When did garage doors come out?

The History of Garage Doors

Most of us have experienced the benefits of the modern day electric garage door. We may take for granted the history of garage doors and how innovations along the way helped evolve the garage door into what it is today.

We will explore below the history of garage doors and how they transformed from simple gatehouses for storing chariots to the stylish remote controlled garage doors of present day.

Gatehouses for Chariots

The origin of garage doors can be traced as far back as 3500-2250 BC after the invention of the wheel. The initial Potter’s wheel was not used for transportation, but as time progressed wheels were used on the first horse-drawn chariots. As wheeled transportation became increasingly popular, the need for a place to store these vehicles arose.

In ancient times, chariots would be kept inside gatehouses for storage and protection. References to storing chariots are mentioned as far back as ancient Greek and even Biblical texts. Chariots became popular for use in war as well as for racing during the Olympic games in Greece. They were commonly stored in town centers and within government run workshops.

Carriage Houses

A number of different horse-drawn vehicles developed from the initial chariot including buggies, carriages, and coaches. As a result, the simple gatehouse morphed into what became known as carriage houses for parking and storing these vehicles. As this type of transportation became more common to the average citizen, carriage houses grew in popularity.

Carriage houses were almost never attached to homes like we see with many common garage doors today. Most carriage houses opened outward like today’s side-hinged garage doors. Many carriage houses were previously used as barns before they were used for vehicle storage.

Origin of the Modern-Day Garage Door

The invention of the automobile in the late 1800s led to the need for the modern day garage door. The first cars had no roof and were easily exposed to the elements. These automobiles were initially sheltered in carriage houses alongside horse-drawn vehicles. While this proved to be a temporary solution, the odor of horses and the horizontal openings made them less appealing.

At the turn of the century, shelters more suitable for automobiles began to appear. The first sectional garage door was known as the “float over door” was produced in 1902 by Cornell Iron Works in Chicago. Soon after, Variety Manufacturing developed a “cross horizontal folding door” which was big enough to house a train locomotive.

Entrepreneurs took advantage of the increasing popularity of cars and built parking lots as well as large garages for vehicle storage. Automobile owners were able to park in these garages for a monthly fee. This concept began to change with the mass production of vehicles and an increase in cars outside of the city.

Overhead Garage Doors

The Ford Model T became the first mass-produced vehicle in 1913. The use of the assembly line drove down the cost making it common for the average American to purchase an automobile. With a large portion of Americans now owning cars, the demand for an at-home garage door was higher than ever.

The earliest private garage doors swung out just like a barn door, which caused many problems. Snow would pile in front of the door requiring a lot of work to just get the door opened. Really anything in the path of these doors could prevent owners from getting their vehicle out of the garage.

The solution was the overhead garage door first created by C.G. Johnson in 1921. Like we see with sectional garage doors today, Johnson’s invention folded while lifting upward. The garage door ran parallel to the above garage ceiling. This not only saved the work involved with opening a side-hinged door, but saved space in the garage as well.

Electric Garage Door Opener

Five years later, Johnson further solved the problem of manual labor by applying electricity to his invention. Thus, the first electric garage door was born. The idea of an electric garage door was very appealing to the public and the demand catapulted the garage door industry.

Continual improvements have been made to electric garage doors since the initial design. Remote control garage door openers became increasingly popular in the 1980s and 1990s to make garage doors more usable than ever before.

Modern Garage Doors

Garage doors are a common luxury for storing vehicles in present day. Residential garage doors are even available in a large selection of styles, designs, and sizes to accommodate the owner’s needs.

Many innovations and improvements have been made since the original gatehouses stored chariots in ancient times. However, the modern day garage door is not completely free of flaws. Action Door is ready to service your garage door or fix your garage door opener if any problems arise.

Action Door additionally offers repair and installation for residential garage doors and many different types of commercial garage doors. Call us today at 1-866-366-7463 or fill out our Garage Door Install Estimate Form for a free quote.

Large door on a garage that accommodates vehicles entering and exiting

Sectional garage door Up-and-over garage door Garage Door Hardware

A garage door is a large door to allow egress for a garage that opens either manually or by an electric motor (a garage door opener). Garage doors are frequently large enough to accommodate automobiles and other vehicles. The operating mechanism is usually spring-loaded or counterbalanced to offset door's weight and reduce the human or motor effort required to operate the door. Less commonly, some garage doors slide or swing horizontally. Doors are made of wood, metal, or fiberglass, and may be insulated to prevent heat loss.

