Tip-Up and Up-and-Over Garage Doors in Cape Town

• One-piece steel or timber panel
• Counterbalance spring mechanism
• Motorisable with the right operator

A tip-up garage door swings out and up in one panel, running back into the roof space on a simple frame. It is the door on a great many older Cape Town houses, particularly through Woodstock, Observatory, Salt River, Wynberg, Plumstead and the older parts of the Northern Suburbs, and it is still a sensible product where the geometry suits it.

Tip-up garage doors we supply in Cape Town

• Steel tip-up doors in the traditional ribbed and panelled profiles, coated for the position.
• Aluminium tip-up doors, which on a coastal property are worth the difference.
• Timber tip-up doors where the house calls for it.
• Single and double widths, on new or existing frames.

Where a tip-up door works and where it does not

It needs clear space in front of the opening, because the panel swings out before it lifts. On the tight streets and short driveways common through the City Bowl, Woodstock and the older village centres there is frequently not room, and a sectional or roll-up door is the better answer. We will say so rather than fit a door that fouls a car every morning.

Wind and a single large panel

A tip-up panel is a big flat surface and this is a windy city. A gust catching a partly open door will bend the arms or twist the frame, and it happens more here than anywhere else we work. We fit stops as standard and check the pivots and frame after any wind damage rather than only straightening the panel.

Corrosion at the bottom edge and on the arms

Two things kill tip-up doors on this coast: the bottom edge of the panel, and the pivot arms and springs. All three are steel components sitting in salt air, and on a coastal property we specify better-coated replacements rather than fitting identical parts back.

Balance and safe operation

A tip-up door is held by tension on each side, and the balance is the whole safety story. An out-of-balance tip-up door is heavy to lift and can come down hard. We replace the tension components in matched pairs and set the balance so the door stays where you leave it.

Replacing an old tip-up door

Where the frame is sound we fit a new panel to it, which is the cheapest route by a distance. Where the frame has corroded or moved, it is replaced with the door and we say so up front.

Heritage areas

On a house in a heritage area, a hinged or tip-up door may be part of what the approval expects. We build to the proportions of the opening and supply the specification the process needs.

What a tip-up garage door costs in Cape Town

Usually the least expensive garage door for a given opening. Priced on width, panel material, coating, finish, frame replacement and automation.