Are Sliding Garage Doors the Best Option for You?

Sheds, patios and closets can all have sliding doors, but how about a garage? Yes, it can. As a matter of fact, sliding garage doors (like the one shown here, from The Garage Centre) are becoming more and more popular despite an obvious logistical problem: Where does the door go when it’s open?

On a shed, closet or patio, the sliding door panel overlaps the fixed one. Applying this principle to a garage, you’ll need an oversized door opening to accommodate panels wide enough for a vehicle. That often means you need a bigger garage. That’s why you seldom find this kind of sliding door on existing garages.

The way around this problem? Have the doors to follow a curved track and rest against the inside walls of the garage. This type of slide-to-the-side door is easier to open and close than a door that opens vertically, and provides extra headroom for storage.

If your household is anything like mine, you need all the storage space you can get. It doesn’t hurt that a sliding door on your garage can also look stylish.

What Is a Sliding Garage Door?

If you’re looking for a flat panel sliding door, also known as a barn door, you’ll find plenty out there. But slide-to-the-side doors, aka side-sliding doors, are a more elegant option for most garages.

A side-sliding door is sectional, meaning it’s made of individual panels hinged together, only vertically instead of horizontally. This allows the door to slide on a curved track exactly like a conventional lift-up sectional door, except the tracks are over and under the door rather than on the sides.

There’s no reason a manufacturer can’t make a side-sliding garage door out of the same material as a lift-up sectional door, but the ones most readily available are steel, aluminum, wood or vinyl. With the exception of wood, these materials are lightweight, making the door easier to open and close.

Lightweight materials don’t offer much climate control. But if you live in a colder climate, you can find lightweight doors with added insulation that keep a garage warm.

Sliding garage doors are easy to operate manually, but some people prefer a push-button remote. Wall-mounted openers for slide-to-the-side doors are pricey, but they’re available. If you have a sliding barn door, you can equip it with an opener that mounts on the exterior wall above the top track.

Sliding Garage Door Pros and Cons

Barn door-style sliding doors have been around for a while, but slide-to-the-side doors are a relatively new addition to the market. If you’re interested in one, consider these benefits and drawbacks.

Pros

• More headroom: We’ve already mentioned this, but it deserves repeating. When you install a side-sliding garage door, it make available all the space from the top of the doorway to the ceiling. Use it for storage, build a loft or simply leave it empty.
• Quiet, easy operation: The openers for side-sliding doors may cost more, but they don’t have to work as hard, so they’re quieter with less impact on your energy bill. You can skip the opener if you prefer because sliding doors are easy to operate manually.
• Safe to repair: Unlike lift-up canopy and sectional doors, side-sliding doors have no torsion springs that can injure and potentially kill you if you try to repair them yourself.
• No opening zone: You don’t have to leave space in front of the door before you can open it, as you do with swinging doors and lift-up canopy doors. You can stand right next to the door while it’s operating with no danger of it crashing down if you walk through.

Cons

• Unobstructed side walls: You may gain storage space overhead, but you lose space on the side walls. These must be kept clear to allow the door to open.
• Bottom track can freeze: Snow and ice can collect on the bottom track and stop the door from moving. To prevent this, you may have to install a heating strip, which costs extra.
• Expensive: Slide-to-the-side sectional doors cost more than lift-up sectional doors. This is mostly because they aren’t yet mass-produced. Prices could come down as these doors become more popular.

Sliding Garage Door Installation

If you’re determined to install a garage door yourself, you’re better off choosing a side-sliding door than a lift-up canopy or sectional door. But you’ve still got a major task before you.

The upper and lower tracks need to be accurately spaced, properly aligned and securely anchored, or the door won’t work. Adding an automatic door opener introduces even more complications that pretty much require professional servicing.

Should You Get a Sliding Garage Door?

If your workshop is in the garage and you find yourself frequently opening the door partway to go in and get a tool, a sliding door may be just what you need. You can leave the door open just wide enough for you to enter. You can even install a passage door in one of the panels.

You may also prefer a side-sliding door to another type if you like the idea of overhead storage space. It’s a particularly good investment for people who live on busy, crowded streets and with limited driveway space in front of the garage. Many homes in congested cities like San Francisco, New York and Boston have this problem.