Description

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An electric garage door opener operates on the center track

A typical version of an overhead garage door used in the past would have been built as a one-piece panel.[1] The panel was mounted on each side with an unequal parallelogram-style hinge lifting mechanism. Newer versions of overhead garage doors are now generally built from several panels hinged together that roll along a system of tracks guided by rollers.[1] The weight of the door may be 400 lb (180 kg) or more but is balanced by either a torsion spring system or a pair of extension springs.[2] A garage door opener is controlled motorized mechanism for opening garage doors adds convenience, safety, and security often used with a remote or a button on wall.[3]

History

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The history of the garage door could date back to 450 BC when chariots were stored in gatehouses, but in the United States, they arose around the start of the 20th century. As early as 1902, American manufacturers—including Cornell Iron Works—published catalogs featuring a "float over door." Evidence of an upward-lifting garage door can be found in a catalog in 1906.[4]

Types

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Single panel garage doors

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jamb type hardware one piece track type hardware

Single-panel doors are constructed from one monolithic panel. A single panel door swings up and overhead with a hinge on each side (jamb-type hardware) to a fully open position from the closed position. A disadvantage of monolithic panel doors is that the swing-up arc of the door occurs partially outside the garage. This means a vehicle must stop and park several feet in front of the door to avoid being hit by the garage door when it is opened.

Single panel doors can also be installed with (one piece track type hardware) that folds the door back with a single horizontal track on each side (mounted at the top of the wood frame) and a roller mounted to the top of the door on each side. A hinge on each side that attaches to the bottom of each side of the garage door. Using track hardware, a car can be parked much closer to the door, as the door is positioned entirely inside the garage door header when in the open position. Track-type hardware has less arc when raising and lowering the garage door than jamb-type hardware.[citation needed]

Sectional garage doors

Sectional doors usually have three to eight panels and slide up and overhead. Sectional doors occupy the same internal garage space as a monolithic door. Sectional doors have two advantages over single-panel monolithic doors:

• Sectional doors do not require any space outside the garage to open. A vehicle may park very close to the garage before opening the door.
• Each panel of a sectional door has its connection to the door track. This increases reliability and robustness compared to monolithic doors, which have only a few track connections for the whole panel.

Garage doors can be made of many materials, but steel, aluminum, wood, copper, glass, and vinyl (polyethylene) are the most popular materials. Some manufacturers incorporate foamed-in-place polyurethane insulation within the monolithic panel and sectional garage doors.

The side sliding sectional door[5]

• A lot of space under the garage ceiling.
• Can use the entire ceiling of the garage.
• Fast access to the garage

Roller doors

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Detail of roller door mechanism Industrial tents with rollup overhead doors

Roller doors (sometimes called "sheet doors") are usually constructed of corrugated steel. They evolved from cover window and door coverings.[4] Other materials can be used (e.g., transparent corrugated fiberglass) where strong impact resistance is not required. Corrugations give the door strength against impacts. A typical single-car garage roller door has a preloaded spring inside the rolling mechanism. The spring reduces the effort required to open the door. Oversized roller doors in commercial premises are not sprung (except in the US), and a manual pulley and chain system or a geared motor is used to raise and lower (roll up and roll down) the door. Roller doors cannot be effectively insulated.

In the UK (and other parts of the EU), 'insulated' roller garage doors are available, using an aluminum lathe filled with polyurethane foam for thermal and acoustic insulation.

Concerning thermal insulation, the roller door has a typical insulation R-value of 4.9 to 5.2. A sheet steel garage door has a typical insulation R-value of 0.5 to 2.7.

An application that needs more thermal insulation typically uses a foam-filled sectional garage door, which provides typical insulation R-values of 6.1 to 6.4.

Garage door materials

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• Aluminum garage doors are usually found in commercial settings and are uncommon for residential ones. Aluminum is typically only used for full-view garage doors (doors that are made up of glass sections divided by aluminum stiles). Aluminum doors are rust-proof and low maintenance.
• Fiberglass and vinyl garage doors are composite units, combining a steel core behind a fiberglass or vinyl skin. They also have polyurethane insulated base sections or other types of foam insulation. These premium doors can match steel garage doors and be a realistic imitation of wood (namely fiberglass units), but they may be more expensive than steel units. Fiberglass doors are commonly used near an ocean, where salt water can ruin regular steel doors.
• Steel doors have a variety of sizes and styles, provide strength and security, are cost-competitive, and may have optional insulating value. Extra strength is available with two or three layers of galvanized steel with a low gauge number (0.6 - 0.7 mm steel panels).[6]
• Wood garage doors offer aesthetic appeal, but they are high maintenance and may be expensive. Low-priced wood garage doors may warp and break easily.

Steel stamped construction

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Sectional-type steel with exterior cladding overhead garage doors in the style of old carriage house doors

A common material for a new garage door is a steel sheet formed or stamped to look like a raised panel wooden door. Steel doors are available in uninsulated, insulated, and a three-layer door, also known as a sandwich-style door. A design mimicking carriage house doors has become popular since the early 2000s, and many manufacturers clad the exterior of a steel door with composite, vinyl boards, or other trim to give it the appearance of wood.

