Automatic garage doors: features and subtleties of choice

Garage doors not only protect your car from intruders, but also are a kind of face at home. The gate must be not only “smart”, ergonomic, reliable, but also have an attractive appearance, combined with the exterior of the building.

“Smart” automatic gates for the garage are needed so that the owner doesn’t have to get out of the car once more, open and close sash, getting wet in the rain or being exposed to dank wind. It’s enough to get in the car and press the button on the remote control twice: the first time to open the gate and leave, and the second time to close.

Automatic garage doors have a number of special characteristics:

• automation depends on electricity.If there is no alternative power source (generator) in the house, then you will have to open the garage manually, so it is better to purchase models with a torsion spring that allows you to open the doors with your hands;
• save space in the garage;
• have increased sound, heat, waterproofing;

• rust resistant;
• easy to use;
• tamper resistant;
• The high cost of manufacturing and installing the gate requires a deliberate approach at the design stage. The garage should be built with a reserve for a possible change of the car, it is also necessary to consider the distance of 50 cm between the door leaf and the roof of the car body;

• long service life. For example, sectional doors will last at least 20 years, while only moving parts of the mechanism are subject to wear;
• the possibility of opening as with a stationary button, mounted in the wall of the garage from the inside, and remotely via the remote control, which is hung on a key ring;
• the inability to install and adjust the mechanism height independently. The installer must have experience.

Automatic garage doors are of several types:

• lifting and turning;
• sectional;
• rolletny type (rolling shutters).

Swing gates are less often equipped with an automatic control system, and departure options take up too much space. They are used only in car repair shops, as space allows them to be installed. Automatic swing gates look great if they are not installed in the garage, but are used as an entrance gate to the territory of a household.

Models of the first type are door leaf, which rotates in one plane - horizontal. The folding mechanism lifts the door leaf and leaves it open at a 90 degree angle.

Such models are suitable for garages with high ceilings, because it is necessary to leave a distance of at least 50 cm between the sash and the top of the car. The cost of this design is quite high.

Sectional doors are several metal strips connected by hinges. Basically, these models are made from sandwich panels, but homemade doors are also common. The design that allows the door leaf to move along the guides when opening and go to the ceiling is convenient. The door does not fold like blinds, but simply moves up and fixed parallel to the floor. When installing this type of gate, it is worth considering that the construction reduces the overall height of the garage.

Roller shutters are made of heat-insulated aluminum plates that securely interlock with each other. When opened, the individual plates are folded in an accordion or wound on a shaft, which is fixed on top of the doorway. A great option for those who do not have a garage with high ceilings.

Sliding gates open as compartment doorsaccordingly, there should be a space along the wall equal to the width of the sash with a margin of 20 cm. This is only convenient if there is a workshop or some other utility room in the garage.The size of the garage door is usually standard, but all large companies make the doors individually under the doorway of the customers.

If the garage has already installed the usual swing gates, then you can use the following types of automatic drives to open them:

• Underground. Complicated for self-assembly: the lower part is mounted in the ground, and the top is hinged at the base of the gate. The upper part periodically needs to be lubricated so as not to creak;

• Linear. High reliability from hacking. The design is mounted on the door weight not exceeding 3 tons from the inside. Sometimes requires lubrication. The work is given with the help of a remote control or a stationary switch;

• Lever. It is mounted both with external, and from the inside. Opening occurs due to the fact that the direct plunger transmits the force to the curved lever.

The advantage of these opening mechanisms is that they can be installed on the finished gate. The drawbacks lie in the need for free space in front of the garage, high windage of the sash (so they can swing open spontaneously), and to install an underground mechanism will require preparation of the pit, its concrete and waterproofing.

For sliding gates, a rack and pinion drive is used, which is a guide mounted on the front of the garage, a rail with teeth mounted on the gate, and a gear wheel located on the motor. Gear wheel moves the door to the side. Chains can be used instead of slats, but this mechanism is very noisy.

