What to know about sliding garage doors

Have you considered an alternative garage door style to add flare to your home? Read on for tips.

Have you considered an alternative garage door style to add flare to your home? Standard garage doors such as sectionals and canopy (up and over) open in an overhead manner, rising up and lowering down when opening and closing. Why not move away from that and try sliding garage doors?

This is a similar mechanism to that of traditional barn doors, where the doors hang from rollers that ride along a track or runners (twice the door width) at the top and bottom of the opening. Understanding that garage doors aren’t all about the visual appeal, sliding barn doors have their practical advantages as well. Here is a look at some of them.

• The simplicity of the structure allows for a variety of materials, either in steel, timber or even GRP (glass reinforced plastic).
• Sliding garage doors can be installed as one moving piece or doubled as a bi-parting arrangement.
• The door can fit to your garage opening internally or externally (depending on available wall space).
• One-piece doors are almost limitless when it comes to custom design, as generally there are no restrictions on thickness, weight or size of door panel used.
• The mechanism of sliding garage doors off increases space in your garage allowing for more versatility.
• The sliding function allows you to open the door as wide or thin as you want.
• The tracks or runners controlling the motion of opening and closing the doors are secure and durable.
• Supported on the top and bottom of each door, the size of the door can be considerably larger than most standard door types. Ideal for large openings and commercial applications.
• Sliding garage doors can also incorporate a sectional construction with vertical hinges enabling the door panels to hinge and bend around corners.

With advantages comes some disadvantages, here are few to consider about sliding garage doors.

• Doors hung in a manner such as barn doors can be quite heavy to operate, especially in sever weather conditions (either manually or with a remote).
• Due to its structure, sliding doors unfortunately are the least weather tight garage door option.
• Tracks or runners for the sliding doors need to be fixed on a levelled base. If the base is not levelled, that additional investment may need to be considered prior to installation of the sliding garaged doors.
• It's not the most cost-effective garage access option.

Replacing your standard garage doors for sliding doors can add a classic and rustic touch to your home. It's a style that will never fade and is practical, durable and reliable.