FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
We know you have questions. Below are some of the common ones that we get asked all the time. If the answer you’re looking for isn’t there, please contact your nearest Steel-Craft door dealer for help and advice.
This method is not recommended, because the door hardware eventually loosens as drywall crumbles under the weight and vibration caused by the operating door. The portions of hardware, which anchor the door to the wall, are relatively small in size, therefore small vibrations or impacts cause the drywall to easily crumble.
Also, the supplied lag screws will not penetrate deeply enough into the building framing. Using longer lag screws is not recommended because, they may line up with the space between the studs as indicated above.
Yes, several types are available in a wide variety of designs, shapes, and styles. Check further in this site under each door models for the available window options.
There are several different standard sizes as shown below, but generally speaking, garage door sizes are broken into two groups — singlewide doors (single car) and doublewide doors (two cars).
Singlewide doors are available in 8′, 9′ & 10′ widths, (9′ is most popular) and doublewide doors are available in 12′, 14′, 16′, or 18′ widths (16′ is the most popular). The popular height is 7′, however 8′ heights have increased substantially in recent years.
Yes, however they are restricted and governed by two things. Firstly, by the size of the embossed panels on the exterior of the door, and secondly, by the height of the sections we manufacture. Special sizes are only available in selected models. Contact the dealer in your area.
All residential garage doors require 12” of room above the door to accommodate the hardware. However, we do manufacture various types of low headroom hardware products that will effectively reduce the amount of room required.
Our chain and belt drive garage door openers require 2” above the highest point of travel of your door. To measure this you should open your door to its highest point of travel then draw a straight line to the header above your door. From this point measure up 2”. If you have this amount of space, our garage door opener will work on your door.
Our chain and belt drive garage door openers can open doors up to 10’ high with the proper rail length. We have three different rail lengths for the most popular door heights. 7’, 8’, and 10’.
Actually the term “rough opening” doesn’t apply to garage doors in the same way as it does for passage doors. This is because the size of the rough opening is determined by the chosen framing method.
Overhead doors are installed onto finished openings, and the size of the finished opening is normally the same size as the door. For example if you intend to install a typical 16’ wide x 7’ high double wide garage door, the finished framed opening should be 16’ wide x 7’ high. For further information check out the resources section of this website.
Not ours! Steel-Craft’s steel insulated doors operate quietly, firstly, due to the sound dampening effects of the superior insulation, and secondly, because we utilize our exclusive whisper quiet nylon rollers for all our residential door models. Nylon rollers glide smoothly and quietly as they carry the door into the overhead position.
41/2” is required on each side for all residential models.
The framing requirement for commercial doors is more complex than for residential applications due to the building materials used, and selected hardware. Firstly check the information and drawings found further in this website in the Technical Drawings section. If this is not adequate for your needs, contact a dealer in your area for assistance. Steel-Craft has a full time draftsman on staff, and we can usually fax a drawing out within a few hours.
Use two doors and our “sliding centre mullion”. Openings beyond our maximum width of 32’ are easily accomplished with this unique feature.
The headroom requirements for commercial doors varies considerably due to the the weight of the door and the chosen hardware.
Please see the following information.
Weight less than 1000 pounds with 2” hardware & 12” radius curved track = 14-1/4”
Weight less than 1000 pounds with 2” hardware & 15” radius curved track = 15-3/4”
Weight less than 1000 pounds with 3” hardware & 15” radius curved track = 17”
Doors in excess of 1000 pounds may require anywhere from 21” to 31” of headroom depending on the weight of the door and the required torsion spring configuration. Check with the dealer in your area for exact weight and headroom requirements.
Commercial doors require 5 1/2” plus an additional 3” if you are installing a geared hand chain hoist. If you intend to install a side mount jackshaft electric operator you will need 18” of side room.
Yes to all. Steel-Craft has many types of hardware configurations available for commercial doors, however, some hardware configurations are only available on selected models.
