What is the Ideal Garage Door Size?
The same query is raised several times every day - The ideal standard garage door sizes when planning and building a new garage?
The straightforward answer when there are no restrictions is probably about 8 feet (2438mm) wide for a single car garage and 16 feet (4877mm) wide for a double car garage with obviously more width once you are inside the actual garage. For so many years it has been 7 feet (1134mm) and 14 feet (4267mm) wide, and this simply is not wide enough for most modern cars and certainly does not usually give enough space internally to get in and out of your car with ease. The usual standard height specified will be about 7 feet (2134mm) but again in many cases now more height is required for higher 4 x 4 vehicles and the drive through height is almost never going to be the same as the ordering height for garage doors - so look out and be aware of this!! The trouble with answering this basic question about the ideal size is that it does so much depend on the garage door type preferred.
They all have different requirements for the actual structural opening required and it also depends on where the garage door and sub fixing frame is being fitted - Inbetween or on behind the structural opening. So many of the garage doors we provide now can be made to order at very little extra cost so a proper consultation with a garage door expert can ensure you do not have a totally unusable garage once constructed. Why should you compromise when most descent garage doors will tend to last well over 15-20 years, get it right the first time around!!
A roller shutter or sectional garage door is definitely one of the best door types when fitted to the inside face of any opening to maximise the width and height when open and is by far the easiest place to install the door and gear as well. They can fit inbetween the opening if required and will have to if you do not have a pier on both sides but always remember to take into account the side guides and track sizes as well as the headroom required for the specific manufacturer you may prefer. Most roller and sectional doors can be made to almost any size so unless you are on a tight budget don't worry too much about the standard sizes you may see for certain manufacturers.
For up and over garage doors the installation position won't make that much difference and is generally for visual or practical purposes so can fit inbetween or inside (behind) the opening, but of course the size for the opening will be quite different for either of the chosen positions. It is more difficult to get purpose made up and over garage doors in many of the preferred styles so take a little more care if you are going to fit an up and over door and make sure it is big enough when fully open for your vehicle(s).
Side hinged garage doors nearly always fit inbetween the structural opening so always cater for the door panels and and fixing frame overall sizing when ordering and specifying this type of garage door. There are standard sized side hinged doors but again it is not too difficult to get purpose made doors especially in timber, GRP and insulated double skinned steel models.
Round the corner garage doors (RTC Doors) will nearly always fit to the inside face of a garage opening as they have to curve around a corner internally, again, to maximise space and give the best possible seal when closed. This door is one of the most misunderstood of door types as most people think you lose a whole wall in your garage and they are perceived as expensive. The reality is you can build a false stud wall if required for the door to go behind and although some of the timber versions can indeed be expensive take a look at the steel and aluminium versions and on larger sizes these RTC doors will come into their own on the pricing compared to other garage door types, so, always worth having a look. All round the corner garage doors are purpose made in sizing so again find out the internal requirements first and then go for the size you really want all along.
With modern materials and construction methods as well as modern operating mechanisms it is very easy now to specify garage doors up to 8 metres wide and 3 metres high if required all using adapted commercial gearing for strength and safety. We are often supplying sectional and round the corner door at 6 - 7 metres wide as many customers are getting the point that if you have the space then why not make life easy for yourself and avoid any possibility of car door damage or personal injury through having to perform difficult movements to get in and out of your vehicle! Please make sure you are fully aware of your car width and height when thinking of a new build garage or even replacing an existing door as the construction and architectural world does seem to still be stuck several years out of date in many cases specifying garage door sizes for motor vehicles built in the 70's and 80's. They generally have got a lot wider, taller and longer since then!!
Door manufacturers may have larger doors available but the market still seems to steer people towards the smaller 7 feet and 14 feet wide doors, mainly it seems for an optimum price offering, however no matter how little you pay for your 'standard' garage door it really is of no use to you if you cannot get your car in and out or keep banging your head on it! For replacement garage doors where you are already struggling with the drive through sizes, if your existing door is fitted inbetween the structural opening then you may only have to consider the options of doors fitting behind the opening and install a larger width and height door.
We have been doing this for many years just for that very reason. We have tried in as many parts of our website (www.thegaragedoorcentre.co.uk) to explain the parameters and sizes of most of the garage doors available and how the mechanisms differ in their requirements but as we find most of the time the quickest and easiest way to get the information and details you require is to pick up the phone and speak to one of our sales team. Getting a garage built that you then find is not able to take your car is quite upsetting, we know, we see the people who do it fairly regularly!
Call us on (01933) 229135
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