Lifting gates: how to do it yourself

The convenience of a garage for a car is determined not least by its entrance gate, which should ensure the safety of the car and close easily and securely. Nowadays, you can order or make yourself several options for automatic designs. Next will be considered how to make a lifting gate for the garage with your own hands.

Unlike swing constructions, which in most cases have 2 flaps that swing open to the outside, the overhead doors have sections or shutters rising upwards. The principle of operation is different depending on the type - sectional, swivel or roller. The design itself, which includes various elements: a box, guides, rollers, a lifting mechanism, is much more complicated than that of a simple swing gate.

Having a finished garage with a rectangular entrance opening, you can easily build a lifting gate with your own hands. For installation, you will need a standard set of construction tools, materials for sashes, guides and housing. It is enough to arm yourself with patience and turn on a little ingenuity, so that in just a few days, slowly, build a reliable and convenient construction of such gates for the garage.

Before you decide to build a garage door with a lifting mechanism, it is necessary to weigh all their pros and cons.

Skilled craftsmen note the following advantages of such systems:

• Save free space. Unlike swing gates, which need external space for open doors, elevating use the space inside under the ceiling.
• It is much more convenient to use them, especially if they are equipped with a lifting mechanism, then no physical effort is needed at all.
• Overhead doors and sectional doors reliably protect the garage from breaking.

• For such designs, you can use different types of finishes and decor.
• Lifting gates can be used for single and double garages.
• Folds open and close silently.

It is worth paying attention to the drawbacks of the lifting gate:

• The main disadvantage is the complexity of the design and installation. If the installation is completely ordered by specialists, it will be expensive. If you do the installation yourself, then you need to carefully study the drawings, fasten all the elements carefully, under the level, because even a small error can lead to the fact that the whole mechanism will be inoperative.

• Fully open gates take the free space on top of the opening and inside the garage under the ceiling.
• The mechanisms of such gates are designed for a certain load, so the sash and the case can not be overloaded, for example, during insulation.
• Lifting gates are installed only in a rectangular garage opening.

The three most common types of improvised lifting structures are:

• lifting and turning or paneling:
• sectional;
• roller shutter.

Tilt and turn gates for the garage are the most protected from burglary thanks to the one-piece sash design. When opened, it rises, turning 90 degrees and taking a horizontal position. Their mechanism can be lever-hinged or counterbalanced. The first view of the levers represents the simplest designs that ensure the smooth and unimpeded movement of the sash to a horizontal position.

Tilt-up structures consist of a frame (usually metal), guides along which the frame moves, a spring mechanism or a counterweight with a winch. The lift can be hand held using the handle on the bottom of the case. This is done easily thanks to the tensioned springs of the integrated mechanism. It is possible to improve this mechanism by connecting the electric drive, then raising-lowering the sash occurs by simply pressing a button.

The sash of the overhead sectional door is assembled from several panels up to 50 cm wide, which are interconnected by hinges.When raised, these panels (also called lamellae) move along guides on rollers. The movement provides a spring mechanism, drums and cables. This design resembles a sandwich panels used in construction.

The mechanism of roller gates for the garage is the same as that of the shutters of roller shutters in shopping centers. Their folding lamellae are narrower than those of the lifting-sectional types; when opened, they rise and twist into a special box of a small width. Therefore, this type has a clear advantage - saving space in the garage. There is no need to mount long rails under the ceiling.

The materials for the frame, the box and the guide rail of the overhead gate are usually metallic, but it is best to choose stainless steel. The box can be made of thick wooden beams or metal corners. Solid sash of similar design can be made in the form of a web of boards in a metal frame. Outside, they are often sheathed with sheet metal.

The box is covered with an anti-corrosion primer, then it is painted in 2 layers with alkyd or waterproof enamel. The folding shield is best covered with galvanized steel or aluminum.

Lamellae on sectional or rolling doors are usually also made of galvanized steel or aluminum, heat-insulating material can be placed inside the sheets. The surface of such panels can be with any color - the taste of the owner. Movable elements of construction - rollers, couplings, made of plastic or light metals, guides - made of stainless steel or other materials that are not subject to corrosion.

Automatics of the doors opened by means of the electric drive will help to simplify considerably the use of the garage. Many drivers do not want to mess with heavy doors, especially when it is cold or torrential rain. For any design and mechanism it is possible to choose an appropriate electric motor, which will use the current from the household power grid.

Automatic lifting gates are of several types.

The most common schemes that are easy to do yourself are:

• mechanisms installed on the door leaf;
• mounted on guides;
• mounted on the side racks.

It is possible to order a finished structure, the kit of which will already include an automatic drive for lifting, such as, for example, many roller shutters with galvanized steel slats.

For the manufacture of simple overhead doors for the garage, you can use ready-made sketches and calculations, only slightly adjusting their size in accordance with their premises. There are many examples of solutions for a country house, containing drawings and a detailed report that includes the necessary tools and materials.

