What is a Side Hinged Garage Door?

When you think of a garage door, most people think of the traditional ‘up and over’ garage doors, where the door is opened by lifting it over your head, using a retractable or canopy mechanism. They’re heavy, noisy, and can be inconvenient if all you want is quick access to something in your garage

Despite their drawbacks, these types of garage doors are so common, you may not know there is an alternative. But there is; side hinged garage doors.

There are many benefits to side hinged garage doors, such as:

  • Providing extra security
  • Better for your back, due to the opening mechanism
  • Easier to access, especially if used frequently
  • Aesthetically-pleasing due to their modern construction
  • A higher level of privacy

You can find more out about the benefits of side hinged garage doors in our post here.

Side-hinged garage doors do everything traditional garage doors do – they keep your car or belongings safely and securely locked away – the only difference being how they open and close.

With hinges on either side, the garage doors open outwards, like a regular door, rather than up and over your head.

There are of course many benefits to this – it maximises storage space in your garage for one, as no part of the door enters the garage on opening, as a retractable up and over garage door does.

It also offers extra privacy, allowing only part of the garage door to be opened at one time, meaning you don’t have to display all the contents of your garage to the whole street every-time you need to access something inside it.

There are options to have the doors split in the centre, or off-centre in a 2/3rd 1/3rd split to either side, which results in a clearly defined pedestrian door to one side – ideal if you need regular access to the inside of the garage on foot.

The nature of the door means any access struggles are removed. There’s no heavy lifting of cumbersome doors required, no excess noise caused, and no risk of garage contents obstructing the door opening, as they open completely outwards.

There are options to have automatic opening mechanisms on side opening garage doors – but as there’s no weight to lift with a side-hinged garage door as there is with up-and-overs, there’s rarely a need.

Side-hinged garage doors then, offer everything you’d expect from a garage door, protection, privacy and security, and that little bit more too, in convenience and ease of use. There’s a huge range of styles available too, so there’s no compromising on style, with a variety of finishes, materials and window options available.

Take a look at our range of Side Hinged Garage Doors products, all manufactured in our UK factory, and available in bespoke sizes, or contact us for a free, no-obligation quotation.