The number one concern for homeowners looking to upgrade their existing garage door is the issue of security. Of course, aesthetics and price are also key considerations, but what good is a beautiful looking, affordable garage door if it isn't up to the job of protecting your vehicle and property?
In this long-form blog we're going to take a close look at one type of garage door in particular: side-hinged garage doors. Side-hinged garage doors are considered to be the most attractive form of garage door design, but the crucial question is, are they as secure as alternative designs on the market? And additionally, are side-hinged garage doors energy efficient? Please read on to find out!
Why are Side-Hinged Insulated Garage Doors becoming increasingly popular?
If you’ve not yet given side-hinged garage doors serious consideration as an upgrade for your property, here is a list of the main benefits they have to offer:
- Practicality - Side-hinged garage doors swing outwards horizontally in the same manner that a traditional door opens and closes. This is simply a much more intuitive way to operate a door and it allows users to leave the door ajar as they fetch something in their garage. A side hinged door is easier for the whole family to operate as it does not require the strength or height that’s needed to operate an up and over garage door properly.
- Save Space - With no clearance room required in the garage ceiling for winding mechanisms or tracks, side-hinged insulated doors allow you to store even more items in your garage and grant the space to house larger vehicles, or additional bikes.
- Low maintenance – manually operated side-hinged garage doors have no moving parts, other than their hinges, so there’s very little to go wrong. If you choose a model of side hinged door that’s been made from high quality wood, metal, or composite material, you can look forward to many years of hassle-free use from your new side hinged garage door.
- Customisation - With a side hinged insulated garage doors from a reputable manufacturer such as Hormann, you have a huge scope for selecting the hardware and finish that you want. Side-hinged garage doors are easy to adjust to match the height and width of a garage door opening, and you have additional options for locking mechanisms and security devices.
With the advantages listed here you can see why side-hinged garage doors have become an increasingly popular option for homeowners looking to give their property a significant facelift and security upgrade this year. With their traditional style, everyday practicality, and added functionality, side-hinged garage doors are a genuine upgrade for many homes, but we still have the question to answer; do these very obvious benefits come at the cost of security and / or energy efficiency?
Side-Hinged Insulated Garage Doors: Your Material Choices
The decision of material choice for your side-hinged garage door determines a great deal more than just the aesthetics. Choice of material has a bearing on the longevity of your doors, the level of security they provide, and the energy efficiency performance. Here's how the four most popular material choices compare to one another:
Timber Side-Hinged Garage Doors
- Add natural warmth and character to your home and garage.
- The option to pick the wood that suits your style and budget
- Unmatched natural beauty of timber
- Quick and hassle-free installation
Steel Side-Hinged Garage Doors
- The most robust choice for strength and security.
- Available with double-skinned insulation for added energy efficiency performance
- Low-maintenance option with an incredibly long lifespan
- Huge selection of styles, colours, and finishes to choose from
- Built tough to resist the elements and to look good for years to come
Aluminium Side-Hinged Garage Doors
- Lightweight, stylish, and incredibly versatile solution.
- Choose from single or double-leaf side hinged door panels
- A multitude of powder-coated paint options to choose from
- Multiple thermal break insulation options for added insulation
- Sleek, contemporary appearance with room for custom finishing options
- Effortless to use and affordable to buy
GRP (Glass Reinforced Plastic) Side-Hinged Garage Doors
- Low-maintenance and environmentally friendly.
- GRP doesn’t warp, shrink, or dent over time
- Budget-friendly choice that’s easy to clean
- Ideal for areas with high humidity and high rainfall
- Optional extra hardware
Side-Hinged Insulated Garage Doors: The Smarter Choice for a safer & more secure Home
When conducting a security review, home security specialists will often cite the garage door as the weakest link in home defence. All too often homeowners invest in high-security front doors, back doors and surveillance systems, and then forget to do anything to their ageing garage door. Where a garage is connected directly to a property, it is absolutely essential that criminals aren’t given easy access into the home via an insecure garage door.
Here’s where we get to the heart of the topic: the good news is that, from a security standpoint, side-hinged insulated garage doors offer more protection for your home than traditional up-and-over garage doors can.
