Before you call
Frequently Asked Questions
Costs, lead times, warranties, load shedding, coastal corrosion and what happens when a door stops working. The questions we are actually asked.
These are the questions that come up most often on the phone, grouped by what they relate to. If yours is not here, phone and ask — we would rather answer it properly than have you guess.
General
Price follows the opening size, the slat specification, and whether the door is manual or motorised. A single domestic garage door sits at the bottom of the range; a wide motorised industrial shutter with wind locks and safety devices sits at the top, and the gap between them is large. We quote per opening after a site survey rather than publish a figure that turns out to be wrong for your building. Send us the width and height and we can usually give you a budget range on the phone.
For a standard door on a straightforward opening, expect roughly two to four weeks from accepted quote to installed door. The survey happens within a few days of your call, the quote follows within one working day of measuring, and manufacture takes the bulk of the remaining time because each door is built to your measured opening rather than pulled from stock. Fire-rated doors and unusual sizes take longer. If you have a hard deadline, say so upfront and we will tell you honestly whether we can meet it.
All of them. Our vans work Sandton daily, from Fourways and Lonehill in the north through Bryanston, Rivonia, Woodmead and Sunninghill, down to Sandton CBD, Sandown, Illovo, Hyde Park and Craighall, and across the light industrial areas at Kramerville, Wynberg, Marlboro and Linbro Park. Because the teams are local, a survey is usually booked within a day or two and a breakdown is attended the same day rather than scheduled for next week.
In greater Sandton and Pretoria we aim for same-day attendance on emergency breakdowns, and our standby number is answered around the clock on 082 333 9999. Elsewhere in the country it depends on where our nearest team is that week. Our standby vehicles carry the components that fail most often, so a large share of breakdowns are fixed on the first visit. Where a door cannot be fully repaired on the spot, we secure the opening before leaving so you are not left with an open building overnight.
Yes, and most of our service work is exactly that. We repair and maintain all common makes of roller shutter, sectional and high-speed door on South African sites, and we stock or can source the usual wear parts. Where a component is proprietary and genuinely no longer available, we tell you immediately rather than stringing out repairs on a door that cannot be kept going. Send a photo of the door and the motor plate and we can often identify what is needed before anyone travels out.
Every motorised door we install has a manual override, so you are never locked in or out when the power goes. Beyond that we can fit a battery backup that keeps the door operating normally through an outage, typically for dozens of cycles before it needs mains power again. Mention load shedding when we quote and we will include the backup priced as a separate line so you can decide. On commercial sites where trucks need to keep moving, it is usually worth it.
A roller shutter door curls the curtain around a barrel above the opening, so it needs almost no ceiling space behind the lintel. A sectional door lifts panels flat against the ceiling on horizontal tracks, which needs several metres of clear headroom but seals better and insulates better. If your building has low headroom, obstructions above the opening, or services running across the ceiling, a roller shutter is usually the only option. Where headroom allows and thermal performance matters, a sectional door may be the better door. We will tell you which suits your opening at the survey.
A well-specified industrial roller shutter door that is serviced regularly will run for well over a decade, and often considerably longer. The limiting factor is usually the spring assembly, and spring life is measured in cycles rather than years — a loading bay door opened forty times a day wears out far faster than a store room door opened twice. This is exactly what a service contract is for: springs and limit switches are replaced on a planned visit at a fraction of what the same work costs at 22:00 on a Sunday with a truck waiting.
Doors are manufactured to your measured opening rather than to stock sizes, up to roughly 8 000mm wide depending on the slat gauge and drive selected. Unusual openings, non-square openings and awkward headroom are normal work for us — in fact most replacement jobs involve an opening that is not quite square, which is why a door cut down from a standard size tends to leave gaps at the guides that let in rain and dust. Send the width and height and we will confirm what is achievable.
Working with us
No — most of our service and repair work is on doors somebody else fitted. We handle all common makes of roller shutter, sectional overhead and high-speed door. The only time we turn work away is when parts are proprietary and no longer manufactured, and we tell you that on the first visit rather than after three billed callouts.
Emergency breakdowns in greater Sandton and Pretoria are same-day where we can reach you, and we run a standby number after hours. Booked repairs are usually within 48 hours across Gauteng. Elsewhere in the country it depends where our nearest team is that week — call and we will give you a real date rather than a comfortable one.
No, not within our standard travel radius. For coastal and outlying sites we schedule the survey and the installation together so you are not paying for two trips, and we will say upfront if travel is going to be charged.
Yes, and for retail and logistics sites it is usually the sensible option. Shopfront shutters and dock doors are normally replaced overnight or over a weekend so you do not lose trading or dispatch time. Say so at quoting stage — after-hours work is priced differently but it is almost always cheaper than the downtime.
Spring tension checked and adjusted, limit switches reset, drive inspected, guide rails cleared, curtain and bottom rail checked for damage, and every safety device tested. You get a written report of what was done and what is likely to need attention next, which is also what insurers and health and safety officers ask to see.
Yes. We supply torsion springs, motors and gearboxes, individual slats, bottom rails, guide rails, bearings, chains, remotes and safety edges. Tell us the door make and the opening size, or send a photograph of the drive and the end plate — that is usually enough to identify what you need.
Emergency Roller Shutter Door Repairs View service
A door stuck open, a door stuck shut, or a door that has come out of its guides. Anything where the building is unsecured or the operation has stopped. If the door still works but sounds wrong, that is a booked repair, and it will cost you considerably less if you call it in before it becomes the other kind.
We make the opening safe and secure first — that is the priority, before any conversation about parts. If a component has to be ordered, the door is either secured shut or made operable manually, and you get the lead time on the day rather than a week later.
Yes. After-hours and weekend callouts carry a higher rate, and we tell you the figure on the phone before anybody is dispatched. You will not get a surprise on the invoice.
