (they don't do them). The only other maintenance it requires, they say, is WD40'ing the running channels every now and again (which doesn't seem that thorough, to me).

I don't give my door much time -- could be years if I'm careful, and _lucky_ -- before I need to buy another part, or even replace it.

However, I paid 750 quid, which I had, instead of 000s (which I don't have).

And: it finally got rid of the massively heavy up-and-over which we'd had for 20-odd years, and which would have been beyond my physical capability in another few years!!

So I'm (relatively) happy.

John

Reply to
Another John

Sectional doors of the type manufactured by Hormann are very common in Germany and last a very long time, so I guess it's horses for courses.

Reply to
Jon Connell

That was our experience when we replaced a heavy up-and-over that was at the end of its life with a Hormann sectional with which we're more than pleased.

Reply to
F

I have one of these

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Still going strong after about 8 years.

Reply to
Mark

We have a Steeline roller door. Manufactured to size in Australia ! About 20 years old now.Had to replace stripped drive gear once. Apart from that, while it has its foibles, it works fine.

Reply to
fred

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