How a sectional door works
A sectional door, which plenty of people call a panel lift door, is a run of rigid hinged panels. B&D NZ describes it moving straight up the opening and then back along the ceiling, guided by tracks and balanced by springs.
Because the panels travel up the opening and finish flat overhead, the door never swings out over the driveway. A car can sit close to it without being in the way.
Sectional door or roller door?
| Sectional door | Roller door | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it goes when open | Back along the ceiling on tracks | Rolled onto a drum above the opening |
| How wide | Up to 6.5 metres, B&D NZ says | Up to 3200mm for Dominator's Series A |
| Most it should take by hand | 20kg, in B&D NZ's care guide | 15kg, in B&D NZ's care guide |
| When to service it | In the first 12 months, then every 2 years | Every 12 months |
Materials, windows and insulation
B&D NZ says sectional doors are most often steel, though timber and other materials are possible, and that they can have windows. Dominator says powder coated options take its colour choice into the hundreds.
This is also the door the makers insulate. Insulated garage doors explains the graphite EPS panels Dominator and B&D NZ use, and what they add to a door's weight.
Ceiling space and headroom
Ceiling space is what a sectional door asks of you, since the panels end up lying flat overhead. Headroom and backspace vary with the door and the opener, so let the door specialist measure them. Dominator's Smart Pro, Smart and Secure openers list 57mm as their own minimum headroom, and the door itself may need more.
If the room above the opening is tight, compare the options on the roller door page, where Dominator's Flex-A-Door figures are set out.
Openers for a sectional door
Dominator's Select, Secure, Smart and Smart Pro and Merlin's Commander range are made for sectional doors. The openers page goes through weight limits and the power point.
Looking after a sectional door
- Wash it with clean water and a cloth, every 14 days by B&D NZ's guide, more often in salty air
- Clean inside the guide tracks with a cloth dampened with mineral turps or methylated spirits, and keep grease out of them
- Put a little all-purpose machine oil on the steel hinges every 3 to 6 months, as Dominator suggests
- Check how it runs every 6 months
- Book a service within the first 12 months, then every 2 years
Cables and springs stay with a door specialist
Sectional doors hang on springs and lifting cables that keep their load even with the door shut. Dominator says only its trained dealers should ever adjust them, and Garador says not to touch the drums or cables. If a cable frays or the door tilts to one side, stop using it.
What we would do
Before choosing a panel style, look up. Anything hanging in the path of the panels has to move before the door goes in, so mention lights, shelving or pipes on the garage ceiling when the door specialist calls.