Garage Door Glossary of Terms
Here at Doormatic, we offer a vast array of garage doors and their associated products. When shopping for the perfect garage door, sometimes you may find yourself stumbling upon a word or phrase you’re unfamiliar with. To help you get to grips with garage door lingo, we’ve put together this handy glossary to key garage door terms.
ABS Garage Doors
Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, a plastic garage door material which can be chosen to match a house’s uPVC windows and doors.
Anodising
An oxide film coating applied to the surface of aluminium garage doors.
Astragal
Weatherstripping that is adhered to the bottom of a garage door to seal the gap between the door and the floor.
Bottom Bracket
The structural supports that can be found on both sides of the bottom section of the door, and which the lifting cables are attached to on sectional doors.
Bracket Mounted Track
Fastens vertical tracks to door jambs. This angle bracket is known as a Bracket Mounted Track.
Cable Drums
Placed on the torsion spring shaft. Cable drums allow the cable to be collected or dispensed in a tidy manner that prevents tangling or chafing.
Cable Safety Device
The cable safety device is designed to prevent the door from falling in the event of a cable break.
Extension Springs
The job of these springs is to offer a lifting force by stretching, and are mounted to each of the rear track hangers and then attached to a pulley to complete the mechanism.
Galvanising
A zinc coating applied to steel garage doors to prevent them from rusting over time.
GRP
Glassfibre Reinforced Plastics are made of plastic and fibres of glass that offer impressive strength, whilst still remaining lightweight. It is used in garage door construction.
Guide Rail
Rails which sit either side of a roller door frame to keep the door slats in a straight line for a secure close.
Jamb
Vertical framing for the garage door opening.
Rear Track Hangers
Provides the means to attach the horizontal track to the garage ceiling.
Rollers
The wheels that travel along the tracks to give motion to a garage door.
Sectional Garage Doors
Doors made from two or more ‘sections’ hinged together to provide effective covering of the entire opening. They usually open vertically.
Side-Hinged Garage Doors
Inside of opening upwards like conventional garage doors, this design opens outward like a pair of domestic double doors.
Top Seal
Weatherstripping located at the top of a garage door to protect the opening.
Torsion Shaft
Runs through the centre of the torsion spring, and is used to transfer the lifting force to the lifting cables and the cable drums.
Torsion Springs
Used to help raise and lower the door using their stored energy. They can either be manually wound or charged, before being mounted above the garage door opening. A shaft runs through the spring, which turns and moves the shaft to then raise or lower the door.
Track
Provides a path for the garage roller wheels. These vertical tracks are mounted onto the jambs (the framing) on both sides of the door openings.
Established for over 20 years, Doormatic have since earned themselves a reputation as premier garage door suppliers across Surrey and beyond. To find out more about what we can offer, simply get in touch with our friendly team today.