Security Benefits of Side-Hinged Insulated Garage Doors
The first thing to mention here is that, by their very nature, side hinged insulated garage doors have fewer weaknesses than up and over, roller, and sectional doors because they aren’t situated on tracks and are instead firmly fixed into the frame of a garage with very strong recessed hinges. Recessed hinges can’t be accessed when the door is closed so there is no way to remove the door from its hinge without going through the door itself, and when the door is built as strongly and robustly as a good quality side hinged garage door, that’s an incredibly tough thing to do!
Even the most secure door can’t fully protect your home if it's poorly fitted. Misaligned tracks, sagging panels and poorly fitted hinges are all too easy for criminals to exploit. Once again, be sure to choose a garage door specialist to fit and service your garage door to ensure that your garage door doesn’t have vulnerabilities such as these.
Side-Hinged Garage Doors & Choosing the Correct Lock
Any type of garage door is only ever as secure as the weakest lock that’s fitted to it. With side-hinged insulated garage doors you have a huge amount of scope for choosing the locking mechanism that's right for you and your property. So then, what is the best type of lock for a side hinged garage door?
Multi-Point Locking Systems
Multi-point locks engage the door frame at several different points (most often at the top, the middle, and then again at their base). The practical implication of this type of locking mechanism means that when force is applied to the door, the impact is dispersed across the whole of the door, rather than levering one single point which is then far more likely to fail. Key benefits of multi-point locking systems:
- Resists entry by a criminal using a crowbar
- Highly resistant against the use of brute force
- Significantly reduces the ability for a garage door to flex, and therefore much more difficult to access hinges, etc
- Can be integrated with manual or automated systems
A note on double leafed garage doors:
For double-leaf, side-hinged garage doors, it is critically important to ensure that the "passive" side (the door that remains closed for most of the time) has drop bolts at both the top and bottom to anchor it into the frame and preferably into the garage floor itself.
For additional security you can install a reinforced astragal. This is essentially a strip that covers the opening vertically, protecting the area where both doors come together. This overlapping barrier shields both doors from being pried upon with bars and levers.
Reinforced Handle Locks
Traditional style handle lever locks can be upgraded using appropriate reinforced spindles and backplates. Such measures help to prevent the handle from being wrenched and twisted off their spindle. Highlights of making these upgrades include:
- Significantly reduce the vulnerability of standard door handles
- Easy to find compatible hardware to fit existing lock housings
- Result in a tamper-resistant mechanism
- Add internal deadbolts / shoot bolts for ultimate protection
Going one step further: upgrading to full Automation
You can make life even easier and choose a side-hinged garage door that opens at the push of a button—no more wrestling with heavy panels in the wind and rain. You can choose to automate just one, or both sides of your side-hinged door. You can even choose optional extras such as built-in windows for additional natural light.
Whether you're storing a large vehicle, building a home workshop, or looking to make your daily life that little bit easier, automated side-hinged garage doors open up new ways to use your home and garage. Automatic garage doors are a very desirable home upgrade, one will help to increase the value of your property and boost home security, so next time you’re away on holiday you won’t need to worry about how secure your old garage door is!
Be sure to always choose an expert when installing and servicing electronic side-hinged garage doors, even if you think you could probably do the job yourself. Choosing a garage door supplier that specialises in installing and upgrading garage doors guarantees that your door will be installed to the very highest standards, meaning it should last longer, be more secure and offer better performance.
Ready to Reinforce Your Garage?
If you’re considering upgrading your property with a fantastic new side-hinged garage door, the expert team at J.K Security Doors are on hand to help you find the perfect solution for your property and your budget. With J.K Security Doors you can get the best level of service on offer in the industry, without having to pay extra.
So, if you think now is the time to replace your old garage door and you’d like to talk to a specialist that can offer:
✔️ Innovative security solutions that really stop thieves in their tracks
✔️ Designs that give your home a fantastic facelift
✔️ Prices you can afford without making compromises with protection
You should speak to the friendly team at J.K Security Doors right now for honest advice and unmatched expertise.
Contact J.K Security Doors today for your free home security consultation session
