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Do you run a business? Choosing a commercial garage door for your business is one of the most important decisions you will make. It does not matter if you deal in storage, retail, or even agriculture. The vital thing is knowing that your assets are safe. Your selected garage door will affect the security of your business, as well as its aesthetics. It will protect your goods from break-ins, fire damage, and even unexpected weather.
There are several types of commercial garage doors to consider. One thing to also consider is the type of building the garage door will be used for. For instance, many commercial buildings open and close garage doors more than 50 times a day. A non-commercial garage door may not be able to handle the workload. This is why you should choose one that is made specifically for the purpose you intend for it.
You also need to consider durability, functionality as well as security. In some other cases, the curb appeal and a reasonable price are a part of the decision making process. There are so many kinds of commercial garage doors on the market. However, the most common ones are roll-up garage doors, sectional garage doors, security gates, and fire-rated garage doors. The door material is also as important as the color, finish, and other special options like insulation, windows, and hardware.
This article will highlight the four main commercial garage doors on the market used by industries and other businesses. We want you to know the best models that offer energy efficiency, increase business productivity, provide excellent temperature control, and enhance the overall working environment.
Types of commercial garage doors
- Roll-up garage doors
The name is pretty self-explanatory. Roll-up garage doors roll up into a coil when they are lifted. These roll-up doors have slats that are a lot thinner than other doors. This feature gives it maximum flexibility and makes it easier for the door to roll with ease. With roll-up doors, the door is attached to the garage’s wall, and the guides lead it until it reaches the destination. Where there is no space for rails like an open warehouse or doors to get in the way, roll-up doors come in handy. It is also a neater solution that offers the same result as other kinds of garage doors.
Roll-up garage doors are more common in commercial applications and are ideal for an area with space constraints. This no-frills design option is made with 2 inches to 3-inch steel slat sections, and they roll around a drum. They are also known as coiling doors and are developed to withstand heavy usage. High-performance units are often enclosed or built without springs to prevent corrosion, rust, and freezing. Since the roll-up model handles heavy-duty jobs, the upfront costs are considerably higher than some others. Roll-up commercial doors are quite secure when released because they are attached to the garage’s inner wall.
These sorts of doors are used as storefront security gates to provide security at night against burglars while offering a clear view of goods during the day.
- Fire-rated garage doors
The fire-rated garage doors operate like roll-up doors. They use motorized equipment to operate or can be lowered manually as well. The main difference between them is that fire-rated garage doors offer more protection than standard roll-up doors. The materials used in building this door is responsible for this extra protection. Most are constructed from a thick, noise resistant, durable, fire resistant stainless steel. It also offers excellent insulation. This type of door is flexible, and so it can be custom-built for different scenarios. It is often used for mills, warehouses, distribution centers as well as parking garages.
Fire-rated garage doors also have a special auto-closing feature that allows the door to shut automatically if a fire is detected on the premises. It helps reduce the spread of smoke and promotes workers’ safe escape if there is a fire.
- Security gates
Security gates are adopted widely by many businesses to protect their goods from intruders. It is also known as scissor gates because of how it works. The gate is usually made from steel and doesn’t open by rolling up. Instead, they move from left to right or right to left, just like a sliding door. Others are built to swing open and shut to save costs. When this type of commercial garage door is pulled closed, it locks just like any other door. As noted earlier, it is made from thick steel, and this makes it reliable. At the same time, it provides ventilation through the gate holes.
It is often used as a barrier, so many businesses use it as reinforcement or another layer of protection to a different kind of garage door. This type of garage door comes in two colors most of the time, either black or gray. However, a business owner can choose custom colors that are usually powder coated. Access to the store is restricted with security gates, and it allows for better airflow since the roll-up door is open.
- Sectional doors
Sectional doors are quite common in the United States. Many businesses and residential homes use this type of garage door. As the name implies, the panel of a sectional door is broken into sections, and it is held in place by hinges. These hinges allow the door panel to bend when it opens.
This type of garage door moves up a vertical track and reaches the top of the opening. At this stage, it starts to bend and runs parallel to the garage’s ceiling along the horizontal track. Sectional doors are built from galvanized steel panels, and this gives it internal insulation features to promote thermal insulation and noise reduction. It has a broad range of hardware, panel profiles, glazing, metal gauges, and track styles. They can help promote resistance to wind, rain, temperatures, dampness, or other harsh elements. When it comes to protection and security, sectional doors do not offer the level of security rolling doors provide. However, it allows for versatility and creativity when it comes to different functional benefits.
Additional commercial garage door features
- Insulated garage doors
Not all garage doors are insulated. When one is insulated, it increases energy efficiency and offers other benefits like increased durability and door strength and quieter operation. An insulated garage door prevents heat from leaving through the garage during winter. This reduces the amount of energy needed to heat the house. In the same vein, insulation prevents hot air from entering the house from the garage during warmer seasons. This will also reduce the cost required for cooling the home, and it can also make the garage more habitable.
Insulation has a significant impact on the comfort of the business center or residential house. The reason is that garages are linked to the other parts of the home or office. Effectiveness of insulation is measured in two ways, R-Value and U-Factor. The former represents the ability of the door to slow heat transmission. When the R-Value is higher, it translates to slower heat transmission. This could mean less cold air entering the garage during winter or heat seeping into the garage in the summer months.
U-Factor is not used as much as the former. Basically, it is a bunch of numbers seen on some garage doors. It represents heat flow through materials. This means that a lower U-Factor is better. However, it is not a general application across manufacturers.