Yes, Steel-Craft Door Products manufactures various types of special low headroom hardware products that will effectively reduce the amount of room required.
Yes. A commercial trolley type (overhead type) door operator requires an additional 2” of room above the door.
Steel-Craft Door Products Ltd. manufactures a 10” wide x 8” deep insulated rectangular tube (mullion) that extends the full height of the door opening. The centre mullion is supported from an overhead sliding track assembly (provided), which is anchored to the door header above by the door installer. The right hand vertical track of one door, and the left hand vertical track of the other door are installed onto the mullion by the door installer.
The mullion is equipped with latching devices, which holds the mullion in place until both doors have been opened. The centre mullion is then unlatched from its central position and manually pushed over to one side, carrying both centrally located vertical door tracks with it, which allows full use of the opening. Steel-Craft can provide an overhead door system for door openings up to 98’ wide using this system.
Commercial doors can be manufactured to almost any size. Contact the dealer in your area for additional pricing.
Commercial doors are available in 2 ft. even numbered multiples (except 9’).
For example 16’ wide x 14’ high, 20’ wide x 16’ high 30’ x 18’ high etc.
Standard available widths = 8′, 9′, 10′, 12′, 14′, 16′, 18′, 20′, 22′, 24′, 26′, 28′, 30′, & 32′.
Standard available heights = 8′, 9′, 10′, 12′, 14′, 16′, 18′, 20′, 22′, 24′, 26′, 28′, 30′, & 32′.
NOTE 1: Not all configurations are available due to our maximum weight restriction of 2200 pounds.
For example a 32′ wide x 32′ high door would weigh 3232 pounds. and would not be made available.
NOTE 2: The model TD138 is only available in sizes up to 16′ wide x 16′ high.
We have three models of insulated doors. All three models feature sandwich panel, urethane injected, and thermally broken construction and incorporate an exclusive mechanical interlock. The mechanical interlock locks the interior and exterior steel sheets together creating the strongest door in its class. These “state of the art” doors also feature a bubble type weather-strip between each section to ensure air infiltration is minimal. (The factory applied finish is a baked on two coat polyester paint which means you don’t have to worry about painting.)
The THERM-O-DOOR model TD134 is 1-3/4″ thick and has an R value of 16.04
The THERM-O-DOOR model TD134-20 is exactly the same as the TD134, except it has a 20 Ga. exterior face, and is often requested for heavy duty industrial applications.
The THERM-O-DOOR model TD138 is 1-3/8″ thick, with an R value of 12.6
Yes. Garage door springs have what is termed “cycle life” which is usually around 10,000 cycles or operations. If one spring has broken, it’s usually because the cycle life has been exhausted. If one spring has broken, the other will probably soon follow.
Torsion springs are located directly above the door and the springs are wound up in a rotational manner.
Extension springs are located on each side of the door, either beside the vertical tracks, or alongside the overhead tracks and the springs extend or stretch as the door closes.
All models of Steel-Craft doors are pre-finished, with a protective film that protects the surface during production, transit and installation. The film must be removed immediately after the door is installed, before it’s exposed to heat from the sun. Failure to remove the film immediately after installation will result in the film becoming permanently glued to the door surface.
You can download our Painting Instructions guide. This can be downloaded from the Manuals tab found within the Resources section of this site.
Both of the above are industry termed as “thermal bowing”, which is a condition caused by large temperature differentials between the interior and exterior door faces, common to energy efficient doors.
Steel-Craft Door Products supplies a “Thermal Bow Strap” with all double wide doors which significantly reduces the amount of cold weather “thermal bowing”.
Steel-Craft Door Products Ltd. only manufactures overhead doors. We are aware of other companies similarly named, who manufacture the type of door you are referring to.
We don’t recommend installing our own overhead door. Installing a garage door is difficult, and we prefer that a professional door installer do it because we want our customers to receive the best value for their money and the proper installation of a garage door is extremely important to the end result. For the dedicated do it yourself type person, we have excellent step by step well illustrated installation instructions. Installing a garage door is more than a one-man job and we suggest you seek help.
