No matter how beautiful the old iron gate looks, it constantly makes an unpleasant creaking sound. Unfortunately, this is exactly what most people have. I want to get rid of them as soon as possible.
Today, industry does not stand still; Soviet gates have been replaced by modern, convenient gates. In addition to appearance, the gate must be functional and maintain heat well in the garage.
When choosing a gate, you must first of all pay attention to the locks and how well such a design will protect your car.
Swing gates
This is a reliable conservative option. Very easy to install, do not require large time and material costs. They consist of several iron flaps tightly attached to each other, suspended on hinges. The frame for them is made of steel angle. Often a doorway is cut out in one of the parts. A simple mechanism allows you to install the entire structure yourself.
Roller type
The canvas consists of horizontal slats of small width, which, when the gate is lifted, are wound onto a shaft, similar to roller blinds.
The shaft is enclosed in a protective box, which can be mounted both outside and inside the garage.
Their advantages are:
- light weight;
- wide price segment;
- space saving;
- Possibility of installation in an opening of any size;
- possibility of automation.
Disadvantages thermal insulation and resistance to burglary.
Summarizing the information, we can draw the following conclusions:
- If your goal is to save as much money as possible, choose swing or roller type gates;
- If you need decent thermal insulation - sectional; If space in front or to the side of the gate is limited, sliding or overhead gates are suitable;
- safety comes first , choose the lifting-guillotine type.
Recoil
They consist of several or one leaf; when opened, the gate moves to the side parallel to the fence or garage wall. Installed in large garages, hangars, at the entrance to the site.
Space is needed for free movement. The mechanism is complex, has many nuances, and installation of such gates will require the help of a specialist.
Lift gates
Single-leaf gates, when opened, rise up to the ceiling and become parallel to the floor. They move according to the hinge-lever type. They are considered compact and do not require much space to open them.
A good choice for a small garage, if it is heated, under unfavorable climatic conditions the mechanism can jam and become blocked.
Sectional garage doors
Sectional garage doors are very modern, easy to use, and can only be installed by professionals.
When opened, they move along the guides and ride up to the ceiling. They consist of refracting sections that move using a spring mechanism. They operate by chain transmission.
Tips for choosing
Before purchasing, think about what garage door sizes you need, as well as:
- Choose a type of canvas with a wicket installed, which will reduce the load on the engine.
- Make sure that the motor can automatically block the drive when it fails, so that the door does not accidentally fall.
- Look at how the sections were painted. Powder coating is the most durable.
- Take time to look at how panels are connected together in movable structures. This is where the main heat losses occur.
The most popular gate manufacturers are three companies that compete with each other - Hoermann (Germany), Doorhan (Russia) and Alutech (Belarus).
Each of them has their own positive sides, but they are the ones who care most about the quality of their own products. Their branches are in almost all major cities of Russia, and the choice is available to both the owner of a private home and a large enterprise.
Design and drawing creation
First, you need to decide on the size of the gate; it depends on the height and width of the garage and the car itself. A sketch showing the layout and dimensions of the garage is drawn on a sheet of paper using a pencil and a ruler. A comfortable space for entry is considered to be 2.5-3 m wide and up to 2.5 m high.
The distance from the frame to the perpendicular wall is ideally at least 80cm. Entry and exit must be unobstructed and safe for cars. There should be at least 30cm between the edge of the machine and the nearest wall.
Design process
To make metal swing gates, you will need to weld a metal frame, make sheathing sheets, install posts, hinges, locks, stops and latches. Required tools and materials:
- Bulgarian;
- welding machine;
- roulette;
- level;
- square;
- metal corner;
- iron sheets;
- steel strips;
- reinforcing rod;
- valve;
- profile (for example, 60x30 or 60x20);
- reinforced hinges;
- locks
After accurate measurements have been taken, frame production can begin. For garage doors, it includes an outer and inner frame.
