There are 5 garage door operating mechanisms available and each type has its own characteristics and advantages.
The 5 available alternatives are: Side hinged Up and over Sectional Sliding and Roller This article will take a look at garage doors that use a traditional side hinged opening mechanism.
This mechanism is simple to use and has existed for centuries with applications for almost every door type.
How they work Most side hinged doors for garages work in pairs.
This is because the door requires an opening radius and two smaller doors result in a smaller radius than one larger door.
Most door pairs are of equal width, but this does not have to be the case.
Equally, most hinged doors are made from wood, but many other materials are available.
The advantages of a side hinged opening operation Forty years ago nearly all garage doors functioned in pairs that opened outwards.
There are good reasons for this and many of these reasons still hold true today.
Here are the advantages of this type of garage door.
1.
Side hinged doors are easy to open and close because their weight is carried by the hinge.
This means that a door in good working order requires almost no effort to open and close.
2.
Unlike almost every other kind of garage door, the side hinge allows one of the doors to be opened in isolation whilst the other remains closed.
This is ideal for human-only entry.
3.
This door format also allows a none equal split between the openers, e.
g.
a 70:30 divide, where one door (for human access) is smaller than the other.
This has the dual advantages of reducing the radius of opening when someone wants to get in and out of the garage and also keeping any vehicle within it more secure.
4.
Hinged doors have an attractive and traditional visual appeal and the fact that they are normally manufactured from wood makes them distinctive and eco friendly.
They can be finished with the grain of a wood, painted, or made from steel or upvc.
5.
This style of door is also the easiest to maintain and repair and, although timber panels may require painting or treating with a preservative, they can last a lifetime.
Broken or rusted hinges can be replaced and even damaged panels can be repaired or restored.
6.
Surprisingly, doors that work on hinges can easily be adapted to electric operation.
This is because there is very little weight to carry during the motorized transition.
The only situation where this is not the case is in high winds.
7.
This style of door also lends itself to many different locking and security measures making it one of the most theft resistant types of door available.