Before you make the design itself with a moving mechanism, you need to take care that the opening, the adjacent walls and the ceiling were able to withstand its weight. To do this, you must choose a solid and dense ceiling without voids and reliable fastening systems. And the room itself must be protected from the penetration of moisture and other natural factors that may damage the work of the gate.

Metal profiles 40x20 mm in size and not less than 2 mm thick are most suitable for a strong and durable frame of overhead garage doors. The transverse and horizontal mounts for the structure can be made from 20x20 mm profiles. Gate guides are most often made from channels up to 20 cm wide, depending on it the size of the rollers is chosen.

The box of the lever-hinge mechanism can be made from a metal corner or a bar. By the sizes on the created drawing details of the necessary length are cut.

The rollers themselves, the springs and the entire lever-hinge mechanism are usually purchased as a finished product. They are selected according to the dimensions of the guides. The remaining parts can be easily manufactured by yourself using a welding machine and a grinder.

For the manufacture of doors and their installation in the garage opening, the following tools are required:

• welding machine;
• Bulgarian with edging circles on metal;
• drill with drills of the desired diameter;
• screwdriver;
• hammer;
• level;
• tape measure, pencil.

For fastening, you must use metal anchors or dowel screws that are suitable for the given weight of the structure. If you plan to use anchor bolts for fastening a metal corner, then you need to prepare a set of corresponding wrenches.

Before you install the lifting gate system, you need to make sure that the opening on which they are installed has a perfectly flat surface: a strictly vertical and horizontal level, right angles. The carrier box is the most important power element of such a gate, so you need to carefully consider its manufacture.

If a metal corner is selected for the box, then the width of its shelf should be 1.5 times the thickness of the casement. After all the parts are measured and cut off, they are attached to the garage opening with anchor bolts and securely tightened. For the manufacture of the box, you can choose wooden beams with a cross-section of 100x50 mm, which must be fixed on the screws 100 mm.

The integral frame of the folding gate must be assembled on a flat horizontal surface. After the metal profiles of the desired length are cut off, they are checked with a square and slightly grasped by welding.Then again check the right angles and dimensions, including diagonally, attach the corner scarves and transverse stiffeners, then completely boil the structure.

After welding the frame it is necessary to clean the grinder in the joints of burrs. Then it is covered with anti-corrosion solution and painted. Inside the metal profiles are sewn boards with insulation, outside it is covered with sheet metal. Brackets with movable rollers are mounted on the upper corners of the frame.

After that, guides for the future sash are mounted on the ceiling. They should also be mounted as evenly as possible, having rechecked the horizontal level, parallelism and perpendicularity of the doorway. Then the sash is temporarily installed in the opening in order to mark the place of attachment of the lever-spring mechanism.

After the work of the gate is checked and the unimpeded movement of the leaf along the guides, it is removed, the springs are mounted, their adjustment is carried out. Lastly, a rubber seal is attached to the frame around the perimeter to seal the seams and soft close, a door lock and an opening handle are installed.

With a neat and proper installation, as well as reliable protection from moisture gates with a similar design can serve for more than a dozen years. And their repair can be limited only by lubricating the moving parts of the mechanism, the lever system, the support rollers and the replacement of the rubber seal. For the prevention of lubrication can be carried out every season, and the external rubber gasket lubricated with silicone before the onset of cold weather to protect against freezing.

For the internal insulation of such gates, you can use various materials that are used for wall insulation: mineral wool, polystyrene foam or expanded polystyrene. The latter two are more effective, since they do not shrink with time, but they can be flammable, so it is better to choose non-combustible types.

There are a lot of beautiful projects of the lifting gate; their designs allow you to make any kind of impressive design. It is worth considering a few good examples.

Not only beautiful, but also a convenient example of a spacious garage for two cars, for each of which there is a separate entrance. The gate is equipped with a remote control for opening.Despite the fact that the sliding shutters are only suitable for rectangular openings, here the architects showed imagination and designed the figured arch.

A single color solution for the exterior of the garage and the sash of the overhead gate. For cladding, you can use different materials: coated sheet metal, plastic or plywood.

A simple but very stylish version of the gate of different widths for two cars. Here, shutters are used for shutters, light and taking up little space when folded.

Garage doors with wood decoration in combination with the rest of the interior look very elegant.

If the casement gate is solid, then you can make an impressive veneer outside under an array of noble wood. Quality panels look like a detail of a medieval castle, it's hard to imagine that the mechanism is fully automatic.

A simple but cute version of cheap rolls of rolls. This will be inexpensive and quickly mounted.

Light lifting gates built into the backyard fence can replace the two-door wicket. With this project, you can park a couple of cars in your suburban area and they will be safely hidden from the carriageway.parts.

Look at the video workshop mastering the gate.