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Manufacturing the mounting frame
- Prepare frame elements. Using a grinder, cut four pieces from a metal corner of a size corresponding to the height and width of the garage opening.
- Lay out the blanks on a flat space, in the form the finished frame should look like. Using a square, carefully measure the diagonals and adjust the angles to 90 degrees.
- Place the edges of the iron corners on top of each other and weld them together. This method is more durable compared to welding in one plane. Sand the seams with a grinder to ensure a tight fit of the gate to the frame.
- To prevent the steel corner from bending and the frame to remain rigid, scraps of metal should be welded into vertical “levers.”
Types of materials
Penoplex is a durable insulation for any surface.
How and how to sheathe garage doors from the inside or outside is decided taking into account the thermal insulation and other characteristics of the material. There is a large selection on the market.
Liquid penoizol
A type of sprayed heat insulator. When finished, it resembles standard fine-cell foam. It is applied from a pressure can. Like polyurethane foam, the material fills all joints and irregularities, eliminating the appearance of cold bridges. No smoke or toxic substances are emitted during operation.
Disadvantage: the material is flammable and is not suitable for thermal insulation of wooden doors.
Stone wool
It is made from rocks and is an array of short and long fibers that form a loose structure. This slab is quite rigid, it is easy to space it and does not require additional fastening. Plus - complete fire safety, minus - the material is afraid of water and needs waterproofing.
In the garage, stone wool is preferred over mineral wool because rodents do not like it.
Mineral wool
Mineral wool refers to an option made from slag. This material is very cheap, but is inferior to stone wool in strength, durability, and moisture resistance. It consists of shorter fibers, which makes it more fragile. Because of this, it gets wet faster and loses its thermal insulation properties.
Low price and high heat efficiency make mineral wool popular.
Compared to slab or sprayed heat insulators, mineral and basalt wool have a common disadvantage: the material cannot be mounted directly on the wall. You need to build a frame and place mats in the cells.
Extruded polystyrene foam
Polystyrene foam is the cheapest material for insulating a garage.
Compared to ordinary polystyrene, expanded polystyrene has a looser structure. During its manufacture, a foaming agent is added to the initial workpiece. The resulting air bubbles cannot escape from the polymer mass and form a finely porous structure.
Expanded polystyrene is produced in the form of slabs, fixed both to the surface of the sash and to the sheathing. It is light, not afraid of water, but highly flammable. If the gate or wicket is lined with polystyrene foam, it is necessary to install fire-resistant fittings here.
Covering sliding gates with sandwich panels
This is an option for ready-made insulated gates that only need to be installed. The fabric of the product is assembled from sandwich panels. The panel consists of a slab of polyurethane foam between two sheets of galvanized steel 0.45 mm thick. The top of the structure is primed and coated with polymer paint, which protects the steel from corrosion.
Such gates do not require additional insulation and waterproofing. The manufacturer provides at least 10 years of warranty.
Covering garage doors with plywood
In regions with a relatively warm climate, the interior finishing material can simultaneously serve as insulation and cladding. A great example is plywood. These are multilayer sheets of thin sections of wood glued together with waterproof glue. The material is durable, lightweight, looks great and has good thermal insulation properties.
Plywood is easy to cut, saw, and drill holes in it. The slabs can be adjusted to the size of the gate or wicket with high precision.
Frame
The frame should be slightly smaller in size than the gate frame; metal doors are attached to it, for which you can use a 60*20 mm rectangular profile or a steel corner.
From any suitable material, make four pieces 10-15mm smaller than the height of the frame. Thanks to this, the movement of the valves will not be difficult. If there are two leaves, cut four sections corresponding to the width of the gate, divided in half and reduced by 30-35mm.
On a flat surface, preferably inside the finished frame, check the right angles and weld the frame.
Rolled
Similar in design to sectional doors, but individual elements of rolling doors according to the standard must exceed 25 mm.
