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Up and Over Garage Doors
Up and over garage doors are a great door for any budget and are available in a wide range of designs, materials and colours. Create a style to suit your taste and property.
A guide to understanding up and over garage doors
Strong, secure and reliable
Up and over garage doors first started to appear around the same time that motor cars were becoming popular. Also known as ‘one piece’ or ‘single panel’ garage doors, their construction and mechanisms have been refined over the years, but they still operate and function in pretty much the same way. There is a good reason for this, and that is because they work very well. They offer high levels of security and are very reliable. The doors are manufactured using wood, steel or GRP. Available in a huge range of designs and colours with the options of having either a manual or electric operated door.
Types of up and over doors
Up and over doors are available in a variety of materials, including the most affordable steel. Wooden doors are also an option, often constructed from hardwood such as cedar. Another option is GRP (fiberglass), although it has become less common as a material for garage doors over the years. These doors come in three types of gear: canopy, retractable, and retractable plus. Electric operation is only available for retractable types.
Canopy or Retractable
Decide on the gear mechanism for your up and over door, whether it’s a fully tracked retractable system or a half tracked canopy system.
Electric
Make life easier with an electric up and over door to conveniently access your garage, available with optional extras such as keypads, push buttons and open/close functions with your smart phone.
Wooden
Wood or timber cedar up and over doors offer great levels of insulation and are available in huge range of colours, finishes and designs. The doors look great on any type of property but require more maintenance.
How does an up and over door work?
Up and over garage doors consist of a one-piece panel and are available in three gear versions; the different gear mechanisms change how the one-piece panel opens/closes and how it retracts inside your garage. The most common up and over garage door gear is the canopy version.
Canopy gear: uses a half-track system and partially retracts inside the garage close to the ceiling. Part of the door will protrude outside of the garage to form a canopy. It’s worth noting that canopy doors are not designed to have an electric motor installed.
Retractable gear: utilises a fully tracked system, enabling the door to fully retract inside the garage. Retractable gear is designed to be installed manually or electrically. You can also add an electric operator to the door at a later point.
Retractable plus gear: uses the same mechanism as the retractable, but the lifting arms are set higher to allow for extra drive-through width.
Read our dedicated article for more information; Up and Over Garage Doors Canopy and Retractable Door Gear
Benefits of a up and over garage door
In choosing an up and over garage door, you’ll be investing in some great benefits. Not only will your new door look the part, but it’ll offer security for your valuables, too. Best of all, up and over garage doors tend to be on the more affordable side of the scale, meaning they’re great for budget buyers. Here are a few more fantastic benefits to consider.
Little maintenance needed
Operated manually or electronically
Improves your home’s kerb appeal
Canopy or retractable versions available
Great for every budget
Up and over garage door brands
We carefully selected our brands and products to ensure quality, reliability, durability and security. That’s why we work with names like Hörmann and Garador – who both offer the classic up and over garage door style.
Designing your up and over door
Creating the perfect door for your home
Designs
Up and overs offer a wide range of designs to choose from, including modern, traditional, and cottage styles. You can match the door to almost any type of property, selecting from wide or small ribbed or the more classical Georgian styles.
Colour Options
When it comes to choosing a colour for your up and over garage door, you have a huge range to choose from. All doors come in white as standard, and each manufacturer offers a range of optional colours, including black, red, green, and blue. Ultimately, you can have any colour you want; the doors can be matched to any standard colour reference, such as a RAL or Farrow & Ball colour.
Finishes
Up and over doors are available in silky smooth or Decograin finishes (wood effect), such as Golden Oak and Rosewood. When looking at a wooden door, such as Cedar, you can have the door finished in anything you want.
Manual or Electric
As discussed earlier, when considering a manual door with no intention of ever upgrading to an electric up and over garage door, a canopy door is your best option. If you prefer an electric up and over garage door or would like to upgrade to electric in the future, the retractable up and over garage door is your best option.
Glazing Options
Glazing options are available in both canopy and retractable garage doors but are limited to certain designs in the steel range. If you’re interested in a glazed up and over garage door, please take a look at our brochures online or feel free to get in touch to discuss further.
Handle Options
All up and over garage doors come with a black handle as standard. Other handles, such as brushed steel, brass, brown, and aluminum white, are also available.
Optional Extras
Want to enhance your garage door experience? Optional extras such as wall push buttons, digital entry keypads, fingerprint scanners, and smart home apps are available.
Up & Over Brochures
Discover more technical information, styles, designs and door accessories through our sectional garage door brochures.
Raising Standards, Advancing Safety
We’re members of the Door & Hardware Federation and comply with the latest advice on safety and standards.
Useful Information
Everything you need to know
How long do up and over garage doors take to install?
Up and over garage doors generally take half a day to a full day to install, depending on the size of the door and any alterations that may or may not be needed for the door to be installed correctly.
How is my up and over door installed?
Fitting Behind the Opening:
When fitting behind, the frame of the door can be situated behind the opening, allowing the maximum width and height to be achieved. Ideally, the opening would measure the size of the door panel plus 10mm on each side for tolerance.
