Glossary

Accoya

Is the brand name of a treated wood created via the acetylation wood modification process, using acetic anhydride. It is an expensive but very durable timber used in garage door design manufactured by Woodrite Doors. It is a timber offering the best and most durable, dimensionally stable, non-toxic solid material for outdoor use in the diverse British climate.

Active Leaf

The main opening leaf on a pair of side hinged doors, usually the first leaf to be opened and the one carrying the primary locking and latch.

Airtightness

A measure of how much air can leak through and around a closed garage door. Better airtightness generally improves weather protection, reduces draughts and can help improve thermal performance in attached garages.

Aluminium

A metal material which is commonly used in double skinned and insulated roller garage doors and some higher priced entrance doors. As a material it is ideal for the creation of exact shapes and super accurate curves without distortion.

Anti-Drop Device

A safety device used on vertically operating doors to help prevent the door leaf from falling uncontrollably if a cable, spring or lifting component fails.

Anti-Lift Device

An additional security feature designed to resist forced lifting of a garage door from the outside. Commonly used on roller doors and some sectional door locking systems.

Apron

The lower front section of some continuous curtain roller doors, helping the curtain bridge the threshold area and improve weather protection when the door is closed.

Backroom

The unobstructed internal depth required inside the garage for a door to open fully. This is especially important for sectional and up and over doors where tracks or the door panel project back into the garage.

Bi Secur

A Hormann term used to describe their security system used in electric garage, entrance door and gate operators. It is a 2 way coding encrypted system with an optional gateway system to enable operation via a smart phone and therefore anywhere in the world.

Bottom Bracket

A bracket fixed at the lower corners of a sectional or retractable door, usually providing the fixing point for lifting cables and sometimes incorporating safety hardware.

Bottom Seal

A flexible rubber or EPDM seal fitted to the bottom of a garage door to help seal against the floor, reducing draughts, dust, leaves and minor water ingress.

Bow Arm

A term used to describe an attachment and accessory used with a normal boom type electric garage door opener to convert the pulling forces into 2 places on the back of a canopy type garage door. The bow arm is shaped like a bow and fixes to the back of the door panel and has to be used to enable a garage door opener to work properly with most canopy doors. Some canopy doors will not work with an electric door opener even with a bow arm so check first before buying.

Cable

Usually the reference to the cable that lifts the garage door panel(s) as in a canopy up and over or sectional type garage door. The Overlap cantilever type garage door also uses cables for operation.

Cable Drum

A grooved drum fixed to a shaft which the lifting cables wind onto and off during operation. Commonly found on sectional doors using torsion spring systems.

Cable Safety Device

A mechanical safety component used to help arrest or lock the door if a lifting cable fails or goes slack unexpectedly.

Canopy

A term used for up and over garage doors describing the final and fully opened state of the door panel where a third of the door panel protrudes out from the sub frame forming a canopy. A canopy door is lifted from either side using a wheel in a channel guide with the lifting carried out by cables attached to a torsion spring situated above the door.

Car Port

A structure used for the protection of vehicles and usually constructed from aluminium or steel framework with a polycarbonate roof. Car ports normally do not require planning permission and can be erected quickly as concrete pads are normally all that is required for the leg supports. Car Ports are nearly always a lean to structure coming off the side of a building.

Carteck

The UK trading name for the Teckentrup brand of German manufactured doors. Manufacturers of high quality personnel doors, sectional garage doors, electric operators, side hinged doors and some specialist doors.

Casement Fix

A method of fitting a garage door and frame within the structural opening, with the frame visible from the outside face of the garage.

Cedar

A stable and lightweight timber species commonly used in the manufacturing of timber garage doors in the UK. Mainly used for its stability in moist climates and also its light weight enabling large doors to be produced either as traditional joinery made doors or with a steel sub frame structure where the cedar is used more as a cladding. It is also easy to stain almost any shade.

