Case Study: Trinity Drive, Holme

Posted on January 8, 2012 by admin

A recent installation of an up and over garage door in Holme near Kendal.

Brief:

Novoferm Thornby

My existing garage door is around 30 years old, it has served me well but now both cables are broken, the panel is rusting and it’s really time for a change.  I would like another up and over garage door with canopy type lifting gear as I have shelving in the garage which cannot be moved.  The garage is an integral part of the property with a door leading through to the house and for this reason the garage door must be as secure as possible.  Above the door is a timber fascia which is now also past it’s best, I would like this replaced with upvc to make it maintenance free.  The style of the door should be fairly non fussy, a vertical rib would be perfect.   Finally I would like the door to be a bright shade of yellow as the existing garage door has been and as my front door is.

Products used:

The customer came to our Garstang garage door showroom to find out more about what her options were.  The one up and over garage door that ticks all these boxes is the Novoferm Thornby.  The Thornby has a narrow vertical rib design and is available with canopy type lifting gear.  Novoferm canopy lifting gear comes as standard with four point locking so is very secure, most other up and over garage doors only come with two point locking.  Possibly the most important factor for the customer was the colour.  Novoferm is currently the only garage door manufacturer in the UK offering up and over garage doors painted to any RAL colour.  This particular customer’s colour of choice was Zinc Yellow.

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Case Study: Valley Drive, Kendal

Posted on January 4, 2012 by admin

Carteck GSW40-L

A recent installation of a sectional garage door in Kendal, Cumbria.

Brief:

We require a new garage door for our property.  At present we have an up and over garage door which is fitted between the reveals which looses us quite a bit of height and width on the actual brickwork opening.  The current door is also draughty and not particularly secure.  As the garage is an integral part of our property we are particularly interested in both insulation and security.  We have looked at the possibility of a roller garage door but are concerned that this may have too much of an industrial look to it so would like some other options.  The door should be automatic and we would like to be able to operate the door from outside the house and from multiple points inside the house.

Products used:

Carteck Micro-Profile finish

The obvious answer to the brief was a sectional garage door.  Sectional garage doors come in a range of styles, sizes, colours, and finishes they are well insulated and secure.  After much deliberation in our garage door showroom in Garstang this particular customer chose the Teckentrup Carteck GSW40-L.  The German made GSW40-L is one of the very best sectional garage doors available.  It has a double skin 40mm insulated panel with a foam core that gives a u-value as low as 1.5.  It has also been through rigorous testing to be awarded the TUV Nord German security certificate.  The style of the door selected was the  Centre Rib style with a Micro-profile finish.  The colour selected was RAL 8022 Black Brown which was specifically chosen to match in with the GRP front entrance door.  The door frame was kept white, again to match in with the front door.  The electric operator used was the ultra reliable and powerful Novoferm Novomatic 553S complete with 3 handsets, wireless wall station and wireless keypad.  A WeatherStop floor seal was also installed to help prevent unwanted water entering the garage.

Installation:

In order to maximise the size of the brickwork opening the new sectional garage doors was installed behind the reveals, this gave an increase on both clear opening width and height.  This does however expose the inner skin of the garage made from Thermolite block.  To hide the Thermolite and protect it from frost damage we covered it with upvc utility board.

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Silvelox Front Doors

Posted on January 3, 2012 by admin

I went to see Silvelox doors at the 2010 Grand Designs at the NEC in Birmingham.  In addition to their range of superb garage doors Silvelox also do a range of front doors in complimentary styles.

Silvelox front doors are timber clad steel doors.  The body of the door is made from electro galvanised steel to give high performance and a long life.

The door shown here from the exhibition stand is from the new and proving to be extremely popular Ritz range and is called Matrix.  The door is shown with an  optional side light made from up to 7 sheets of laminated glass. Silvelox entrance doors are available with up to a class 4 security rating.

It is possible to have your Silvelox front door and in turn other access doors made in the same design as your Silvelox garage doors in order to keep the same theme running through the exterior of the property.  It is also possible to have the internal side of Silvelox front doors finished in the same way as their range of Domina internal doors.

