Roll-up, walk-in, overhead — your door choices affect how you use your building every single day. Here's how to get the configuration right.
Roll-up doors (also called coiling doors) are the most popular choice for metal garages, workshops, and storage buildings. They roll into a compact coil above the opening, maximizing headroom inside the building.
Common sizes: 8x8, 9x7, 10x10, 12x12, 14x14. Standard residential sizes are 9x7 and 10x10. Workshop and commercial sizes range from 10x10 to 14x14+. For large equipment access, we can accommodate openings up to 20 feet wide.
Roll-up doors are available in insulated and non-insulated versions. Insulated doors are recommended for climate-controlled buildings and add approximately $200-$500 per door.
Every metal building should have at least one walk-in door for everyday access without opening a large garage door. Walk-in doors come in standard 36-inch (3-foot) width with commercial-grade hardware, deadbolt locks, and weather stripping.
Placement options: End wall (next to or opposite from garage doors), side wall (convenient for buildings with multiple use zones), and paired (double walk-in doors for wider pedestrian access). We recommend placing walk-in doors on the side of the building closest to your home or parking area for convenience.
Overhead sectional doors (like residential garage doors) are another option. They open by sliding up along tracks mounted to the ceiling. They offer better insulation options than roll-ups, a cleaner residential appearance, window panel options for natural light, and wider selection of colors and styles.
The trade-off is they require more headroom inside the building for the tracks and may not be practical for very tall openings.
For workshops, agricultural buildings, and equipment storage, drive-through configurations with doors on both ends are extremely popular. They allow you to pull vehicles, trailers, or equipment straight through without backing up — a huge convenience for daily operations.
We offer matching doors on front and back, offset doors for more flexible interior layout, and mixed configurations (large roll-up on one end, smaller door or walk-in on the other).
Think about your largest piece of equipment or vehicle and add 2 feet of width and 1 foot of height for comfortable clearance. Consider future needs — a slightly larger door now costs much less than retrofitting later. Multiple smaller doors are often more practical than one massive opening. Walk-in doors on the side keep your main bay doors free for vehicles. Insulated doors matter if you're climate-controlling the building.