Centre Ribbed

Descriptive of a design in the Carteck GSW-40 sectional door range. This design is almost identical to the Hormann M Ribbed sectional door and has one single horizontal line in each of the sectional panels which match up with the dividing lines between each panel joint to create the effect of equally spaced lines as the door design. Available in a smooth, woodgrain or stucco external face finish.

CE Marking

A conformity mark indicating the product has been assessed against relevant European requirements for safety and performance.

Clearances

The necessary dimensions referred to for various doors to operate within. Clearances are needed to enable a panel or mechanism to move in open space during operation.

Closing Force Limitation

A safety function on electric garage door operators which limits the force applied during closing and helps stop or reverse the door if an obstacle is detected.

Compact

A smaller roll diameter for a roller garage door when smaller curtain slats are used to make the coiled up diameter tighter. A compact door will always be restricted in width and height but ideal when the maximum drive through height is required and there is little or no headroom.

Continuous Curtain

A reference to any roller type garage door where the roller curtain is a single sheet of single skin steel with a pattern formed in the curtain and the curtain is designed to roll around itself starting by going around a barrel with spacers. The continuous curtain is easy to handle and a great budget type roller door compared even to cheap and usually flimsy very small aluminium slats in budget aluminium roller doors.

Counterbalance

The spring, shaft and cable system used to offset the weight of a garage door so it can be opened and closed more easily by hand or by a smaller electric motor.

Curtain

A reference to the actual part of any roller door which forms the barrier. The curtain for most roller doors is either made of individual slats or a continuous sheet of steel. The strength of any roller door can mainly be determined by the depth and height of the slats used to form the curtain as well as the guides the curtain slides up and down in at the sides.

Dead-Locking Latch

A latch mechanism designed so the latch bolt cannot easily be forced back when locked, improving resistance to forced entry.

Dimensions

The measurements usually used for the structural opening discussion. The dimensions refer to the actual opening rather than the door which is usually referred to as sizes. Dimensions are normally used to determine the sizes for a door or framework.

Door Leaf Weight

The actual operating weight of the garage door panel or curtain. This is important when selecting the correct springs, balancing system and electric operator.

Double-Walled

A term used to describe door panels formed from two skins of steel or aluminium, usually with an insulated foam core between them for improved strength and thermal performance.

DuraPass

Brand name for a range of insulated and single skin steel hinged personnel doors manufactured by Garage Door Systems in N. Ireland. Standard and made to measure.

DuraRoll

Brand name for a range of steel single skin roller garage doors manufactured by Garage Door Systems in Northern Ireland.

Electric Operator

An electric motor for the opening and closing of a garage door. The boom type operator is the most common for doors which rise upwards, with a motor drive and a long section which has a carriage running up and down and attaches to the top of the garage door to pull and push the main door panel. Other types include rack and pinion drive motor systems for round the corner door systems and articulated arm types for hinged doors.

Emergency Release

A manual disengagement device on an electric garage door operator which allows the door to be disconnected from the motor and operated by hand during a power cut or fault.

Emergency Unlocking Cable

A cable arrangement used where there is no other entrance to the garage, allowing an electric door operator to be released from outside in the event of a power failure.

End Bearing Plate

A support bracket with a bearing fitted, used to support the torsion shaft at either end above a sectional garage door opening.

Endplate

Usually a steel plate used at either end of a roller door to house brackets and support sections to hold the roller barrel in place and form the closed end of a roller door with a full hood cover. The endplate is important as it takes most of the weight for a roller door when fully open.

ET500

A model name for a Hormann collective door. An up and over door designed for use mainly in car parks where high use is required. It is a one piece up and over door with very heavy duty operating mechanism and panel options including open vented steel mesh.

Extruded

A reference to the extruded aluminium sections in certain roller door slat sections. Extrusion is a process used to create objects of a fixed cross sectional profile. A material is pushed through a die of the desired cross section. The two main advantages of this process over other manufacturing processes are its ability to create very complex cross sections, and to work materials that are brittle because the material only encounters compressive and shear stresses. It also forms profiles of lath with an excellent surface finish.

