If you own a garage and want to park your car in it regularly, then one of the best options for you is to have an up-and-over garage door fitted. Although garages work perfectly well with hinged doors, these are nowhere near as convenient as ones which raise upwards. If you are considering having new ones fitted by garage door contractors, then what are the main benefits of opting for the up-and-over variety?

• Ease of Operation

Firstly, the lightweight materials that up-and-over garage doors are made from make them incredibly easy to lift. You do not need to be a powerlifter in order to raise up a section of aluminium, for example. Furthermore, most up and over garage doors are spring-loaded so that when you pull them up they swing into the correct position without you needing to make much effort at all. This is not always the case with horizontal garage doors, of course. Indeed, a pair of hinged doors need to be opened and shut on both sides which means taking twice as long. Up-and-over doors need just one movement to open or close.

• No Outward Space Is Used

When you have limited room in front of your garage, an up-and-over door is preferable. Perhaps you have a garage that you park another car in front of? Maybe your garage faces directly onto the street? If so, an up-and-over garage door is ideal because they don't swing out very far as they move up or down. By contrast, hinged garage doors need a wide space in front of them otherwise you simply cannot open them fully.

• More Internal Space

If you are storing your car in your garage, then an up-and-over door works very well because it will swing upwards above your parked vehicle. It makes use of the little-used space just below the garage's ceiling. Some garage doors which retract to the side take up the available room within your garage. As such, up-and-over garage doors are very helpful when internal floor space is limited.

• Automation Reliability

Another good thing about up-and-over garage doors is that they can be automated to rise up when you arrive home in your car. Modern transponders can send a signal wirelessly to a motor in your garage which will raise the door up for you. Although such systems are available for other sorts of garage doors, motors that operate up-and-over doors tend to be the most reliable because the lifting mechanism used is so simple.

Interested in buying your own up-and-over garage door? Contact professional garage door contractors today.