Talk to me about garage doors!

[nonicknamemum]

Can anyone give me a rough idea how much we can expect to pay (labour and materials) to get a new garage door fitted and the old one taken away? Would like to get something as burglar resistant as we reasonably can without going completely OTT. Security more important than going for the cheapest option. Also, would welcome any advice on what features will make a garage door more secure. Thanks

We have a bog standard up and over door, Rolux I think. It was done in the last couple of years and was about £800 which I thought was a lot but apparently is about right?

We had an up and over single type in the last house which I seem to rememebr cost in the region of £600 but apparently they are not very secure.

In our new house we have installed a Teckentrup sectional door which is absolutely bombproof. It comes with two remote control keyrings, an operating switch inside the garage, courtesy light that comes on when it opens and a infrared beam that detects any small children who might be in it's path. It's fast and quiet.

It's a large double garage and we paid a bit more for the colour we chose - the total amount installed was £2,600.

They are expensive things, garage doors!

I think ours cost about £800. It's side by side doors as the garage is used as a shed rather than for a car and side by side was cheaper and more practical than an up and over.

They did a good job but didn't expect it to be so much, this was about 5 years ago too.

We have the sort that rolls up when zapped by a litle remote control device or by a button within the garage. It's called a Gliderol, 15 years old and never a problem. Very secure and it automatically stops if it senses a cat or child or similar as it closes. it was about £900, bound to be more now.

Thanks all for your replies.

Our neighbours replaced theirs about six months ago. Plain metal. Just under £1,000 with a lot of shopping around and haggling.

I'm surprised that posters are saying up-and-over doors are not secure - do you mean it's easy to pick the electronic lock? I can't imagine someone bashing in a metal door without lots of noise involved.

garage doors are very thin. You can lever them open, or give them a bump with a 4x4 to cave them in. If they have a handle with a cylinder lock you can break it off.

I added steel bolts to mine, going into the concrete floor and the lintel, that can only be opened from the inside.

There is a personal door at the back to the same standard as my front door, solid hardwood, panelled, thick stiles, 5-lever mortice lock

plus alarm sensors on both doors.

Somebody did try break in once. Failed.

hmm, could they do it quietly PJ? in my case the garages aer right under the windows of the couple of flats, including mine, they would have to be very quiet not to be alert anyone.
Do you actually have an alarm on the garage - and how expensive was it to install? what kind of alarm is best? in a way the worry is that alarm would point to the fact there might be smth valuable there.

it's the house alarm, there are extra sensors on the garage and back doors. Even when the alarm is not set, the alarm panel goes "bing-bong" when it is opened so I know if someone is getting at it while I'm at home.

In your case, if the garage is not integral to the house, you could get a wireless alarm like the Yale which has batteries and does not need mains power. If you can run cables to it you can use anything. You can put an extra siren in the garage if you like, the noise is quite disorientating inside, and will be noticable if the door is open. Sirens can be hidden on a high shelf out of sight where they are difficult to find and smash.

I couldn't open a garage door silently, but then I don't do it for a living. I could do it fairly quietly though, perhaps levering the hinged arms off at the side, or snapping the lock cylinder if it had one. If it was a metal door I could probably cut a car-sized hole in it with a sturdy pair of kitchen scissors (you can cut through a tin can, or a car door, like that) without much noise. I wouldn't need to open the entire door until my accomplice had started the engine. If I'd hooked a bunch of keys off the hall table through the letterbox it would be even easier and I'd probably have driven off before you'd even got your slippers on.

I understand that burglars used to clatter a dustbin when breaking glass to hide the noise. I suppose a revved engine or slammed car doors might work as well.

I am not a burglar.

Up and over metal doors are easy to break into, dh has, as part of his job broken in.... (think landlord type job not burglar!).

When we had ours installed a couple of years ago we went for a sectional door from garador on a remote control, there is not even a lock to pick externally.

The motorised remote did add significantly to the cost which iirc was about £1500-2000 (but our door was also non standard 10ft wide).but you can also get the door with a standard lock.

very amusing, PJ , I kind of knew you weren't a burglar (but a pillar of MN property section!)
Doris, on same note very funny 'part of my dh's job' haha.
I don't want to change the door as the vendors just installed the new up-and-over.
PJ - how much would a Yale alarm cost and to install it? I assume cables shouldn't be a problem to run?
It's scary that they can just cut through the door with kitchen scissors!

you can buy a Yale alarm for £100 - £300, depending on which model and where you buy it. Professional alarm installers sneer at them as they are a DIY product, but you can fit one yourself in a couple of hours. They are usually on special offer.

