What are the uses of Steel Roller Garage Doors?
In the UK, some of the first steel roller garage doors to appear were manufactured just as they are in Australia, and the early companies were in fact Australian operated. The simple principal was a large sheet of steel with roll formed lines (horizontal on the door) that rolled around a steel tube, with a round nylon spacer and a spring system attached to enable tension to be wound onto the steel shaft, assisting the opening and closing of the steel curtain.
The principal was simple and still is today for this type of roller garage door. The manufacturing cost is low and they are very easy to operate in most sizes as there is very little weight involved.
The majority of steel roller doors available in the UK are finished externally in either powdercoat paint finish or HP200 plastisol coated, both giving a tough surface and choice of colours.
The doors can be manual or electric at any of the sizes offered, from a narrow 1500mm wide up to 5000mm wide and a maximum of 3000mm high. Larger industrial specification doors are available where required.
Some of the drawbacks to consider however compared to roller shutters constructed from individual steel or aluminium slats are these:
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Generally large roll size so large headroom required.
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No real insulation value at all.
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Can show reasonably large gap between face of roll and back of lintel when closed as that is when the roll is at its smallest size.
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Can be a bit rattly in high winds.
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Forced entry resistance is limited unless upgraded guides are specified.
All this aside we still sell a fair few numbers of these roller doors each year as they offer fantastic value for money. We are quite happy to install these steel roller doors on sizes up to about 14 feet wide. Where you have plenty of headroom and security is not an issue they are in fact ideal, especially on double or triple garages with single openings.
Generally however if somebody requires electric remote control and the door is quite wide the insulated aluminium roller door is a better option and not that much more expensive.
Leading manufacturers of steel roller garage doors produced in one piece are Gliderol. We do offer steel roller garage doors produced from individual steel sections (laths) but these generally have a more industrial look about them and are used where visual appearance is not so important but security is.
See the steel roller garage doors in our product catalogue section.
