Roller doors in Moruya
B&D describes a roller door as a metal curtain that rolls up like a carpet and sits directly above the opening, which keeps the garage ceiling free. Steel-Line balances its roller doors with helical springs and says they work by hand or with a motor.
The opening has to suit the door. For its Series 1 Roll-A-Door, B&D recommends 185mm of side room on each side and 430mm to 470mm of headroom, depending on the model and door height.
The springs stay with the door specialist. Steel-Line warns owners not to tension a roller door themselves, at risk of serious injury or death, and B&D writes its fitting steps for trade professionals, not homeowners.
Seals, embers and bush fire prone land
Moruya is one of the main centres in the RFS Far South Coast district and home to the Eurobodalla Fire Control Centre. The district averages 60 bushfires a year, with a season that generally runs from 1 September to 31 March, and the RFS says high intensity fires have burnt most of the Eurobodalla Shire.
On mapped land, NSW's Planning for Bush Fire Protection can change a building's style, materials or siting, and the home's Bushfire Attack Level sets what the garage door must meet. B&D offers its BAL-Maze sealing on Panelift sectional doors and says it is not available on roller doors.
Seals do much of the work. Gliderol says the BAL rating decides whether flame retardant seals may be needed, and Steel-Line suggests anyone near the coast or in a bushfire prone area checks a seal suits those conditions.
Motors and wiring in NSW
Legal Aid NSW puts garage doors outside home building work, so there is no licence for the door itself. A roller door motor can plug into a power point that is already in the garage, which is not electrical work in NSW. Where a new point or hard wiring is needed, the licensed electrician who does it lodges a Certificate of Compliance for Electrical Work.
Around Moruya
The river mouth
Two training walls keep the Moruya River estuary permanently open to the sea, the NSW Government says. Steel-Line sells a Coastal Upgrade Pack for doors within 1,500 metres of the ocean or any salt water, with marine grade tracks, a nylon brush seal and stainless steel cables.
Forest behind the houses
The same NSW page says 85% of the river's catchment is still forested, and the RFS notes coastal towns in the district growing into the bushland around them.
Winds to watch
The RFS names north west and west winds as the worry here, and says southerly changes after hot westerlies have caused trouble too.
Bush fire prone or not
Council maps bush fire prone land and the RFS Commissioner signs the map off. The property's Section 10.7 planning certificate should say whether your home is on it.
Worth knowing before you book
- Roller or sectional, and roughly how wide the opening is
- The Bushfire Attack Level on your building papers, if there is one
- How far the house sits from the river or the beach
- Whether the garage already has a power point near where a motor would go
What we would do
Put a hose-down of the door on the calendar every fortnight or so. B&D's Australian care sheet asks for a wash with clean water every 14 days, more often near salt water, and never on the opener itself, while Steel-Line's warranty leaves out damage from grime that was not washed off.