Roll-Up Doors

Headroom. A sectional door needs a horizontal track running back under the ceiling, and plenty of buildings simply do not have that space — a low lintel, a mezzanine, ductwork, or structure right above the opening. A roll-up door coils its curtain into a barrel directly above the opening instead, so it needs a fraction of the room. It is also simple, tough and inexpensive, which is why it dominates storage, service buildings and multi-unit industrial.

They work identically; the difference is duty. "Roll-up" generally means the lighter end — thinner slats, smaller openings, service buildings, storage units. "Rolling steel" means the heavier commercial and industrial end: thicker interlocking slats, larger spans, higher wind loads, security duty, and the fire-rated versions that drop on alarm. The vocabulary is used loosely across the trade, so what matters in an enquiry is the opening size, the exposure and what the door has to resist.

Three worth knowing before you specify one. Insulation is limited — an insulated slat exists but does not match a sandwich-panel sectional, so on a heated building the sectional is usually the better envelope. The curtain shows damage: a struck slat dents and stays dented, and because slats interlock, a bad dent can stop the door coiling. And a full-height curtain is harder to fit with a pass door or vision panels than a sectional. Against that, they need almost no headroom and cost less, which is why they are everywhere.

The range depends most on opening size, slat gauge, insulation, wind rating and whether it is powered. A small uninsulated push-up door in a shop wall and a large wind-rated insulated door with an operator are different orders of number, so a "from" price would mislead more than it helped. What we can say is that per opening these are usually the least expensive overhead door, and that ordering several for one site changes the per-door price considerably.

Yes, with an insulated slat — a foam-filled slat with an inner and outer skin. It is a genuine improvement over a single-skin curtain and worth specifying on a heated building. Be realistic about it, though: an insulated roll-up does not match an insulated sectional for thermal performance, because the slat is thinner and there are more joints. If the envelope is the priority and you have the headroom, a sectional is the better answer.

Usually one of four things. A slat has been struck and deformed, so the curtain will not pass into the guides. The guides themselves are bent or packed with debris and ice. The spring inside the barrel has lost tension, so the door is too heavy to lift and stalls. Or, on a powered door, the operator's limits have drifted or the chain has jumped. Do not force a jammed curtain — it distorts more slats and turns an inexpensive repair into a new door.

Often, yes, and it is far less expensive than a new curtain. A small number of damaged slats can usually be swapped out, provided the profile is still available and the rest of the curtain is sound. Where it stops being sensible is when many slats are deformed, when the curtain has been bent across its width, or when an obsolete profile cannot be matched. We will tell you which of those you have before quoting.

Manufacture is the long part: plan on 2–4 weeks once the opening is measured, then 1–2 weeks to schedule the crew — roughly 3–6 weeks in total, since the door is made to your opening. The installation itself is normally under a day per opening, and openings are done one at a time so the building keeps operating.

Yes, and it is most of what we do on these. Springs, barrels, guides, bottom bars, slats and locks are all serviceable, and an operator of any make can be replaced, regardless of make, including on doors whose manufacturer no longer exists. On very old doors we will say plainly when parts are costing more than a replacement would.