Roll-UP Garage Doors, Any Experience?

[Dusty1]

Hey guys, I'm a conractor in Southern Ohio in the process of building a 30' X 65' shop. I need some commercial roll-up doors for this and have received some quotes, but I have no experience with the brands I'm dealing with, so I could use some of you're help.

I have been looking specifically at Porvene and Janus doors, both light commercial doors are 26 gauge steel and will be insulated. I'm getting 2 doors 16' wide X 12' tall, and 1 12' wide X 12' tall (no, I won't be running the rops into these babys).

So anyway, do you have roll-up doors? If so what brand? Would you recomend them? Thanks for you're help.

 

[timswi]

I don't have a commercial door. I have a 16x8 insulated Wayne Dalton door with an i-drive opener. Been on my 30x48 pole building for about 7 years. No problems at all. In fact, I installed theim on a couple of other garages around the neighborhood and everyone's happy. I'm not a garage door installer..Just a DIYer

 

[Dusty1]

Yeah, that's a sectional door, not a roll-up. Roll-ups are nice because there are no tracks overhead to run into, and the door dosen't cover up lights on the ceiling, plus they are less to service, not as many moving parts to wear out. I just installed an I-drive opener last week. It seems to be fine, but wayne dalton stopped making them because they were plagued with problems. I had to put that kind of opener in because clearance was an issue.

 

[timswi]

Yeah, that's a sectional door, not a roll-up. Roll-ups are nice because there are no tracks overhead to run into, and the door dosen't cover up lights on the ceiling, plus they are less to service, not as many moving parts to wear out. I just installed an I-drive opener last week. It seems to be fine, but wayne dalton stopped making them because they were plagued with problems. I had to put that kind of opener in because clearance was an issue.

When did they quit making the I-drive?...Just installed one a couple of months ago..There are around 6 in the neighborhood and not one has had a problem yet, me included.

I guess I took the rollup as a generic term..Sorry for throwing this off topic.

 

[danktx]

Dusty, I have 3 roll up doors on my building and I'm not completely happy with them. Two are 10' wide and 12' tall and one is 16' wide and 12' tall. I don't know their brand. One issue with the 16' wide door is it is fairly flimsy horizontally and rattles LOUDLY in its tracks if the wind is gusting, you can see the door bowing in or out 4 to 6 inches at mid-point depending on wind direction too.

My building has 14' eave heights with 12' doors so the drum the door winds around are mounted close to the top of my opening so when the doors are down a large gap exists at the top of the openings. To correct this the drum would need to be mounted several feet above the opening with the guides also extending some distance above the door opening. If you are looking to insulate well you might consider enclosing the doors in a box to stop air infiltration.

One of my worry's with all the doors but mainly the 16' wide door is security. If someone, were to push in the center of the roll up door, the edge of the door can be easily sucked out of their guide tracks allowing easy access to your building. The 10' wide doors are marginally stiffer but in either case way too easy to gain access.

 

[2458n]

Most sectional doors use metal struts to help support the door when it is overhead in the horizontal position. These struts help a door meet Floridas code for hurricanes. A garage door of any make or model provides little protection from a well placed truck bumper ! A previous job allowed me to purchase and compare garage doors of different manufactures. The end result allowed the company I worked for to reverse engineer some ideas into their products. The main thing is you usually get what you pay for. Good luck with a roll door as it is hard to replace a dented panel.

 

[eepete]

We have roll-up doors at our new fire substation and hate them. The small one (10 x 10) is maybee OK but the bigger ones (12 x 14) rattle a lot and have had problems with the doors chattering and getting stuck. The are also slow as molasses (of course when we use them, we're in a big hurry too :laughing.

When they were installed, the subs that came after that used the space where tracks would have been if we had sectional/panel doors. So to change them out, we have to move water, gas, and electric lines. So if you go the roll-up door route, be sure to leave the area ready to take a panel door without moving other stuff. If the doors you get aren't good, the price of going to a track panel door will be reasonable.

Pete

 

[timswi]

We have roll-up doors at our new fire substation and hate them. The small one (10 x 10) is maybee OK but the bigger ones (12 x 14) rattle a lot and have had problems with the doors chattering and getting stuck. The are also slow as molasses (of course when we use them, we're in a big hurry too :laughing.

When they were installed, the subs that came after that used the space where tracks would have been if we had sectional/panel doors. So to change them out, we have to move water, gas, and electric lines. So if you go the roll-up door route, be sure to leave the area ready to take a panel door without moving other stuff. If the doors you get aren't good, the price of going to a track panel door will be reasonable.

Pete

I've heard the same opinion of rollups. OK for limited use spaces but not in and out. When I was building my house, my storage building had one...Hated it.

 

[timswi]

FYI..It appears that Wayne Dalton sold out, or was bought out, to Overhead Garage Door..Bummer, a good "small" company gone. Their customer service and support was incredible in my experience. Now what?

