Garage Doors near you

British garages are described by how the door moves, and each type wants something different from the opening. The cheapest door to buy is not always the one that fits, because headroom, side room and the depth of the garage rule options in and out before style does.

The British problem is not extreme cold, it is persistent damp, wind-driven rain and, near the coast, salt. A garage door spends its life in humid air, and the parts that fail first are usually the steel ones that were never coated on the hidden face. That makes the finish and the fixings more important than the panel material on its own.

For most houses, swapping a garage door is permitted development rather than a planning application. The Planning Portal describes permitted development as covering the insertion of new windows and doors that are of a similar appearance to those used in the construction of the house, which is the test to keep in mind: a replacement in a similar style rarely troubles the council, while a very different door on a prominent frontage might.

The exceptions are the ones that catch people out. If the house is listed, the Planning Portal is explicit that you will need listed building consent for any significant works, internal or external. That consent regime comes from the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, whose section 7 restricts works affecting listed buildings, section 8 provides for listed building consent and section 9 creates the offences for going ahead without it. If the house is in a conservation area, a national park or an area of outstanding natural beauty, additional restrictions may apply, and a council can also make an Article 4 direction withdrawing permitted development rights for a street or an estate. The Planning Portal's advice is to check with your local planning authority before carrying out any work, and a five minute call is cheaper than taking a door back off.

Converting the garage into a room is a different question with a different answer. The Planning Portal's position is that planning permission is not usually required for a garage conversion, providing the work is internal and does not involve enlarging the building, but it warns that permitted development rights have sometimes been removed from some properties with regard to garage conversions, so you should contact your local planning authority before proceeding, particularly on a new housing development or in a conservation area. Turning a garage into a separate dwelling may need permission whatever the work involves. Building control matters more here than planning: the conversion of a garage, or part of a garage, into habitable space will normally require approval under the building regulations, taking in the external and internal walls, the roof, drainage, electrics and the doors and windows that fill the old opening.

A manual door is a building product. A powered one is a machine, and that is not a technicality. The Health and Safety Executive deals with powered doors and gates under the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008, alongside the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and, for products in scope of BS EN 13241, the Construction Products Regulation. The Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008 include a dedicated part on UK marking, and HSE expects a powered door to arrive with a complete set of documentation including User Instructions.

There is a trap in retrofitting. HSE's position is that where an installer assembles a powered door or gate from separate components, that installer becomes the product manufacturer and takes on the manufacturer's duties, including conformity marking and issuing a Declaration of Conformity. So bolting an operator bought online onto an existing door is not a small upgrade: it creates a new machine, and somebody has to stand behind it. If you are automating an existing door, ask who is taking that responsibility and get the answer in writing.

HSE also expects powered doors to be properly designed for their location, taking into account weather conditions that may affect them, the possibility of vulnerable people being present and foreseeable misuse, and to be installed and maintained by competent contractors. That is a reasonable checklist to put to a company quoting for an automated door.

Garage door paperwork is not filing for its own sake. On a powered door it is the evidence that the machine was put together lawfully, and it is what the next engineer, a buyer's surveyor or an insurer will ask to see.

Quotes for the same garage can differ widely because they are not always for the same job. Before comparing, make sure each one covers the same door type, the same treatment of the existing frame, the same electrical work and the same removal and disposal.