Lifting-swiveling mechanisms are equipped with rollers, guides, levers and springs. Guides are arranged vertically along the canvas parallel to the ceiling. Along them the tire of the electric drive is laid. This system is the most difficult for amateur installation. Sectional mechanisms have an electric drive and mandatory springs - a manual chain drive that allows you to open the gate without connecting to electricity.

The choice and installation of garage doors are due, first of all, to the construction of the garage, its height and free space in front of it.

Hormann and Doorhan rotary and sectional doors can be installed only in high rooms, and for swing and sliding models you need more space in front of the garage, otherwise there will be problems not only with the opening of the gate, but also check-in to the garage.

If you live in a warm climate, or your garage is well heated, then Austrian turning structures or Promatic-3 systems will be an excellent option. The instruction to the gate says that they cannot be used in harsh climates, as costly repairs may be required.

In the market of automatic gates for the garage, the leaders are three manufacturing companies: German Hormann, Belarusian Alutech and Russian Doorhan. The difference, first of all, lies in the cost of products. German samples will cost the buyer 800, Belarusian - 700, and Russian - 600 euros. In fact, the difference is not very significant, especially when you consider that the products are very different from each other in quality.

German and Belarusian manufacturers give a two-year warranty on their products, and the domestic brand - just 12 months. The basic number of sash openings and closings is 25,000 times, but Doorhan has released a model with a resource of 10,000 openings. Belarusian doors are perfect for industrial facilities, the assortment of Alutech has a gate with an opening resource of 100,000 times.

Despite the most severe winters in Russia, Doorhan does not offer thermal insulation for garage doors of the same level as Hormann and Alutech.The Russian manufacturer’s collection includes doors for southern regions with a thickness of 30 mm, although 45 mm thick is standard.

Judging by user feedback, the most popular gate is Alutech. Customers note the ease of installation, high quality of materials, excellent moisture resistance, increased noise and heat insulation, the mechanism can be installed independently.

Domestic Doorhan most users do not complain. Almost all claims are reduced to the fact that the gates freeze through, the shutters break before the warranty period expires, and the replacement has to be made after two months.

The installers also do not give good reviews about the products of the Russian manufacturer, referring to the fact that too much has to be brought to mind during the installation process: the components do not fit each other, and they have to be filed, the holes for the loops need to be cut out on their own, the springs are ringing, the rollers fly out, plastic parts break, guides do not match.

German Hormann have a rating of 4.5 out of 5. Consumers note the high quality of the product, the ability to order sash for individual sizes.Particular attention is paid to the function of restricting movement. It lies in the fact that the sash stops if the car is in the opening. So, this is an additional advantage for the safety of the car. Gate operation is absolutely silent, the springs are not subject to stretching, the system consumes very little electric power.

The largest scope for imagination is opened by the composite automatic gates. Their front part can be finished in any style: from standard “boards” to paneled doors in classic style.

Great combination of garage doors and the facade of the building. Both are made in one color, and the white finish of the doorway is in perfect harmony with the white stripes on the wall.

The brick and wood are well combined under the rustic, while the gate and the wall of the garage should be made in the same color scheme. Originality is the use of various textures.

Garage doors fit perfectly into the landscape design of the courtyard in the Japanese style. It is enough to decorate the doors so that they imitate the doors and walls in classic Japanese homes.

Adherents of an authentic design can decorate the gates in the manner of swing doors of a medieval castle, decorating the panels with “forged” hinges and “metal” trim.

Swing entry gates can be designed in any style, for example, by simulating real forged shutters, which are silently and smoothly operated with a linear actuator.

A great solution is the sash, which are equipped with windows. They provide additional coverage of the garage. In addition, the designer chose a combination of contrasting colors - burgundy and marsh. They perfectly emphasize the brightness of each other.

How to choose a garage automatic gate, see the tips of professionals below.