Steel Garage Doors
Steel is by far the most common material type used and sold for garage doors in the UK. It is strong and yet very maleable making it ideal for pressing various finishes into the surface and endless designs into the finished front face to create garage doors up to very large sizes. Being strong as a material also makes it very secure compared to other materials that do not have the resistance to a forced entry attempt, the worst material for example being Upvc, which in garage doors offers only a thin sheet of material easily cut through with a sharp knife to gain access to internal locking.
Of course there are many different grades and thickness of steel and it may not always be immediately obvious. Poor grade, thinner steel on pressed panelled doors will have a tendency to show creases and warped sections where the stresses of the machine pressing have stretched and distorted the steel panel. This can make a brand new door look like a second hand product before it is even fitted!
Steel Up & Over Garage Doors 
One piece steel up and over garage doors are best when the steel chassis the main panel is constructed from is made from a box section to give it rigidity at every angle. Lower quality C channel sections do not provide the strength and therefore do not provide security or a very long lifespan. Hormann, Garador and Novoferm use pretty much the same box section chassis system for all their steel up and over garage doors. The actual infill panel section for these three manufacturers is made from high quality steel offering a crisp, crease free panel in all the designs offered. The Hormann up and over garage door range from the German factory just has that edge in that all their doors are welded in the corners for ultimate rigidity.
The steel is galvanised for all 3 manufacturers and many of the components on the door are also galvanised or zinc plated and it is one of the reasons why the doors can carry a 10 year warranty without problems.
The up and over steel garage door is best when ordered and installed with a box section steel fixing sub frame, again for strength and security as opposed to a timber sub frame.
See the new 'Guardian' range of high security steel doors from Garador >
Steel Sectional Garage Doors 
Sectional garage doors are nearly all constructed from steel with options on single skin panel sections and variations on 20, 42 and 45mm thick double skinned, foam filled panels for strength, security and much larger size ranges. Again high quality galvanised steel sheeting is roll formed into different panel designs along with the top and bottom edges being formed into shapes ensuring excellent interlocking providing maximum sealing and strength when closed up. Sectional doors without these formed sections may not comply with anti finger trap requirements in the UK.
Hormann, Carteck, Garador are leading German manufacturers of sectional doors and Gliderol offer options helping odd sizes and colours fast from stock panels.
Double skinned panels can produce door widths up to 7500mm wide and 3000mm high using the same operating mechanism and if you want to go larger it is possible but only using industrial specification gear with limited panel designs.
Steel Roller Shutter Garage Doors 
Roller shutter garage doors constructed from steel tend to fall into only 2 categories - converted industrial roller doors or continuous curtain lightweight roller doors constructed from a sheet of galvanised steel with pressed ribbings to create strength laterally and give a pattern to the front of the door.
The industrial door route is best avoided unless your requirement is for a very large door indeed as the guides and motors are generally not suited for domestic garages. The continuous steel curtain option is a favoured option for a basic roller door type whether manual or electric operated. a large range of colours are available with the plastic coated front face of the door material.
All doors are made to order with some special offers on certain stock sizes which are very adaptable as the doors are nearly always installed on the inside face of the garage opening meaning you always have the potential to fit standard doors in non standard openings simply with a bigger overlap on the sides if the pier returns allow.
The Gliderol steel roller door is manufactured up to 5000mm wide and 3000mm high with bigger sizes available on the Series B industrial door range.
Steel Side Hinged Garage Doors 
Side hinged doors manufactured from steel are reasonably new as a mass produced garage door option and offer great value for door opening widths up to approximately 2500mm wide.
There are 50/50 split options and many 70/30 options for when a smaller door is required for constant pedestrian access. The beauty of steel is strength and unlike timber very little maintenance as the steel used is galvanised and then powdercoated inside and out in finished colours.
The Garador range offers 4 designs in standard and purpose made sizes and very shortly Garage Doors Online will have a range of double skinned insulated steel side hinged doors all made to order in a wide range of styles and colours offering a great solution for the garage mainly used for recreational or workshop type activities.
All of the steel side hinged doors have steel box section fixing sub frames to complete the package giving excellent tight factory tolerances between the panels and the frame and in most cases rubber seals make the closed doors very well sealed indeed from the elements. The only weak point tends to be the floor and there are many door mounted or floor fixed weather seals available nowadays to help combat out of level floors.
All the garage door types mentioned above also have steel hinges, tracks, roller components, handle components and steel cables involved in creating the complete door.
Steel is a very important material for the door industry even when the panels may be timber or GRP!!
Of course the other beauty of steel is it is actually fairly eco friendly being recyclable over and over again.
The uses of steel are also exhaustive and extensive. With recycling of steel, a practice that is commonly followed, its environmental impact is greatly reduced. It has been used for everything from making implements for agriculture, to building bridges, railway tracks, cars, engines and airplanes. In fact, you'd be hard pressed to go through a single day without coming across this extremely versatile metal. Steel properties enable its usage in a wide variety of ways that makes this metal all but indispensable to the human race. Over the years the production of steel has increased to its current levels of close to 1300 million tons a year. Whether it's a knife to cut a fruit, an electric razor, a hair pin, a door, or an entire building, there's a little bit of steel in everyone's life!
