Roller doors can be a good investment for a residential home, as having doors that roll straight up into a housing unit above the door means no space is needed for the door to swing out as it opens. It also means opening up the ceiling of the garage so you can use it for storage. Whatever your reasons for choosing a roller door for your home's garage, you want to ensure you opt for the right one. This will mean a garage door that lasts for years and that adds to the curb appeal of your home. Note a few suggestions and discuss these with a garage door contractor when you're ready to shop.

1. Material

Steel is very durable and holds up against possible dents and dings in your garage door, but note that the heavy material may also put excess wear and tear on the rollers and tracks, causing them to need early repair. The door may also be too heavy for you to lift if your automatic opener should ever break. Steel may also rust over time, so you would need to eventually repair or replace it altogether.

Aluminium is a lightweight, durable choice but it may be so lightweight that it tends to buckle and sway in the wind. If you opt for an aluminium door, you would do well to get security stoppers that keep it tense and rigid when closed. A good compromise between steel and aluminium is a door with insulating foam or polyurethane material between two sheets of steel. This makes the steel more lightweight, but still strong. To lighten the weight, you might choose a steel door with windows, as the tempered glass is typically lighter than steel, so it lightens the overall weight of the door.

2. Security features

It's important that you choose the right security features when you opt for a roller door. Because the slats bend and fold to allow the door to roll, get a door with a pinch guard. This stops the door if it senses anything in between the slats; you won't pinch a finger or hand with these guards in place. It's also good to look for a door that has a reinforced bottom slat, as intruders may try to use a pry bar to push open the door from the bottom; with a reinforced bottom slat, this makes prying open the door at this point very difficult.