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Case Study: Automatic Gates Glan Yr Afon

Posted on December 18, 2011 by admin

Glan Yr Afon

Glan Yr Afon is a recent installation in Pilling not too far from our head office in Garstang.

Brief:

We have pillars already built with power to the pillars.  There is a main driveway opening and an opening for a personnel gate.  The objective of the gates is to stop people from using our driveway to turn round, security is not a major issue.  We will need some form of communication with the house.  Aesthetically the gates should be as unobtrusive as possible with the main gates arching downwards to the middle.  We would like the gates to be made from cedar wood.

Equipment:

Due to the construction of the driveway it was not possible to install underground motors so with the large brick pillars we chose to use the Nice Hyke system.  This relatively new addition to the Nice automation range is one of their flagship models.  Hyke is a powerful 24Vdc motor with a built in control unit which saves time on the installation and with one less box is far neater than the model it is intended to replace Hyppo. Hyke also comes as standard with Nice BluBus two wire technology, this allows for a quick and simple wiring of the safety photocells.  Again because of the driveway construction it wasn’t possible to run a cable across the driveway to the receiving internal photocell so we used Nice FT210 wireless photocells to overcome this problem.  These photocells are battery powered and the batteries last around 5 years.   To prevent the gates from ever being forced and the Hyke motors being damaged we fitted a CISA electromechanical lock, this securely locks the two gate leaves together and unlocks automatically when the gates are activated.  So as to keep the installation as neat as possible inside and out we ran the power cable for the lock through the gate.

Testing:

As with all of our automatic gates installations before the final handover to the customer the system goes through a full safety test with a Blue Force force measuring device before being CE marked.

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We’re Busy, Busy, Busy!

Posted on September 29, 2011 by admin

September is the start of a busy time of year in the garage door industry, im not sure why, it just always is! From now until the run up to Christmas garage doors seem to be in a higher demand, and so we strive to fit as many doors as we can.

Maybe people are trying to do some visual home improvements in time for Christmas or maybe trying to be proactive and protect their homes from the winter weather extremes, benefits  of a sectional door like insulation and weather seals stop the winter weather out, and the benefit of an operator means you don’t have to leave your car and step into the snow to enter your dryer, warmer garage!

This week we took a very large delivery from Novoferm. Novoferm are based in Wilmslow and we are  we were in early at 7.30am to help John our delivery driver unload the articulated lorry! We will be fitting these doors over the new next week or so..

We have also had a large delivery from Garador, and a few special doors from Cedar Doors and SWS.

All in all a good week, lots to fit  and a jam packed warehouse!

For those who would like a shiny new door this Christmas you might want to order early, some doors we can fit within a few days and some others can have a lead time of up to 6 weeks!

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Silvelox Garage Doors

Posted on September 18, 2011 by admin

We first met Silvelox at the Grand Designs Show at the NEC in Birmingham.  They had an impressive stand in the centre of the hall and I’d really recommend seeing one of their exhibition stands if you’re interested in Silvelox doors.  Silvelox doors are the finest on the market, a true luxury product.

If you’re building a new luxury house or embarking on a renovation then Silvelox up and over garage doors are well worth a look.  All of the range with the exception of MET (clue is in the name) are made from timber as Silvelox’s history is deeply rooted in timber products including fine furniture.  The model shown in the picture here is Silvelox GEO and is one of their more popular designs using classic geometric shapes to create a stylish contemporary feel.  Silvelox garage doors are available in a wide range of different woods and bespoke finishes, this exhibition model is finished in natural oak.

Silvelox garage doors work on a type of up & over canopy mechanism.  The doors  lifting gear works on a clever self lifting system so although the actual weight of the 80mm thick door panel is very heavy, the door is very very easy to open and close even manually.  No ceiling tracks are required with Silvelox doors which means when door is closed there is no intrusion into the garage space.  This results in not only a door which saves space but looks as good from the inside as it does from the outside.

One of the most popular options on Silvelox garage doors is the built in pedestrian door.  This handy feature can prove invaluable for nipping in and out of the garage without having to open the maindoor.  The pedestrian door also does not comprimise the design or security of Silvelox garage doors.

