Sectional sidescrolling door

Sectional doors

Sectional doors frames are mostly used as access to garages. They consist of panels (called sections) in steel, wood or aluminum, superimposed and hinged. The opening of the door occurs by sliding the panels by means of wheels along a guide.

Typically sections are horizontal so it helps to open the door by sliding it upwards. When the door is opened comes to lie parallel to the ceiling of the garage. We can see the working mechanism in this image taken from FB impianti.

Exist sectional doors with manual handling, or it is also possible to install a mechanism to automate them, which is usually positioned on the ceiling, so as to be hardly visible and cumbersome.

Advantages of sectional doors compared with garage doors

Compared to the classical garage door, that when opening protrudes outwards, sectional doors are not protruding. This means that the frame is divided into sections, when it begins to open, it is able to slide perfectly vertical, then returning inside the garage and positioning parallel to the ceiling, without overflowing outside from the line of the wall. We see it in the image taken from CSC porte e garage.

This feature is not to be underestimated. In fact, you can park your car, motorcycle or bicycle practically leaning against the sectional door, still managing to open it. On the contrary, when we are inside the garage, and we want to open the door, we can do it safely, knowing that if a car is parked outside or there are children riding bicycles, we do not run the risk of hitting them.

Sectional sidescrolling doors

So far we have talked about doors with horizontal sections, characterized by a sliding on vertical guides and which, when fully opened, are parallel to the ceiling.

However, there are some situations in which the opening with vertical scrolling is not feasible. I am talking about garages with irregular plan, like what we see in the image.

If we assume to slide the door and bring it parallel to the ceiling, we note that we do not have enough space to complete the movement.

Other installation problems can then arise when there are impediments on the ceiling, such as lowered beams or exhaust pipes, and also in the case in which the internal height of the garage is already very small, or when the garage ceiling is inclined.

In all these situations, instead of a sectional door with vertical scrolling, is more suitable a sectional door with side-scrolling. The principle of operation is the same as the doors previously described, but the sections will be in this case vertical, and the scrolling will not take place more towards the ceiling, but along the garage walls, as we see in this image by Logiver.


Sectional side scrolling doors provide both ground and ceiling with the presence of guides to enable the door movement of opening and closing. It is obvious that, in view of the resolution of the problems mentioned, we will have to agree to hold free the walls along which the frame must slide, avoiding placing shelves, bicycles supports, etc.

There are many companies that produce sectional side-scrolling doors. Besides the already mentioned Logiver, we also point out Breda, Ballan, Ferraro group, Normstahl and others.

How to proceed when you ask for a quote for a sectional door

You maybe understood by now that the installation of a sectional door requires some preventive thoughts. In the case of an existing garage, it is unlikely that an installer can formulate a quote without making an inspection. If it is a new building, the installer will need to submit drawings of the property, which then will still have to check at the end of the construction.

To draw up a quote we must consider: the geometry of the garage (internal height, the shape of the plant, the size of the opening), the presence of obstacles on the ceiling, for example, lowered beams or systems, the need to put in a door to door only walkway, etc.

When you find the right model for our garage, you can proceed with the selection of the type of the panels. One may choose for example between insulated panels or not. Typically the insulation is recommended if in the garage take place activities, such as do-it-yourself or mechanical work, and it is expected the presence of a heating system. You can then evaluate different types of finishes of the parts facing the outside of the door. They come in many varieties, some also very elegant.
Not least to consider is the motorization of the door. Some companies also offer other accessories. In the latter case it will be the installer to show its features in the quote.