Fascia

Usually a term to describe a board covering the end of rafters but in garage door terms a timber, UPVC, steel or aluminium board covering up a gap above a garage door frame head or covering the curtain roll of a roller garage door when the roll is situated underneath the lintel. The fascia is an essential finishing component to many garage door installations to provide a completed and sealed door and frame.

Finger-Trap Protection

A safety design feature used on sectional doors to reduce the risk of fingers being caught between moving panel joints during operation.

Fixing Lug

A metal tab or bracket used to secure a garage door frame to the surrounding masonry, timber or steel structure.

Foam Core

The insulating foam material between the inner and outer skins of a double skinned garage door panel, adding stiffness as well as thermal and acoustic benefits.

Frame Cover Profiles

A set of painted or foil coated steel profiles used to cloak and take up any under sizing or out of square gaps when a sectional door is installed in between an opening and also to ensure the frame legs are the same colour as the door colour. When fitting behind an opening if any part of the leg frame is likely to show these are to be ordered to cover the standard frame legs which are always white.

Galvanised Steel

Steel coated with zinc to help resist corrosion. It is commonly used for garage door panels, tracks, frames and hardware before painting or powder coating.

Garador

A long established manufacturer of up and over garage doors in Yeovil in Somerset. Originally Westland Engineers then Garador for many years the company was purchased by Hormann GmbH and now provides a wide range of garage doors - Up and Over, Sectional, Side Hinged, Roller, electric operators and pedestrian pass doors. The latest manufacturing machinery and powder coat plant enables most steel doors to be produced in house in the UK.

GaraRoll

An aluminium insulated roller garage door in either manual or electric operation. Made to measure and using a unique side spring balancing system to enable simpler motorisation and safety mechanisms.

Georgian

A description for many garage doors with square or oblong panels in the design, either up and over, sectional, round the corner or hinged door types can have this design option. Some doors have equal sized squares and some have unequal squares and oblongs.

Gliderol

An Australian origin company producing steel roller garage doors and also some lightweight industrial roller doors. UK manufacturing plant in County Durham for over 20 years now. Most recent product additions include a range of steel sectional doors and aluminium roller doors. The steel continuous sheet curtain roller door is their core product.

GRP - Glass Reinforced Polyester

A composite material usually referred to as fibreglass. Garage doors in up and over or side hinged panels are manufactured from this material. It is made from a durable plastic resin and glass fibre combined in a process to form a very strong final panel which is cured before being taken from a mould used to produce the design and finish for the door panel surface.

Guide Brush Seals

Brush strips fitted inside or alongside roller door guide channels to reduce rattling, draughts and dust ingress while helping guide the curtain smoothly.

Guide Rail

A term to describe the side channels for a roller garage door. A steel or aluminium section on either side of a roller door curtain holding and guiding the curtain up or down during operation and holding it in place laterally.

Gutter Angle

An angle or support profile sometimes used above a roller door to help support a hood, fascia or fixing arrangement where a gutter or external trim detail is involved.

Headroom

The amount of height available inside a garage and above the supporting lintel. References to headroom are normally associated with dimensions required for roller or sectional doors as these have variable headroom requirements.

High-Lift Track

A special track arrangement for sectional garage doors where the door rises vertically higher before turning into the horizontal position. Often used where extra internal height is available.

Hinge

A pivoting mechanical component joining door panels or leaves to each other or to a frame, allowing movement during opening and closing.

Hold-to-Run Control

A control method where the operator button must be held continuously for the garage door to move, often used where full automatic safety devices are not fitted.

Hormann

A major manufacturer of garage doors, electric operators, industrial and commercial doors worldwide. UK base in Coalville, Leicestershire with over 20 years assembling and manufacturing. One of the widest ranges for all types of garage doors. German owned and renowned for quality and innovation in safety and style.