The best one is the 6400 package which has a control panel that can phone several numbers and plays a recorded message with your address, and whether you have a break-in, panic, fire or flood (subject to smoke or flood sensors being added at extra cost)

for example

or here

or here

this is the cheaper one without the panel

you can easily buy and add extra sensors and sirens. The matching fire and flood sensors are rather expensive. It is possible to DIY fit a wired system for about the same money, but more work. A professional installer would normally fit a wired system, an economical one if you want. A system to meet Police and Insurance standards would usually cost a thousand or two, and cost about £150 a year to maintain.

Interested in all the replies! Is a sectional door inherently more secure than an up and over?

does "sectional door" mean folding door? I believe they are sometimes forced by putting a spade between two sevtions, or under the doors to lever them out. I haven't tried it. If police stations still have Crime Prevention Officers, I expect they'd know. You can't rely on the salesmen, some of them try to give the impression that plastic doors and windows are more burglar-resistant than wooden ones; in fact they have to be festooned with multiple hooks and bolts to try to compensate for their innate weakness and flexibility.

I knew of two people who bought Rolls-Royces, and they both had brick-built garages with roller-shutter doors, like jewellers put over their shop windows. I presume somebody told them to, I don't know more.

A sectional door slides onto the ceiling of the garage.

So your 'up and over' door sticks out slightly proud of the garage when you open it. A roller door rolls up like a roller blind. A sectional door sits just below the ceiling when it's open.

As somebody else said, there's no lock to pick. They come in various thicknesses - we chose Teckentrup because it was so thick and solid. I banged my hand onto it in the showroom to 'test' it and almost broke my hand.

I guess there are ways and means of getting into just about any garage. Our garage leads into our utility room ut we have a mortice deadlock and burglar alarm sensor on that.

They are expensive but I do like the 'luxury' of not having to get out of the car and being to drive right into the house in bad weather - also because they don't stick out, you can drive right up to them when you park.

I am currently procuring Double Glazing and Garage Door.
For Garage doors stay away from the large international firms, go to Checkatrade on the net and fine a certified garage door installer in your area and get quotes. I have gone for a GARADOR steel sectional (not up and over type) door which is approx £1000 fitted one can adde electric operation for about £400. They are very secure and strong and if you get the premium quality they are fully insulated to keep the garage a little warmer. But look up Checkatrade com and see the comments left by those using various installers

We have a steel sectional door, the kind you can park really close to and still open the door as the bottom doesn't tip outwards as it goes up. Very strong, I actually backed into it when we first move into the house, and it's still going strong 20 years later. Unless you knew I'd hit it you'd not be able to even see the damage I did.
It has keyless entry control panel and an electronic opener in my car (I park inside) Side door is also steel door with dead bolt locks.

Sorry to slightly barge in here but I've another garage-related question! Does an integral garage have to have an internal door into the house or is the normal garage external door sufficient? TIA

Shameless bump! PigletJohn?!

Sometimes deciding estimate is difficult because different quality of garage doors are available. If you are having problem in your garage door and you want to replace or repair it, you should go for high quality and more secure door from previous. You need to pay high amount for labour and material only once, it will make your home or business location more secure for forever. For security you can incorporate some alarm and timer system to automatically switch on and off lights when you are not at home.

We wanted the roller type garage door, remote control with handsets. Needed to save space. Prices varied, a few companies over 3000 but we found an excellent door for 1900 -really pleased with it

An integral garage does not have to have a door into the house. Both are more secure if it doesn't.

If you break into a garage you are out of sight and probably have plenty of tools and time to force a communicating door.

If you break into a house you can probably pick up the car keys and load your booty into the car.

If you insist on using an advertising website, try to find out how much the traders pay to get listed, and see if it is easy, or indeed possible, to leave a negative review without it being removed.

Our integral garage has a roller shutter door operated by a battery powered fob. This feels very secure - they are not cheap I know. DP often works away and I am glad of this extra security - I don't think I would feel as safe with an up-and-over garage door.