 

[irvingj]

Ditto on the Wayne Daltons... had a garage built 6 years ago, had two 10-foot wide doors (std. 8' height) with I-drive installed. A little oil every now & then, but so far no problems. They get a fair amount of use, too.

 

[alchemysa]

I currently have 4 in various places and they are ideal for their uses. But for my separate garage I used sliding doors. Roller doors are either fully open or fully closed, and that can be a pain if you are walking in and out regularly or want to crack the door to let in a bit of light without letting in a gale. The beauty of sliders is that you can open them just a few feet if you want to. So if you are going with rollers make sure you also have a couple of conveniently placed access doors as well.

 

[Dusty1]

Wow guys, all you're info is extremely helpful, especially those of you who hate you're roll-up doors. I did some reaserch after you said they rattle and aren't very safe and that's exactly right.

Dank, I'm very glad you wrote in because you have the same size doors I was looking to get and you just saved me a very costly problem.

I was looking at getting roll-up doors, but after you're comments here I will be looking for sectionals. They are better insulated, quiter, and safer for the same money or less. I can deal with a bit of headroom loss. But thanks again for all you're comments. :thumbsup:

 

[Dusty1]

Alchemysa: yeah, sliders sound nice but they won't fit my application, not enough room to overlap, but maybe on the next building!

 

[SpringHollow]

My experience on a roll up door is different than everyone elses. It is a 12' x 12' door, maybe taller. It was moved after about 15 years to our new location. It never rattles and we can open or close it however much we want but it is manual, not electric. If they were not so expensive, i would have put one on my barn. BTW, this is a commercial grade door.

Ken

 

[EddieWalker]

I've had two roll up doors. My first one was 12 feet wide by ten feet tall. I don't remember who built it. I loved it and really enjoyed the ease of opening it and how little room it took up in the ceiling when opened. I didn't feel that I needed 12 foot width in my next shop, so I went with 10x10. That door is made my Mueller's, which is a metal building supplier in my area. It was around $500, but not insulated.

Pros are that it is very easy to open, easy to install, and easy to lock closed.

When the door is open, it's all rolled up. This is the biggest selling point for me. I use my shop to build stuff in and I want all the ceiling height that I can get. Not having a door over my head is great, and for that reason alone, it's why I would always buy a roll up door.

Cons are that it is not bug proof and not totally weather proof. I don't have any wind issues, but water was getting in under the door on heavy rains. I bought a rubber thingy that glues to the concrete from Amazon.com that solved that problem. Basically, it creates a lip that blocks the water from getting under the door. I"ve used them on sectional garage doors with good luck, and highly recomend them for any door that has water issues.

The bug issue is something that I just live with. They get in from around the tracks and seal, and it's just not worth the hassle or expense to put anything up there to keep them out.

Eddie

 

[eepete]

Looking at the replies, it's starting to look like there is a wide rang of quality in roll up doors. So it's not the concept in general but the design of a brand in particular.

The roll up doors in our fire substation were commercial grade, but it was a lowest bidder job so it's unlikely there were of premium quality. I thought all roll up doors were bad, looks like I'm wrong and there are some good ones out there.

Challenge tot he OP is to find a brand that works.

Pete

 

[buckeyefarmer]

FWIW, a friend of mine that used to work at the Wayne Dalton factory thought their metal doors were CARP, or some arrangement of those letters. But that was a few yrs ago. I also read of a lot of problems with the Idrive units. I looked at getting them, but didn't because of the problems.

While not rollup, I used commercial Clopay overhead doors on my barn, insulated with metal inside and out. So far I am happy with them, except 2 need the spring to be tightened. In the winter, the spring holds fine, in the summer, the door won't stay up.

I would have prefered rollup, because of the space issues, but am happy with the overheads.

 

[futuresweets10]

Didnt see it mentioned, but DONT get doors that are labeled for "mini storage". Mini storage doors are lower grade and only made to be opened and closed a few times a month. They are A LOT cheaper, but there's a reason for that.

 

[garagedoors1]

C.H.I. Overhead Doors can definitley meet the appearance and endurance needs of your project. They've been making doors since 1981 and were founded by an Amish man in Rural Central Illinois. They have a nationwide network of professional installation companies and C.H.I.'s quality and service are the best in the door industry. They are one of only a handful that make both sectional and rolling steel doors.

Most Door manufacturers make high end doors as well as economy doors. They can also have multiple levels of quality on the components that go into a door such as the type of insulation, Gauge of steel of the door, gauge of steel of the hardware and track etc. Be sure to look at the specs when when comparing different quotes.

This link shows a couple of industry opinions. Home Improvement Stuff What brand and model of garage doors do you have and how well does it function?


Also, C.H.I. Overhead Doors are American made by an American owned company. Not all companies are... Ask.

Good Luck.

 

[Phil King]

I'm looking for a 12 wide by 10 tall. I need to sell the 10' by 8' that's too small for my needs.
philwking@hotmail.com