Idigbo

A species of timber used for garage doors - plain, pale yellow to light brown coloured wood, sometimes relieved by a zonal figure originating in the growth rings, suggesting plain oak. The grain is straight to slightly irregular, and the texture is somewhat coarse and uneven. It is soft to medium hard and has excellent strength and durability. Offered in up and over and side hinged garage door mechanisms by Woodrite Doors.

Impact Protection

A general term for design features or safety systems intended to reduce damage or injury if a moving door comes into contact with a vehicle, object or person.

Inclined Tracks

A sectional door track arrangement where the horizontal tracks follow a roof slope or unusual internal ceiling line.

Insulated

In garage door terms, usually a double skinned, foam filled sandwich panel providing thermal and acoustic insulation and measured either as a panel specification or as a whole installed door up to a certain size. Insulated doors are becoming more popular for energy saving but also because they are stronger and generally more secure too, often with far larger weatherstrips all round preventing gaps and therefore dust and leaf ingress.

Joint Profile

The shape of the interlocking joint between sectional door panels, affecting weather sealing, rigidity and finger safety.

Laminated

An overlay onto the exterior of a door panel to enable trendy or woodgrain effect finishes. Laminated foil coatings on garage doors are very tough and durable and offer greater flexibility in the woodgrain effects and some metallic effects too, usually only offered on double skinned steel or aluminium panel sections.

Latching Point

An individual locking engagement point between a garage door leaf and its frame or mechanism. Doors with multiple latching points generally offer improved security and sealing.

Leaf

Term used to describe hinged door panels. You will have a hinged door leaf and also a reference to a slave or an active leaf, meaning the door panel usually opened first with the slave leaf being the one normally kept locked for the active leaf to close onto.

Light Band

A row or band of glazing inserted into a garage door design to allow daylight into the garage while maintaining security and privacy.

Lintel

A horizontal support of timber, concrete, stone or steel across the top of a door or window opening. Most garages will have a steel lintel these days and this can either be a box section type or an I beam which has a hollow inset front and back which can require filling in for certain garage door mechanisms to be able to fit to and be stable long term.

Lift Handle

A handle fitted to the inside or outside of a manually operated garage door to help lift or pull the door safely during operation.

Manual Override

A feature allowing a motorised garage door to be disconnected from the operator and moved by hand when required.

Marantec

German manufacturer of electric motors, access controls and electric operators for the door industry.

Microwave Sensor

A motion or presence detection device used on some powered door systems to trigger opening or add convenience and control functions.

Multi-Channel Handset

A remote control transmitter capable of operating more than one garage door, gate or other compatible device from separate buttons or channels.

Non-Projecting Door

A garage door type, such as sectional or roller, which opens vertically without swinging out over the driveway in front of the opening.

Novoferm

German manufacturer of various garage door types and electric operators.

Nylon Roller

A roller with a nylon wheel used on sectional door track systems to provide smoother, quieter operation than all-metal rollers.

Oak

A hardwood timber species used extensively in construction. The timber used for garage doors tends to be engineered oak as natural oak is usually too heavy and unstable in large sections such as in garage doors. It is a desirable timber due to its durability and attractive graining and colour.

Obstruction Detection

A general term for the safety systems on electric doors which detect an obstacle during travel and stop or reverse the door.

Opening Size

General reference to the dimensions in between the fixing sub frame for any type of garage door. The opening size quite often will not be the same as the actual drive through dimensions as parts of the mechanism or the door can restrict the final dimension when a door is fully open.

Operating Cycle

One complete opening and closing movement of a garage door. This term is often used to describe spring life and motor duty ratings.

Pedestrian Door

A single smaller hinged door, usually with its own fixing sub frame for persons to access a garage. Pedestrian door is sometimes called a pass door or even wicket door.

Personnel Door

As above, a smaller hinged door used for people to access a building.

Photocell

An optical safety sensor used with electric garage doors. It creates an invisible beam across the opening and if the beam is broken the door will stop or reverse.

Polycarbonate Glazing

A lightweight and impact resistant glazing material often used in vision panels or windows within garage doors.