We have included a section in our installation instructions that deals with maintenance and we encourage homeowners to read this section thoroughly before proceeding with any type of maintenance. It’s important to have garage doors serviced periodically because firstly, the springs will lose a certain amount of tension every year, and secondly lubrication is required for some of the moving parts. To find out if servicing is required, simply open and close the door manually (disconnect the electric opener if equipped) and check for ease of operation. If the door is hard to open or close, heavy to lift, or makes grinding noises, have the door serviced immediately by an authorized garage door professional.
We recommend a light oiling with 10:30 wt. motor oil for all moving parts including the springs once a year (oiling of hinges is not required or recommended). Clean off all excess oil with a rag. Check cables for wear or fraying and all fasteners for tightness.
Depending on your mechanical skills, it should take approximately three to five hours.
A portion of the existing hardware may be used in some cases, but it’s not recommended because the newer style garage doors require specialised hardware that is unique to the make and model of the door.
Replacing garage door springs can be extremely dangerous to untrained individuals. Contact the dealer in your area for help in purchasing the correct spring size and for assistance in this regard.
We don’t recommend installing an overhead door onto the building framing or “studs”. If the door is installed without the benefit of additional framing over the studs, the lag screws, may drill in between the studs, rather than into solid wood. This is not adequate, and the track may eventually loosen causing alignment and other problems.
This method is not recommended, because the door hardware eventually loosens as drywall crumbles under the weight and vibration caused by the operating door. The portions of hardware, which anchor the door to the wall, are relatively small in size, therefore small vibrations or impacts cause the drywall to easily crumble.
Also, the supplied lag screws will not penetrate deeply enough into the building framing. Using longer lag screws is not recommended because, they may line up with the space between the studs as indicated above.
The culprit here is usually salt which is actually a form of acid to steel. Once the salt penetrates the paint and the protective zinc coating on the steel, rusting is soon to follow. If salt must be used, take special care that the melted ice water does not come in contact with the door or the weather-seal.
One other cause of this type of rusting is the iron content found in the aggregate used to make the concrete driveway. If there’s significant iron content in the aggregate the driveway’s surface will turn a brown rusty colour, which will eventually extend onto any steel that it comes in contact with.
Follow the Door Quoting Information Sheet that will guide you through taking all the measurements that are required when requesting a quote. This can be downloaded from the Manuals tab found within the Resources section of this site.
Each garage door opener has its advantages. The chain drive and belt drive are good in all applications, The belt drive is the quietest garage door opener and would be recommended for garages that have a room above them. The chain drive is the garage door opener that has been around the longest. All our garage door openers are very reliable and require virtually no maintenance.
Before installing a garage door opener, you should ensure that the door operates easily manually. The rule of thumb is that if a ten year old child can lift the door with little or no effort, the door is well balanced. If the door is hard to lift, you should have a professional authorized dealer check the springs and other hardware on the door before installing an opener. The easier it is to operate the door manually, the easier it will be for the garage door opener to open the door and that means your garage door opener will last longer. Generally speaking, we recommend 1/3 horsepower operators for single wide doors, and 1/2 horsepower operators for a double wide doors.
An “Operator Plate” must be installed on to the top section of the door which averages the pulling force of the operator over the entire top section of the door, rather than in one localized area. The door could become damaged if this important step is overlooked.
Our chain and belt drive garage door openers require 2” above the highest point of travel of your door. To measure this you should open your door to its highest point of travel then draw a straight line to the header above your door. From this point measure up 2”. If you have this amount of space, our garage door opener will work on your door.
Yes. A commercial trolley type (overhead type) door operator requires an additional 2” of room above the door.
Depending on your mechanical skills, it should take approximately three to five hours.
Our chain and belt drive garage door openers can open doors up to 10’ high with the proper rail length. We have three different rail lengths for the most popular door heights. 7’, 8’, and 10’.