Fitting In-Between the Opening:
When fitting in-between, the size of the opening must measure the size of the door panel, plus the frame, plus 10mm tolerance on each side.
All doors are then finished off with sealant and matching PVC cladding if required.
Existing garage door frame
Canopy doors are available in either a 60mm or a 70mm steel frame. Retractable doors are only available with a 70mm frame. The frame head is 100mm for both canopy and retractable doors. The old frame will be replaced with the new steel frame, depending on the best frame and door gear for your garage.
Compatibility
Generally, up and over garage doors can be installed in any type of garage. If you don’t have space for tracks, the canopy garage door gear can be installed instead.
How do I access my garage with an up and over door?
All up and over garage doors are supplied with a black handle as standard, with a cylinder lock and a set of keys. If you have an electric up and over garage door, the cylinder lock will be connected to the emergency release and you will have remote controls to operate the door. The existing handle and lock cylinder is then connected to the emergency release to be used when the power has failed in the garage to allow access. For more information on how the manual release works view our article; ‘Manual and Automatic Operation of Operators‘
Do up and over garage doors offer protection against the weather?
All garage doors are designed to be vehicle access doors and are not intended to be watertight like front doors. Certain garage doors, such as sectional and roller doors, offer better prevention with seals than up and over garage doors, but you can purchase additional weather protection accessories, such as floor seals.
How secure are up and over garage doors?
Are up and over garage doors insulated?
Up and over garage doors do offer levels of insulation, although they are not the best doors on the market for insulation. They don’t come with weather prevention seals and the panels are not insulated with foam. If insulation is a priority, it’s worth considering a sectional or roller garage door, as the panels of the door are insulated with foam.
Are up and over doors safe?
Yes when installed and set up correctly, up and over doors are very safe, they incorporate an anti-fall safe mechanism, which means if in the event anything breaks on the garage door it will lock the door into position so it can’t move. The door then needs to be repaired and the anti-fall safe mechanism needs to be reset.
How do you maintain an up and over garage door?
If you want to keep your up and over garage door in good condition and make it last for a very long time, it would be a good idea to carry out a few simple tasks once a year.
Step 1 – Clean the outside of the garage door with a soft cloth and soapy water.
Step 2 – Inspect the tracks and clear any debris from the tracks so that the roller wheels can run freely up and down the tracks.
Step 3 – Lubricate the roller spindles in the tracks with a silicone based spray.
Step 4 – Check the cables and springs for any wear and tear.
The finish of the door is designed to last a very long time and keeping the door clean on the outside of the door will make it last longer. If you wish to paint your garage door, find a specific paint that’s designed to be applied on garage doors such as Hammerite garage door paint.
If you prefer you can always arrange a garage door service once a year with a reputable company.
Best brands for up and over garage doors?
We have been installing up and over doors for decades and have built strong relationships with the leading manufacturers. With our knowledge in the industry, we believe the best brands, from our experience, are Hormann, Garador, and Cedar.
What happens to my old up and over door?
We will remove your old up and over garage door and recycle the door at no extra cost.
Why buy an up and over door from ABi?
With our team of experts. We can measure, quote, supply and install your chosen up and over garage door, and with accreditations like Door & Hardware Federation membership, CERTASS certification and Which? Trusted Trader status, you couldn’t be in safer hands. Our engineers are trained in health and safety, including working at heights and asbestos awareness, and we’re led by a family run team that values customer service above all else. In other words, there’s no better choice for your up & over garage door.
Related products & useful information
Related products
+ Garage Doors
+ Roller Garage Doors
+ Sectional Garage Doors
+ Side Hinged Garage Doors
+ Side Sliding Garage Doors
+ Overlap Garage Doors
+ Aluminium Frame Garage Doors
+ Side Doors for Garage
Up and over garage door materials
+ Wan’t to learn more about steel doors and designs? View our dedicated steel up and over garage door section.
+ Learn more about wooden up and over garage doors on our dedicated page.
Gallery
+ Find inspiration for your next project through our up and over garage doors gallery.
Open for infill up and over doors
Open for infill garage doors consist of a galvanized steel frame and are available in canopy or retractable gear. They can be automated or manual. The advantage of an open for infill garage door is that you can use any type of timber boarding and clad its frame. This feature is particularly useful when trying to match an existing property with timber boarding.
Single width up and over garage doors
Design and create the perfect single width up and over garage door, choosing from a huge range of colours, designs, finishes and materials.
Up and over garage doors with windows
Adding windows to your up and over door will allow more light into the garage, especially useful if you are using your garage as a workshop or gym.
Single width up and over doors on a double width garage
Considering converting your existing double garage into two single garage doors? We can help. Take a look at some of the styles that can be achieved below:
Double width garage with double up and over garage doors
Are you searching for a new up and over garage door for your double width garage? Take a look at some examples below to see what can be achieved and how the door can look with different types of garages.
