It’s well known in the industrial door industry that you must consider opening sizes and ease of operation, especially in commercial settings, when doors must fulfil the two functions of allowing access and boosting protection. The options available for such doors are sliding, folding or rolling shutters, while they’re generally made of steel for providing some much-needed strength.
If you require an opening that is completely clear and allows easy access, without the door being an obstruction in any way, then it better to have rolling shutters. In the case of folding doors, the door leaves will fold towards the sides, and it may be required to provide space for them there, though a good design can restrict this to just the thickness and width of the folded shutters. Sliding doors require space to be left for the width of the shutter module and will thus block a part of the doorway. Again here, this can be solved with proper design and having the sliding shutter slide on rails that extend beyond the doorway and remain flush with adjoining walls. This will leave the complete opening clear when the shutters are opened.
Roller shutter doors are those that are most extensively used in industries and commercial enterprise and these doors are made of a flexible construction that allows the door to roll around a barrel that is situated over the doorway. As is the case with many Industrial Door Systems, you can have roller shutter doors that have a wicket gate that allows entry of personnel, with the door being kept closed, and only opened when goods or transport needs to move in or out.
Sliding and folding shutters are more in use in farm buildings, warehouses and other sheds. These doors can be hung on a top rail and have a guide rail at floor level. These bottom rails can collect debris and lead to obstruction of the smooth movement of the doors. These doors can be operated to work partially so that smaller openings are created for use of personnel. In the case of rolling shutters, the complete doors must be rolled up to allow access.
Roller shutters have strong springs that activate the barrel and make it easy for closing and opening the shutter. In the case of folding and sliding doors, the weight of the shutters can make it slightly cumbersome to open and close them, and poor maintenance of the tracks and guide rails can make it even more difficult to operate. It is also easier to have rolling shutters that operate with motors for their operation, though the same thing is also possible for sliding and folding doors. Hopefully, that clears up some of the differences before these very popular doors, whilst giving you a better understanding of the quality, safety and value they afford.