Powder-Coated Finish

A durable painted finish applied as a dry powder and then cured in an oven. It provides strong surface protection and a consistent colour finish on steel and aluminium garage doors.

Quarter-Point Hinge

An additional hinge position sometimes used on larger side hinged door leaves to improve support, alignment and long term stability.

Reinforcement Profile

An additional steel or aluminium support section used within or behind a garage door panel to strengthen the panel or provide a secure fixing point for hardware.

Remote Control

A hand-held radio transmitter used to operate an electric garage door opener from a distance.

Retainer

A profile used to hold a bottom seal or weather strip in place on the lower edge of a garage door.

Retractable

A term used for up and over doors when the door panel is lifted by arms and springs either side and the panel slides into the garage on horizontal rails. The term fully retractable is also common to describe the fact the door retracts all the way into the garage opening. Retractable doors are better for heavier and larger width up and over doors or where an electric operator is required.

Roller Door

A door constructed from individual slat sections made from steel or aluminium which roll around a barrel which is either spring loaded or motor driven. Some roller doors are manufactured from a continuous steel sheet and roll around a drum profile usually a bit larger than the individual slat type method. The roller door opens vertically and is usually purpose made to order.

Rolling Code

A radio security system for remote controls where the transmission code changes each time the handset is used, helping prevent signal copying.

Round the Corner

A type of garage door description where the door slides horizontally across the garage opening and then turns to go around the internal corner of the garage and along the internal side wall. A door type which is great for larger openings or where a door which swings out is not appropriate such as in a mews type development.

Rundum Meir

A German manufacturer of round the corner garage doors in timber, steel and aluminium as well as sectional type overhead doors. Bespoke sizes and styles.

Safety Edge

A leading edge on the bottom of any remote control electric roller type door where the safety edge is used to detect any obstacle by various methods to stop the roller door immediately and reverse. The safety edge is a legal requirement on any remote control roller garage door in the UK now with all other safety devices optional extras in addition to the safety edge detection system.

Safety Photocell

A photocell specifically installed as a safety device to detect people, pets or objects in the path of a closing electric garage door.

Sand Grain

A type of external finish on a Hormann LPU40 sectional garage door with a rough textured surface finish similar to an eggshell.

Seceuroglide

A UK leading brand of high quality aluminium electric and manual roller garage doors. One of the first aluminium roller garage door types produced in the UK over 20 years ago and all elements always based on security as the manufacturer is also a leading manufacturer of security roller shutters in the UK.

Sectional Door

A door which is made up of individual sections and rises vertically in tracks to then curve and slide into the garage horizontally. Sometimes called a sectional overhead door these are becoming far more popular in the UK since 2010 and taking over from up and over doors as they offer far greater insulation, sealing and security over a basic up and over door.

Seip

A German manufacturer of electric garage door operators and accessories.

Side Hinged

A term used to describe traditional swing type garage doors where as the name suggests the door panels are hinged from the sides to open outwards or inwards in rare cases. Side hinged doors are available in almost any material for garage doors.

Side Room

The clear space required on either side of a garage opening to allow for frame legs, guide channels, tracks or other operating hardware.

Soft Start / Soft Stop

A motor control feature which starts and stops the garage door gradually to reduce noise, improve smoothness and minimise stress on the mechanism.

Solid

A term used by Carteck to describe their totally plain finished insulated sectional garage door in the GSW-40 range. The individual sectional panels have a totally smooth finish to the front face and the only design in the door comes from the dividing joins between each panel horizontally.

Somfy

A French manufacturing company for electric tube motors used in roller shutter doors of all types, security shutters and rolling blinds. One of the largest in the world.

Spring Break Device

A safety mechanism designed to stop or hold the door if a spring fails, helping prevent uncontrolled movement.

