Measuring for Side Hinged Doors

Steel Side Hinged Steel Garage doors are manufactured with a factory fitted steel or aluminium box section fixing sub frame, making the ordering, handling and on site installation super easy.

Our timber side hinged doors mostly have separate timber sub frame options but there are a few models also with steel sub frames fitted.

• Pre Fitted Steel or Aluminium Sub Frame Benefits:
• Easy installation with all major parts already factory fitted.
• Perfect alignment and tolerances already sorted.
• Better weathersealing when closed
• Better security and overall integrity
• Some models have a threshold to further enhance weathersealing​

Measuring for Hinged Garage Doors and Ordering Sizes

Almost without exception, all side hinged garage doors are installed INBETWEEN a garage structural opening. The Overall Width and Height, including the fixing sub frame, needs to have tolerance allowed for the fitting inbetween and this is usually 10-20mm on the width sizing and 5-10mm for the height sizing.

All side hinged doors supplied are manufactured to the exact millimetre so make sure you allow your own tolerances when ordering.

Measuring

Measure for the Width of your clear garage structural opening across the width in several places from the top to bottom. Measure the Height of your structural opening from the underside of the lintel to the floor in several places across the opening.
The smallest measurements taken will provide the basis for the dimensions for ordering your door with the fixing sub frame included. Check to make sure the opening is square.

Tolerances for Fitting

It is essential to allow tolerances for the fitting - Allow a minimum of 10mm - 20mm for the garage width and 5-10mm for the height and this then provides your ordering dimensions. The tolerances are ultimately up to you and might well depend on how square or smooth your garage structural opening is. You can also order smaller standard size doors and pack out the sides or infill above the head frame to make the smaller doors fit your larger opening.
 

Example: Your garage daylight opening measures 2400mm wide and 2150mm high in the tightest measurements. Take off 20mm on the width and 10mm on the height and your door with frame ordering sizes become 2380mm x 2140mm, allowing tolerance for installing and then finishing with a mastic seal between the frame and aperture.
 

MEASURING INFORMATION TABS

ALWAYS refer to the 'measuring tab' shown lower down in our online shop for any specific garage door brand or model before placing an order. This measuring tab will show you how the specific door is ordered and priced.

Purpose Made Ordering with Overall Dimensions as the Ordering Reference

Reusing an existing timber sub frame:
Take the smallest measurements as the ones to use. If there is a large difference in various places then it may be better to remove the frame and replace everything

Back to the top                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Note: If you have a garage opening size that does not seem to match any overall dimensions for a range of standard doors, then as long as you are happy with the smaller standard door sizes offered you can pack out the opening to secure the sub frame. It is almost like adding a further sub frame on top of the existing frame, with some limits of course in terms of visual appearance.

Measuring for Replacement Side Hinged Garage Doors
When measuring for a pair of replacement side hinged garage doors, ignore the existing sub frame for whatever door is already in place; we are only interested in the garage structural opening. However, if you are re-using the timber sub frame, focus on the internal frame sizes.

Reusing an existing timber sub frame:
Take the smallest measurements from multiple measurements as the ones to use. If there is a large difference in various places or the frame is out of square then it may be better to remove the frame and replace everything, starting from fresh.

Using Standard Size Doors
For example, you may measure a garage opening as 2290mm wide and 2250 high. Ordering a standard sized door (2134mm x 2134mm) with a 70mm sub frame will mean the overall dimensions will be 2274mm wide by 2204mm high. The resulting tolerance is 8mm on either side, and 46mm for the head. The width tolerance is OK, however the head tolerance will require an infill of some sort, although this is quite normal.

ALWAYS refer to the 'measuring tab' shown in our online shop for each garage door model when placing an order for a specific make or model of door. This will show you how the specific door is ordered and priced.

Back to the top

In our online shop you will see the first question to answer is always about the ordering sizes. For purpose made doors you will see ‘up to’ sizes offered and you choose the next size up for the width and the height to the sizes you want to order. For standard size doors you will see a list of the standard sizes offered with corresponding heights once a width is chosen

Exact Order Sizes
When you have chosen these ‘up to’ purpose made sizes the screen will refresh and you have 2 boxes to fill in for your ‘exact’ ordering sizes. You only need to fill these in if you are proceeding to ordering, otherwise you can go to the options for the door and select options to get a final online price.

Delivery
Delivery charges apply to most areas so this is shown at the end and based on your location by county. Some counties are a POA simply because we need more details on access and exact address postcode to verify whether we can deliver and the exact price.

Floor Levels
The floor level is the biggest single issue for many garage doors. Ideally the floor is level and the various thresholds that come with many side hinged doors sit neatly onto the level floor and provide greater weathersealing performance. If your garage floor isn't level it might be worth the investment to get a builder to sort the floor level before installing any new doors as this will give far greater performance and security overall. You also need to be aware of the ground levels directly in front of your garage. Make sure the ground does not rise up in front of the garage preventing the side hinged doors from opening fully.

Notes on Side Hinged Doors Fixing Frames
As modern side hinged garage doors are now mostly pre-fitted with either a steel or aluminium outer fixing sub frame for the very easiest installation and best overall performance, fit and weathersealing, the dimensions are always referring to the door and the frame combined.

The ‘traditional’ timber side hinged garage doors are usually fitted with a separate timber sub frame, which can of course be any size required to accommodate unusual opening sizes or shapes. A timber sub frame provides increased flexibility during the installation process, and is able to be adjusted and cut down to fit any existing stonework where a steel frame would require infilling. Timber frames can be ordered in a wide variety of sizes, making them more flexible to order than steel and aluminium frames.

Back to the top