If you look for the oldest design garage door the side-hinged could be the number one. What could be simpler? Therefore first doors for bigger openings came as side-hinged. If we’ll try to derive the average size it will be about 7′ – 8′ wide and 6’6″ -7′ high. And it is quite normal for car garages built in the forties – sixties of XX century.
History
Since that time engineering has changed along with materials and technologies. But the good-old side-hinged garage doors are still on demand. New materials allow us to build doors up to 3 metres wide and 2.5 metre high without having major engineering challenges.
The cars have changed as well. Every new model is getting bigger than its predecessor, so some of them do not fit into old garages. Though new more reliable and convenient garage door designs were invented, some still prefer side-hinged garage doors rather than sectional ones. Even in new build houses, some customers prefer to have old-fashioned garage doors. Bigger cars mean bigger garage doors. So with every extra inch, we get an extra problem.
Market
Many old build workshops and storages need door replacement. Unfortunately due to building design, the only option is side-hinged doors which are usually bigger than our standard range. The biggest challenges are with industrial side-hinged doors where sizes could be mind-blowing.
Growing in size causes leaf weight and area to increase. Weight affects hinges and the leaf itself, and the area is affected by wind load. Consequently, to make the door safe and reliable to use, we have to change the primary design and reinforce critical units.
We can’t build a new door in the same way as it was done in the first half of the 20-eth century because environmental and safety requirements have changed dramatically since the time when the old door was installed.
Design
Each oversized door is designed individually. Hinge load is the main issue. Sometimes it is enough to increase the number of hinges, but for doors 4 metres wide and 10 metres high we have to use specially designed hinges. The big leaf works like a sail and the moderate wind can damage the door, vehicles, or hurt the people. We construct tubular steel welded frame which becomes supporting construction for the whole door. Ryterna designs door-stays and locks according to customer specifications and the door size. Above all, logistics problems must be sorted. When it comes to transportation, the 5×5 metres size door could cause a heavy headache. Therefore we design assembly-on-site doors to be transportable with a standard lorry and the skillful fitters’ team could install the door in one day.
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Our doors are built to serve, therefore we constantly improve and test our products. Unfortunately, we do not have footage with the door in action from the site, but you can see the leaf 3 metres wide and 6 metres high during the testing process.
