Up and over garage doors are still the most popular type of garage door. They can be constructed from all the normal materials used to build garage doors, namely timber, steel and GRP. Also, up and over garage doors can be automatic or manual adding further to their versatility. Also, they are relatively easy to install and operate and even if your own diy skills are not up to it, it should be a relatively easy matter to find a local contractor with loads of experience of fitting up and over garage doors.
As mentioned above, the operation of up and over garage doors is relatively simple. Vertical tracks are fitted to the sides of the garage door frame and the garage door itself slides up the tracks to form a canopy. This canopy is usally one third of the height of the door. However, some up and over doors will retract completely.
There are three materials commonly used for garage doors and up and over garage doors can be made from any of the three. The materials are timber, steel and GRP (Glass-Reinforced Polyester). The use of these materials depends on a number of factors such as budget, security, durability and appearance. As usual timber is considered the classic traditional look and is usually the most expensive. Also, timber requires a certain amount of TLC and so owners should be prepared for this. A wooden garage door well maintained looks great, but a un-maintained, warp, decaying door obviously looks terrible.
Steel doors over both strength and value for money. However, the most value can be found from GRP doors. Both steel and GRP garage doors are very durable. Also, both can be now be found in a wide range of finishes, so the gap between these types of doors and timber doors has closed in this respect.
Another important consideration for up and over doors is security. Without proper security measures these doors are relatively easy to penetrate. Therefore it is important that adequate locking mechanisms are used. There are specialist locks for these garage doors. Also, if the garage is attached to the house make sure that any adjoining doors are also secured.