Garage Door Panels

[bggrnchvy]

It seems like an easy enough problem to solve, but I'm meeting a surprising amount of resistance.

I'm going to be fabricating my own horizontal bifold doors for my garage and by that I mean I'm building the mechanism, drive and frame. The reason for doing this is the same reason I'm having trouble.

My wife's only hate for my project was the original door height and the idea of roll up doors aesthetically, she has to have regular garage door panels. So door height came down to 10'+ and I came up with a solution to maintain my internal space with the doors open, simply copy what works, hanger doors. I don't have room for sliders, so folding doors are an excellent solution. I'll just use garage door panels as the sheathing and hinge the mechanism between a pair. That's the easy part.

Here's the hard part, procuring standard garage door panels. No installing company will sell them to me separate in quantity and no OEM will deal with me as I'm not a dealer. I need to buy 5 pretty standard 16' panels, and one 16' windowed unit and the same in 8'. Home Depot will only sell me the whole kit, and for standard 16x7 sizing.

Anybody know of a company I should be contacting or place I should be looking? I'm in the CA Bay Area, 94523.

 

[carhunter]

I'd start hunting on craigslist. In my area there are several wholesalers who sell discounted or blemished doors, manufacturer closeouts, etc.

Or place a wanted ad?

 

[MikeF]

craigslist may be the way to go, or find someone to sell em on the side that works for a company. surprised they wont sell just the panels though. some people only want to replace a dented one a lot of the time. are you counter balancing or running a winch style drive?

 

[homebuilt burner]

Internet buying will kill you in shipping is my guess. You could watch for a "take out" situation on craigs list. What about buying the kit and reselling the hardware you don't need??

I had the same thought as far as building a bifold out of a conventional door, I was thinking about using the tracks and spings to lift the unit but it sounds like you have a different plan. keep us posted as I am very interested in this project and wish you luck.

 

[bggrnchvy]

The companies I've talked to will sell me a panel, along with their labor to replace it on my existing garage door. They won't just sell me panels I want from a manufacturer, which is weird. In my mind, take your cut, sell me parts, quick money. Not the way it works I guess.

I've contacted the one company on the local CL before about buying panels and they only sell 16x7 or 8x7 kits.

The problem with take outs is getting multiple doors worth that are the same style. I need more than a standard 7' tall doors worth for both of these, so that's 4 doors worth of parts panels that have to match.

For the drive, originally I was going to use rams, but the old standby of a drum and cables is the easiest to balance.