In The Field: Fascinating Facts About Construction And Contractors

Homeowners looking to invest in a garage door are forced to choose between three types of doors.  These are tilt doors, sectional garage doors and roller doors. The three types of doors have their good and bad attributes that make them suitable for different types of homeowners.

Roller doors are often the most affordable of the three. Perhaps this explains why they're often more commonly used than their tilt and sectional counterparts. Cost aside, here's what to expect if you choose a roller door over the other types of doors for your garage area.

Space And More Space 

Roller doors are space savers. True to their name, they're designed to open vertically and to fit into a relatively small space above the daylight opening of the garage. This eliminates the need to have tracks installed within the internal area of the roof as is often the case with sectional garage doors.

Also, the "roll-up" mechanism of these doors ensures that they can open and close without using up horizontal space within the garage or on the outside, which is characteristic of tilt garage doors.

This means that you can park your vehicles as close as possible to a roller door without interfering with its operation. If your garage is used primarily for storage (as opposed to parking vehicles), it means that you can stack up your belongings as close to the door as possible. This allows you to make maximum use of the available storage space within the garage.

Another advantage of the roll-up mechanism is that it eliminates the possibility of injury to anyone standing next to the door in the event that the door is opened/closed accidentally.

Less Customization

Despite the significant benefits discusses, roller garage doors may be disadvantageous in the sense that they offer less in terms of customization. Roller doors are often only made with panels that run horizontally, while tilt and sectional garage doors can have panels with horizontal or vertical lines.

However, the apparent style limitation for roller garage doors has no impact on their functionality.

Reduced Maintenance

Regular maintenance is a must for the efficient functioning of garage doors. Considering the busy nature of contemporary lifestyles, many homeowners find it difficult to make time for important activities such as garage door maintenance. As such, many prefer a low-maintenance option (seeing as there are no maintenance-free garage doors).

A roller garage door needs less maintenance than its sectional equivalent because it has fewer mobile parts (e.g. the lack of a tracking system) that are exposed to wear and tear.