Where a roller door earns its place
A roller door needs no room on the ceiling. The curtain winds up into a drum directly above the opening, so the whole roof space of the garage stays free for storage racks, a hoist or a low beam. That is why you see so many on carports and sheds.
There is a South Australian name in the trade, too. Gliderol, which says it has made garage doors since 1974, has its head office in Holden Hill and makes its roller doors from BlueScope steel in a wide range of Colorbond colours.
Two makers' size guides
| Steel-Line "A" series | B&D Series 1 Roll-A-Door | |
|---|---|---|
| Widest opening | 3430mm | 3150mm, including the curtain overlap |
| Headroom above the opening | 430mm to 510mm | 430mm to 470mm, by model and height |
| Larger doors | "AA" series to 5500mm wide | Series 2 and 3 need 515mm to 620mm of headroom |
What the table leaves out
Both makers treat these as guides, and the door specialist measures your opening before quoting. Side room matters too: Steel-Line asks for a little more space on the motor side once an opener is fitted, because the motor sits beside the roll.
Motors, and the day the state went dark
When storms knocked out transmission lines on 28 September 2016, about 850,000 South Australian customers lost power. A roller door motor without a battery is just a heavy lid on the garage until the power returns, unless someone in the house knows the manual release.
Battery backup varies by model. Of Merlin's roller door openers, only the SilentDrive Elite MR855MYQ lists it as compatible. Gliderol's Rollamatic GEN II sits inside the roll and suits residential doors up to 12 square metres, while Steel-Line says its own openers fit most popular brands of roller door.
Roller doors around Adelaide
Beach suburbs
Gliderol's seven year corrosion cover on the curtain does not apply within 800 metres of a high salt concentration. Ask how the warranty reads for your street before you pick a door.
The Hills
B&D says its BAL-Maze bushfire seal system is not offered on roller doors. On a block with a Bushfire Attack Level, the BAL assessment and your building surveyor set what the door must meet.
Power for a motor
A new power point beside the roll is electrical work. In SA a registered electrical worker does it and issues an electronic certificate of compliance.
What we would do
Before adding a motor to an older roller door, tell the door specialist how it behaves by hand today. Steel-Line says a door that is hard to open, rolls up loosely or will not stay up is out of balance, and the tension needs setting by a professional before a motor goes on.