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Case Study: Wymberhill Cottage

Posted on August 5, 2011 by admin

It’s always nice when the work we do can really make an impact on the way our customers properties look.  If your garage is part of the front of your property or is on view when the driveway is entered then a new garage door can really help to raise the value and saleability of your home.

Brief:

The garage has been neglected for some time and we are now at the stage where we would like to restore and update it.  The garage is large with a very wide and high opening.  We would like a new contemporary door that should give as much height and width as possible.  The door must be fitted between the reveal, be automatic and have a colour matched frame.  There will also be a large fascia above the door which should be done in timber and painted a complementary colour to the door.

Product used:

The customer came to our garage doors Garstang showroom to have a look at the different doors we have available, the product selected is a Teckentrup Carteck GSW40-L sectional garage door finished in TT703 which is a dark metallic grey finish.  The style is an un-ribbed panel which will give a very modern feel to the building.  The Carteck door is German made and is a high quality insulated sectional garage doors which has an extremely smooth operation.  The bespoke fascia will be created from timber ship lap will be done in softwood, first primed then given 2 coats of eggshell finish paint in Anthracite Grey RAL 7016.  The electric operator used will be a Novoferm Novomatic 553S.  The 553S is a powerful operator that will give years of reliable service, it comes with 2 Novotron handsets and a courtesy light.

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Cumbria Steam Gathering

Posted on August 1, 2011 by admin

On 30th & 31st July 2011 Lakes Garage Doors attended the Cumbria Steam Gathering.  One of our main suppliers Garador kindly lent us their exhibition trailer.  When we arrived on the Saturday morning the weather was glorious and forecast to last all day.  We had a great pitch not far from the main area with plenty of passing trade and by 9am we had the trailer set up and running.  The trailer is equipped with a fully working automatic Garador Gararoll roller garage door, powered by our generator and has samples of the different Garador up and over doors.

The stand was creating plenty of interest but then at around lunch time our generator decided to stop working preventing the roller garage door from working!  After a quick hunt round the other trade stands we found a stand selling generators.  The deal was done and a very heavy generator was carried half way across Cark Airfield and we were back in action!  The fine weather carried on right up until closing time and plenty of leads were generated.

Day 2 the weather was overcast but fortunately dry.  Sunday seemed even busier than Saturday with people coming from far and wide to see the steam fair, again we took lots of enquiries and packed up ready for 5pm after two really great days.

We will also be doing a garage doors Garstang exhibition at the Garstang Show on 6th & 7th August 2011 and will be back with our working roller garage doors.

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We sell GiBiDi spares!

Posted on July 18, 2011 by admin

We regularly get calls from our customers enquiring about GiBiDi spares such as GiBiDi Domino remotes or enquires for a GiBiDi motor.  We are delighted to say we sell all GiBiDi spares!  Spares from this Italian manufacturer can be difficult to source for consumers, we are pleased to say though that you have come to the right place and we can have most GiBiDi spares dispatched on next day delivery.

GiBiDi make all types of automation products including products for automatic gates and automatic swing gates.  They all so manufacture control units and gate remotes.  You can find GiBiDi gate motors in our gate automation kits category.

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Case Study: Granbourne Chase

Posted on July 16, 2011 by admin

Granborne Chase is a development of residential properties in Kirkby, Liverpool.  We have so far fitted 3 up and over garage doors in Granborne Chase.  All the garages in the road are an integral part of the property and are right on the front of the houses making up a large portion of the front of the building.  The original garage doors that were fitted on the development are now beginning to look tired and dated.  On properties like these where the garage door makes up such a large portion of the front of you house a new garage door can really add value and make an impact to the look of your home.

The doors we have fitted at Granborne Chase have all been Novoferm Guilsborough retractable up and over garage doors fitted with a Weather Stop floor seal to help keep out water and leaves.  The Guilsborough is our best selling garage door.  It features a stylish Georgian panel design and comes in Traffic White for a clean modern look.  The Guilsborough has it’s own integral steel frame which is also fully finished in Traffic White.  Retractable garage doors go back in to the garage on horizontal tracks, it is known for being a more reliable and hard wearing mechanism than the canopy type of up and over garage doors.  All Novoferm garage doors come with a 10 year warranty.

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