Garages are typically rooms in a residential or industrial building which are built with the express purpose for the storage of vehicles and other household items. In addition to storage spaces they are also frequently used by home owners as workshops or hobby rooms.
The doors on garages are typically very large in order to allow access of big vehicles into the building. The door is vital for security and protection against the elements, and the door can also be used to improve or align the aesthetics of the building. The practicality and the safety of the door are considerations.
Various kinds of garage doors exist, and these range from manually opened doors to electronic doors. The earliest kinds of doors were made up of two large panels which would swing outwards to allow entry, and at a later stage the upward swinging door was developed.
There are three basic types of garage doors:
- Single panel doors:
Single panel garage doors are made up of just one large panel, which uses rails to first slide upwards and then backwards overhead for the space to open adequately. These doors tend to use quite a wide arc of space outside of the garage, so care must be taken not to park vehicles to close to the closed door. - Sectional garage doors:
These are typically made up of up to eight panels which are placed horizontally. Each panel has its own connection to the rail tracks which make them slide up and back over. These do not swing outside of the garage while opening and allows the vehicle to park closer to the doors, and are this suited to smaller driveways. The panels can be created from many materials, but the most popular choices are wood, fiberglass, vinyl and steel. - Roller garage doors:
These are typically made of ribbed steel or fibreglass. The door frame contains a spring which is preloaded inside the machinery that makes the door roll upwards, which will lessen the effort needed to lift the door. Industrial roller doors are very heavy and do not have the coiled spring, so they need pullies or lifting mechanisms to open them.