Insulation

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In situations involving residential attached garages, the insulating value and the energy efficiency of a garage door are essential to avoid overheating and freezing problems, as well as for comfort and energy savings.

Torsion spring lift mechanism

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A torsion spring counterbalance system consists of one or two tightly wound-up springs on a steel shaft with cable drums at both ends. The apparatus mounts on the header wall above the garage door and has three supports: a center bearing plate with a steel or nylon bearing and two end bearing plates at both ends. The springs consist of a steel wire with a stationary cone at one end and a winding cone at the other. The stationary cone is attached to the center bearing plate. The winding cone consists of holes every 90 degrees for winding the springs and two set screws to secure the springs to the shaft. Steel counterbalance cables run from the roller brackets at the bottom corners of the door to a notch in the cable drums. When the door is raised, the springs unwind, and the stored tension lifts the door by turning the shaft, thus turning the cable drums and wrapping the cables around the grooves on the cable drums. When the door is lowered, the cables unwrap from the drums, and the springs are rewound to full tension.

Life of torsion spring

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Garage door manufacturers typically produce doors fitted with torsion springs that provide a minimum of 10,000 to 15,000 cycles and are guaranteed for three to seven years. One cycle is a single opening and closing sequence. Most manufacturers offer a 30,000-cycle spring. However, it is essential to remember that if the garage door's weight is increased by adding glass, additional insulation, or even several coats of paint, the torsion spring's life may be significantly reduced. Additionally, springs in highly humid environments, such as coastal regions tend to have a significantly shorter cycle life, due to the corrosive cracking.

Other factors like poor garage door maintenance, loose tracks, or components shorten torsion spring life. Owners are advised to avoid applying grease to garage door tracks because that makes the wheels "skate" in the track instead of turning on their bearings. Only bearings, hinges, and spring wire require lubricant.

Extension spring lift mechanism

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An extension spring counterbalance system consists of a pair of stretched springs running parallel to the horizontal tracks. The springs lift the door through a system of pulleys and counterbalance cables running from the bottom corner brackets through the pulleys. When the door is raised, the springs contract, thus lifting the door as the tension is released. Typically, these springs are made of 11 gauge (3 mm) galvanized steel, and the lengths of these springs are based on the height of the garage door in question. Their lifting weight capacity can best be identified by the color that is painted on the ends of the springs.

Maintenance

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Maintenance of garage doors is described in the manufacturer's instructions and consists of periodic checks for correct operation, visual inspection of parts, and lubrication. [7][8]

Safety

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Garage doors can cause injury and property damage (including expensive damage to the door itself) in several ways. The most common causes of injury from garage door systems include falling doors, pinch points, improperly adjusted opener force settings, and safety eyes, attempts at do-it-yourself repair without the proper knowledge or tools, and uncontrolled release of spring tension (on torsion spring systems).

A garage door with a broken spring or the wrong strength can fall. Because the effective mass of the door increases as the garage door sections transfer from the horizontal to vertical door tracks, a falling garage door accelerates rapidly. A free-falling garage door can cause severe injury or death.

The sections and rollers on garage doors represent a significant pinch hazard. Children should never be allowed near a moving garage door for this reason. On manually operated garage doors, handles should be installed vertically to promote "vertical orientation of the hand".

Mechanical garage door openers can pull or push a garage door with enough force to injure or kill people and pets if they become trapped. Modern openers have “force settings” that make the door reverse if it encounters too much resistance while closing or opening. Any garage door opener sold in the United States after 1992 requires safety eyes—sensors that prevent the door from closing if obstructed. Force settings should cause a door to stop or reverse on encountering more than approximately 20 lb (10 kg) of resistance. Safety eyes should be installed a maximum of six inches above the ground. Many garage door injuries, and nearly all garage door-related property damage, can be avoided by following these precautions.[9]

Certain parts, especially springs, cables, bottom brackets, and spring anchor plates, are under extreme tension. Injuries can occur if parts under tension are removed.

Extension spring systems should always be restrained by a safety cable that runs through the middle of the spring, tying off to a solid point at the rear and front of the horizontal door track. The safety cable prevents hazards to bystanders when a spring, pulley, or cable breaks under tension and makes the system relatively safe.

Torsion spring systems can be hazardous as they are always under tension and release energy when the spring fails. Severe injury or death can be caused by the projectile pieces of a failed torsion spring. Many people have been injured or killed trying to adjust torsion springs, and special training and procedures are required to modify a torsion spring safely; it is a job for a professional, not a homeowner or DIYer.

References

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Media related to Garage doors at Wikimedia Commons