- Timber on a galvanised steel frame
- Sealed all six faces before hanging
- Tip-up or sectional mechanism
A wooden garage door is chosen for appearance, and it earns that choice on the right house. In Cape Town we fit them on the large properties through Constantia, Bishopscourt, Newlands and the Atlantic seaboard, on the estates out toward Durbanville, and on period houses where a modern steel panel would look wrong.
Wooden garage doors we supply in Cape Town
- Hardwood sectional doors with the panel construction that suits the elevation.
- Timber tip-up and side-hinged doors on new or existing frames.
- Timber-clad steel doors where the look is wanted with less maintenance.
- Meranti and other hardwoods, selected for stability rather than only for grain.
Timber in a coastal climate, honestly
This is the conversation we have on every timber quote near the sea. Salt-laden wind, driving winter rain and strong summer sun together are harder on a finish than anything inland, and a timber door three hundred metres from surf will need recoating considerably sooner than the same door in Constantia. On the most exposed positions we recommend timber-clad steel instead and explain why before taking an order for solid timber.
Sealing on all six faces
A door sealed only where it shows will take up moisture through the top and bottom edges and move. We seal all six faces, including the edges nobody sees, and in this climate that single detail is most of the difference between a timber door that stays true and one that does not.
Weight, and what it means for the rest of the door
Timber doors are heavy. The frame has to carry it, the balance has to be rated for the finished door, and the operator has to be sized on the real mass. A timber door on hardware specified for a steel one fails early and takes the hardware with it, and on the coast the hardware is already working harder than it would inland.
Hardware grade on a timber door
The timber gets the attention and the steel around it gets forgotten. Hinges, brackets, tracks and fixings on a coastal timber door should be stainless or heavily coated, because those are what will seize first and they are what holds a heavy leaf up.
Timber on Constantia and estate properties
Away from the immediate coast, in Constantia, Bishopscourt, Newlands and out toward Durbanville, a timber door is a straightforward proposition and the buildings usually carry one beautifully. We build to the proportions of the opening and match other timber on the frontage.
Maintenance, stated honestly
A timber garage door needs recoating. Away from the sea that might be every three or four years; on an exposed seafront elevation it is considerably sooner. We give the interval for your specific opening at survey.
What a wooden garage door costs in Cape Town
More than steel, both to buy and to keep. Priced on opening size, timber, construction, finish, hardware grade and automation, with the maintenance expectation set out in writing.
Common questions
About wooden garage doors
Meranti is the sensible all-round choice in South Africa: stable, takes stain evenly and reasonably priced. Cedar is lighter, which matters on a wide double door, and naturally insect-resistant. Saligna is beautiful but heavy. Pine only works under a deep overhang with disciplined recoating.
Look at it once a year. If the finish has gone matt or chalky at the bottom rail or the vertical edges, sand lightly and put two coats on. North- and west-facing doors in Western Cape need it more often than sheltered doors at the coast.
Usually because the back and the end grain were never sealed. Water goes in at the unsealed edges and the board moves. We seal all six faces on the bench before the door is hung, and build the timber onto a galvanised steel frame that carries the load.
No — timber cannot curl around a barrel. A wooden door runs as a tip-up panel or as a hinged sectional door. If you have no headroom for either, a woodgrain-finish aluminium door gives the same look on a roll-up mechanism.
Related
Also worth a look
Sliding Garage Doors
Where there is no headroom at all
Sliding doors run sideways along the wall instead of upward. The answer when a garage has no usable headroom and a roll-up or sectional door will…
- Runs sideways along the wall
- Manual or motorised
- Suits low-roof and basement garages
Security Roller Shutter Doors
Cash offices, stock rooms, high-risk sites
Heavy-gauge security shutters with anti-lift locking and corrosion-resistant hardware, so the spec still holds after a few winters.
- Anti-lift bottom rail with bolts
- Alarm and access control integration
Perforated Roller Shutter Doors
Ventilation without losing the opening
Perforated curtains that let a building breathe while staying closed, useful where the wind makes an open bay impractical.
- Punched galvanised slat, mixed options
- Openings to 6 000mm wide