Roll Up Steel Workshop Doors

   / Roll Up Steel Workshop Doors #1  

rScotty

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Hello, I'm looking for some advice.

Our metal working workshop is in the barn, but the wood shop is on one end & the walls are wide open. I want to put some Roll Up steel that can be pulled down for protection from weather and fires. Only problem is I know absolutely nothing about them. I see them on garages and storage sheds, but have never used them and don't even know where to start.
Width to be up to 12 feet, height about 8 feet, fire resistant, and they need to roll up into a cylinder to store above the opening. Not like garage doors that run along a track. Probably won't get pulled down more than once a month or less.

Any suggestions appreciated.

thanks, rScotty
 
   / Roll Up Steel Workshop Doors #2  
I don't have a ton of knowledge about these, but I see this label a lot on the commercial canister style doors.


Another option could be a curtain. Vinyl welding curtains are fire proof.

 
   / Roll Up Steel Workshop Doors #3  
You should plan on that cylinder being 2' in diameter so be sure you have enough overhead and lateral clearance.

There are different tracks for the doors. One has a guide at the top of the track so that the clearance between the door and the frame is the same all the way up and down the door. The other does not have that guide and allows the door gap to increase as the door is closed. It allows birds into the building. I do not know if the cylinder size is different between the two.

Do you want a latch on the door? Or what about the chain lift? Be sure it can be accessed from both sides or you may need a walk door next to it.
 
   / Roll Up Steel Workshop Doors #4  
Hello, I'm looking for some advice.

Our metal working workshop is in the barn, but the wood shop is on one end & the walls are wide open. I want to put some Roll Up steel that can be pulled down for protection from weather and fires. Only problem is I know absolutely nothing about them. I see them on garages and storage sheds, but have never used them and don't even know where to start.
Width to be up to 12 feet, height about 8 feet, fire resistant, and they need to roll up into a cylinder to store above the opening. Not like garage doors that run along a track. Probably won't get pulled down more than once a month or less.

Any suggestions appreciated.

thanks, rScotty
Not sure about the fire proof part, Ive always called them rolling sheet doors but not sure thats the correct name. From my experience, the higher wind loading is a better door. Electric openers are available too
 
   / Roll Up Steel Workshop Doors #5  
Some of them have a big gap at the top when rolled down, between the header and the axle that the door rolls up on. They sometimes have flexible plastic to keep birds from flying through but that may not keep embers out.

If you want protection from fires you need to keep the embers out. That's what ignites most homes that burn in wildfires.
 
   / Roll Up Steel Workshop Doors #6  
I used doors from Trac Rite on my shop. I've been really happy with them, and they've been problem free.

Trac Rite Doors
 
   / Roll Up Steel Workshop Doors
  • Thread Starter
#7  
Ok. I'm starting to get a better picture of what to look for. The plan is for it to fit tightly, so some sort of channelling on the sides makes sense. Curtains are an interesting thought... but I think steel is better for wind. More rigid.

I'm so new at this I hadn't even thought about whether they would roll down on the inside or outside of the opening. All the ones in the pictures seem to be inside, but just for room it might be worth building a sort of protrusion around the opening so that they would close outside.

Still hoping to hear from someone who has installed a few.

Like I said, I don't know the first thing about these doors. Just learning. In building anything, I like to start at the high end and then see what is being lost as the price goes down. For home projects like this, best quality interests me more than best price. After all, the labor is free. It's our home.
thanks,
rScotty
 
   / Roll Up Steel Workshop Doors #8  
Scotty, the Trac Rite doors I used had side tracks and brush seals, bottom seal and top seal. I also bought mine insulated which is just reflective foil bubble wrap applied to the inside. I've had them for 13 years and the insulation hasn't peeled off.
 
   / Roll Up Steel Workshop Doors #9  
I have used a few of these doors with good results. Installed them myself. Most all have a track and can mount on the inside or outside of the building (depending upon how its ordered) Outdoors requires a hood and weather sealing is more difficult.
Save $ by going with standard sizes by adjusting the opening or the door to opening overlap where you can. My first door was a 12x9 big heavy commercial door. My last one is a 9x9 with weather strip to keep a classic car cleaner.
Bought 2 different doors online. Good experiences both.
 

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   / Roll Up Steel Workshop Doors #10  
I have them on my shop. Very easy to install. Actually assembeled on ground and then stood inplace. Mine is 12’ wide x 11 feet high. Takes maybe 14” of clearance above. Mine has auto rolling motor enclosed within the rolling drum.

the motor is called glideral. Been working great over 12 years now.

i bought my door on ebay, installed myself. Took about the same amount of time as installing a sectional door. Mine is un insulated as i wanted as much head room as possible and what difference will an inch of insulation make anyways.
 
 
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