Profiled metal is quite strong and reliable, and has an optimal level of resistance to mechanical and physical damage, which ensures a long service life of such structures.
Installation
First, you need to attach the outer and inner parts of the frame to the slopes of the garage opening with metal pins. The ends of the pins are cut off, sanded with a grinder and painted over.
Using metal plates (jumpers) at a distance of 60 cm, the outer and inner frames are fastened together.
Finally, the doors are hung and the free movement of the gate is checked.
To prevent the gate from skewing and protect it from the harmful effects of wind and precipitation, vertical locks should be installed; they will ensure reliable fastening. It is also necessary to glue a seal to ensure maximum adherence of the sashes to the frame.
To protect the canvas from adverse conditions and destruction, the finished gates are primed and covered with several layers of oil paint.
Locks
To secure a garage, use padlocks, mortise locks, or use pin stoppers and deadbolts. The stopper is a part of the pipe into the cavity with which a metal rod is immersed. It should go through the loop welded to the gate and stick into the floor or ceiling. Basically, with the help of a stopper (lock), one gate leaf is closed, and an internal lock is cut into the other.
From the outside, it is advisable to strengthen the protection with a padlock, which is threaded into loops welded to the edges of the two doors.
Locks require timely careful maintenance and protection from weather conditions and corrosion.
Opening mechanisms
A tilt-up system is the most common type of garage door that opens into a single-vehicle room.
During lifting, the plate is moved by springs towards the ceiling, leaving free space on the side walls that can be used for shelves with accessories for temporary car repairs or crafts. In the center of this type of gate there is a place for the lock key, which activates the locking system - usually one-point or two-point.
Using a remote lock involves installing the drive in such a place that it lifts the metal gate upward.
Precise installation of a lift-and-turn door also involves adjusting its seals, which will prevent cold air from entering and warm air blowing out.
If the garage is not located in the building body and is not heated, you can choose a gate option without a layer of thermal insulation. Of the modern door types, only the tilt door requires free space between the garage and the vehicle in front of it - usually 1 m.
Insulation of garage doors
Polystyrene foam is often used to insulate garage doors. Sheets of insulating material are laid out on the internal doors of the frame and fixed with plywood or clapboard.
You can make a wooden sheathing, lay it with polystyrene foam PSB-S or mineral wool and seal it with facing slabs. The main thing is to fill all the air space well.
Additionally, you can install a plastic curtain or hang a tarp inside the garage.
After carrying out insulation work, do not forget about good ventilation.
Making gates takes approximately 2-3 days of work, and the result is unique sizes and a special design. Do-it-yourself work increases self-esteem and improves your mood.
Assembly Features
In addition to the gate itself, the frame is initially installed. To make it, you need to weld 3 metal long corners, and then mount them into the garage arch.
- Ideally, they should go slightly into the ground, this will increase the reliability of the structure.
- Next, you need to weld fasteners for the gate hinges onto this frame. This is done very simply; you need to have basic welding skills and all the necessary materials.
- After this, you need to weld the hinges on the sashes, then all that remains is cosmetic work and installing them in place.
- A barn padlock can be used as a closing mechanism.
- This is the simplest option, but it is recommended to place it not on the street, but inside the garage.
- To do this, a hole is made in the sash, like a peephole in the front door. It should be of such a diameter that your hand can fit through it freely.
- On the inside of the garage there is a closed lock, with its face facing the hole.
- In this simple way, you can avoid the possibility of the lock being hacked, achieving high reliability.
A more complex option would be to install a full-fledged door lock. To do this, a frame for attaching the lock is welded on the inside of one of the doors. Next, the lock is inserted inside and secured. Holes are cut on the other flap so that the mechanism closes.
When the entire structure is assembled, it will need to be sanded and the surface degreased for further painting. It is necessary to paint in several layers with moisture-resistant paint. It is much better than usual, it will last at least 2 full seasons.