Standard Ribbed

A term used by Carteck to describe their GSW-40 sectional door design where there are 3 equally spaced horizontal lines in each of the sectional panels which look the same as the dividing line between each panel. The overall effect on a standard door height is usually about 15-16 horizontal lines. Surface finish options include smooth, woodgrain, micrograin and stucco. The Hormann equivalent is an S Ribbed LPU 40 design or a Linear Small in the Garador range.

Steel

Material most commonly used for up and over and sectional garage doors as well as modern entrance doors and side hinged doors too. It is strong, malleable and relatively inexpensive but does vary in quality considerably as well as thickness when used in steel panels so you will only get what you pay for with a steel door of any kind.

Stile

A vertical framing member within a door leaf or panel to which hinges, locks, handles or reinforcement may be fixed.

Sub Frame

A description generally used for the goalpost type surrounding frame for an up and over, side hinged or personnel door which can be in timber, aluminium or steel box section. A sub frame is essential to make the installation of the door to the structural opening and carry all the mechanism, weather seals and locking points. Sub frame dimensions can vary in size a lot so always check the size as it is often an additional dimension to the ordering sizes for the doors, but sometimes will be included depending upon the manufacturer and door type.

Thermal Break

An insulating barrier between inner and outer metal surfaces used to reduce heat transfer and help minimise condensation.

ThermoFrame

A Hormann optional extra for the insulated sectional door range providing better insulation values when fitted. It is a sealing system to fit between the fixing frame and the structural opening material with a double lip seal around the sides and head section.

ThermoPro

A range of high quality steel front entrance doors from Hormann. These doors are highly insulated, sealed and secure compared to many other doors in the price bracket and are fully assembled before delivery in the same factory. No lock assembly on site or sub frame assembly, the entire door, frame and furniture is factory assembled and tested.

ThermoPro Plus is an even further enhanced version of this door with a 65mm thick main door panel and excellent U-values offered.

Threshold

The floor area directly beneath the closed garage door, sometimes enhanced with a threshold strip or seal to improve weather resistance.

Timer Function

A feature on some electric operators allowing the door to close automatically after a pre-set period.

Torsion Shaft

The steel shaft mounted above a garage opening carrying the torsion springs and cable drums on many sectional and retractable door systems.

Track Radius

The curved section between the vertical and horizontal tracks on a sectional door, affecting how the door transitions when opening.

U-Value

A measure of thermal transmittance through a garage door. Lower U-values indicate better insulation performance.

UKCA Marking

A conformity marking used for products placed on the market in Great Britain, showing compliance with applicable UK regulations.

Unbalanced Door

A garage door whose spring or counterbalance system is incorrectly adjusted, making it too heavy or too light to operate safely.

Ventilation Grille

A fixed or adjustable vent fitted into a garage door or frame to allow airflow into the garage while the door remains closed.

Vision Panel

A glazed window or panel incorporated into a garage door design to provide natural light and sometimes outward visibility.

Wall-Mounted Control

A fixed push button, switch or control station fitted inside the garage for operating an electric garage door.

Weather Strip

A general term for the flexible seals fitted around the perimeter or bottom of a garage door to reduce draughts, dust and water ingress.

Wessex

One of the last manufacturers in the UK for GRP garage doors. Based in Verwood the doors are manufactured using traditional methods to offer a made to measure range of side hinged and up and over doors in wood effect or smooth finish designs with guaranteed resistance to rotting and degradation.

Wind Load

The force exerted by wind pressure on a closed garage door. Higher specification doors may be tested and rated for different wind load classes.

Woodrite

UK manufacturer of high quality timber garage doors in up and over or side hinged models. Doors are offered in either a traditional joinery made style or in a steel box section chassis style which offers greater resistance to warping and better security for the perimeter and enables the use of box section steel sub frame for easier fixing and better weather sealing. Woodrite offer various timber species for their doors - Cedar, Oak, Idigbo, Accoya and other specialist timber on request in standard and made to measure sizes.

24V Operator

A low voltage DC electric garage door operator often chosen for quieter running, smoother control and easier integration with modern safety accessories.