- Material (steel, stainless steel, aluminum, glass, and fiberglass)
Garage doors are made with different materials such as glass, aluminum, steel, and fiberglass. Doors made with glass have glass panels that serve as an entry point for sunlight. Many businesses use glass panel doors such as car showrooms, boutiques, and other commercial buildings where the goods can be seen from outside. Breaking a single pane doesn’t compromise its durability because it contains several glass panels set in an aluminum frame.
Another type of material used in making garage doors is fiberglass. In the garage door market, fiberglass represents a small part as it is not as popular as the other materials mentioned here. Despite not being popular, fiberglass is an excellent alternative to regular steel doors. It is relatively light and is basically a steel door sealed in fiberglass coating. This coating ensures that the doors are strong enough and last longer than regular steel doors.
It has some advantages such as durability when it is compared with wood material since it resists warping. Also, it is resistant to moisture, insects and can withstand dents. Another advantage is malleability as it can mimic different types of materials. A business owner can choose to pick one that has the beauty and warmth of wood. It can be customized as well and work well in coastal regions. For the disadvantages, this type of door is a poor insulator. Also, it can fade due to extreme weather conditions and also deteriorates during cold seasons.
Aluminum is also used to make garage doors. This type of door is lightweight and still offers adequate protection. Aluminum doesn’t break apart but may be susceptible to dents. However, it can be repaired, and the dents can be popped out. One bonus aluminum offers is that it doesn’t rust like some other metals. The aesthetic beauty value remains unchanged over a long period. The price tag for aluminum doors is steeper when it comes with heavy-duty frames. Still, you can get cheaper options when the panels are made with other materials.
Steel is another common material used in making garage doors. It is used mostly for industrial garage doors that need a sturdy door for heavy operations. Some come with double layers of steel and may have insulation in between the layers. This material is quite popular in the United States for garage doors, and the reason is not far-fetched. It is reasonably priced, low maintenance, durable, and comes in so many different styles to fit businesses’ preferences. The steel garage doors are painted with a polyester paint that increases longevity and helps the gate retain its beauty. Also, steel comes in different textures, many of which can imitate wood. This makes it popular as wood grain finishing on garage doors are in high demand. Steel garage doors are versatile and allow businesses to have a stylish door without paying the price for real wooden garage doors.
- Custom garage doors
Most garage door shoppers gravitate towards materials like steel because of its popularity and safety. However, there are so many materials to explore, from aluminum to natural wood, to match the building’s décor, whether residential or commercial. Business owners prefer garage doors to match or complement the architecture as well as enhance the outward appearance. Sometimes, a single material may not give this result, and this is where custom garage doors come in.
In a commercial setting, a steel garage door may be ideal because of its durability. For aesthetics, glass material can be added to make it more appealing. Some business owners lean towards panes of clear glass, but there are other options such as glacier, frosted and seeded glass. In other instances, vinyl is used as the primary material for the door. Then it is backed by a double-sided, insulated steel frame to give it other features such as insulation and durability.
A custom garage door allows the owner to pick the materials, design, and mechanism to create a unique design that matches the home or business’s ambiance.
Do you need a commercial garage door?
Some people may wonder what benefits a commercial garage door offers that their counterparts do not. The answer is simple: a business’s needs are different from a residential building’s needs, and a commercial garage door is built for that purpose. The door can improve safety, productivity, and efficiency. Below are some reasons why you need a commercial garage door:
- Factories may require high-speed doors
So many businesses require high-speed doors to increase productivity. These doors are excellent for maintaining division in some parts of the facility and grant access when team members need it. In some other cases, a business may have sensitive areas that need protection or where the climate is harsh. High-speed doors can deliver quick raising and dropping functions. In warehouses where forklifts are used, such high-speed doors are needed as a safety measure to prevent accidents and also reduces the time team members have to wait for the door to open or close.
- Rolling doors do not waste space.
Commercial garage rolling doors provide a lot of space and clearance since it opens straight up. This is not the case for some doors, as they require a lot of room for closing and opening on adjacent sides. With rolling doors, there is no need for extra space during installation as it opens.
- Reliability and durability
Commercial garage doors are built from durable materials that ensure that it stands the test of time, primarily since it is used every day all day. The doors are built to withstand bumps, scraps, and pollution to remain strong over time with little maintenance.
- Commercial doors give you options
Businesses like restaurants can create transitional spaces such as outdoor patios with commercial doors. In some other cases, they can create enough space to accommodate large vehicles like a fire truck. It also allows them to choose from several color variations to meet the business’ needs.
- Fire resistance and insulation
Commercial buildings often require garage doors that offer fire resistance because some facilities may contain chemicals and boiler rooms at risk of fire. A fire rated garage door is a logical addition to protect the people, assets, and the facility. In most places, government regulation requires fire-rated doors to protect the company from liability concerns while ensuring that they adhere to the rules.
Do you need a commercial garage door? A qualified garage door company can show you the many options available for commercial garage doors.
Conclusion
Commercial garage doors are of many types, including roll-up garage doors, fire-rated garage doors, security gates, and sectional doors. The difference between most of them is their operation. For instance, roll-up doors roll up to open, and security gates are used to allow viewing of items while keeping intruders away. Fire-rated doors can be any of the three above but offer an extra level of protection if there is an outbreak of fire. On the other hand, sectional doors are broken into sections held by hinges.
The materials used to make the doors are also important in the decision-making process for selecting a commercial garage door. Some notable ones include steel, glass, aluminum, and fiberglass. Their pros and cons have been highlighted above to make this process easier.
Do you need a commercial garage door? Contact us today!