Usually. Every motorised door we install has a manual override, and most others do too. Call the standby number and the technician will talk you through it while the team is on the way — sometimes that alone gets you trading again.
Roller Shutter Door Repairs View service
A curtain with a few damaged slats near the bottom does not need replacing — those slats swap out individually. A door with a corroded curtain, worn guides and a failing drive is throwing good money after bad. We will tell you which one you have, and we would rather lose the sale than string out repairs on a door that is finished.
It depends entirely on what failed. A limit switch reset is a call-out fee. A spring replacement on a wide industrial door is a bigger job with two technicians. We quote after diagnosis rather than over the phone, because a phone estimate for a door nobody has looked at is a number that changes later.
Torsion springs, by a distance — their life is measured in cycles, so a door opened forty times a day wears far faster than one opened twice. After that: limit switches drifting out of adjustment, guide rails packed with debris, and bottom rails bent by forklifts.
Yes. Roller shutters are the bulk of our work, but we service sectional overhead doors and high-speed fabric doors as well, on industrial and commercial sites.
Roller Shutter Door Installation View service
A single standard door is usually a one-day fit. Multiple bays are phased so you never lose more than part of your dock or workshop capacity at once. The longer part is manufacture — roughly two to three weeks from accepted quote.
No. Our own teams install what we manufacture. It matters more than it sounds: when installation is subcontracted to whoever is nearest, nobody owns the result, and the warranty conversation a year later becomes an argument about whose fault it was.
A structurally sound opening and, for motorised doors, a power supply at the right side of it. The site survey checks both. If the opening needs steelwork or the power needs moving, that is itemised in the quote rather than discovered on installation day.
Yes, and it is included in most replacement quotes. Say so at survey stage so the team arrives with the right equipment, particularly on wide industrial openings.
Roller Shutter Door Manufacturing View service
Roughly eight metres wide, depending on the slat gauge and the drive selected. Height is generally limited by the building rather than the door. Unusual openings are normal work for us — the door is built to your measured opening, not cut down from a stock size.
Yes. Powder coating is available to any RAL colour, and we regularly match centre management or corporate specifications. Galvanised is the default where the opening faces weather, salt air or washdown, because the zinc is bonded to the steel rather than sprayed over it.
Yes, we manufacture for trade as well as supplying and installing direct. Tell us the opening dimensions, slat specification and drive requirement and we will quote on manufacture only.
Two to three weeks from accepted quote for a standard industrial or domestic door, with survey and manufacture taking most of that. Fire-rated assemblies and unusual sizes take longer because components are brought in.
Roller Shutter Door Service Contracts and Maintenance View service
It follows cycles, not the calendar. A dock door opening fifty times a day wants quarterly attention; a workshop door opening twice a day is fine annually. We set the interval from your actual usage rather than selling everyone the same schedule.
On a high-cycle door, yes — usually by a distance. Almost every emergency callout we attend was preventable: springs fatigue predictably, limits drift gradually, guides fill with debris slowly. On a door opened twice a day the maths is closer, and we will say so rather than sell you a contract you do not need.
Yes. Contract sites go to the front of the queue on emergency calls, which on a trading day is usually the part that matters most.
Every visit produces a written report covering what was checked, what was adjusted and what is likely to need attention next. That is the document your insurer, fire consultant or health and safety officer will ask for.
Roller Shutter Door Motorisation and Automation View service
Usually, yes. Most chain-hoist and spring-balanced doors can be converted, provided the curtain and guides are sound and there is headroom for the operator. The survey confirms it — occasionally the honest answer is that the door is too far gone to be worth motorising.
Yes. Every motorised door we fit has a manual override, and we can add a battery backup so the door operates normally right through an outage. Mention it at quoting stage and it is included rather than retrofitted later.
Remotes, keypads, key switches, loop detectors for vehicle traffic, push buttons and integration with existing access control. For high-traffic bays, loop or radar activation keeps forklifts moving without anybody touching a control.
Yes, and on a powered door they are not optional extras. Safety edges and photocells are fitted as standard, and closing force is measured and set within safe limits before we hand the door over.
Roller Shutter Door Spares and Replacement Parts View service
Yes. We supply springs, motors and gearboxes, slats, bottom rails, guide rails, bearings, chains, remotes and safety edges over the counter. For anything involving spring tension we would strongly suggest a technician — springs under load cause serious injuries every year.
Send a photograph of the drive and the end plate along with the opening width and height. That identifies most doors. If the make is unclear, a photo of the slat profile usually settles it.
We hold the common wear parts for most makes in circulation here, and can order in for others. Where a range has been discontinued and parts genuinely no longer exist, we say so upfront instead of stringing it out.
Yes, and it is usually the right call. A curtain with two or three damaged slats near the bottom rail does not need replacing — those slats come out individually, which costs a fraction of a new door.
Roller Shutter Door Safety and Compliance Inspections View service
Powered doors are machinery. Insurers, health and safety officers and fire consultants increasingly want evidence that yours have been inspected and are operating within safe limits, and a verbal assurance from whoever last worked on them is not evidence.
Closing force measured against safe limits, safety edges and photocells tested, manual override and fail-safe operation checked, spring and drive condition assessed, and fixings and guides inspected. Everything is recorded, including anything that failed.
Yes. Fire-rated assemblies are life-safety components, so we test release from the building fire panel rather than just locally, and confirm gravity descent operates as designed.
You get a written report listing what failed and what it needs, priced separately. There is no obligation to have us do the remedial work — the report is yours either way.
Garage Door Repairs View service
A broken or fatigued torsion spring, almost certainly. The spring carries the weight of the door — when it goes, you are lifting the full panel yourself. Stop using it and call us. Springs under load are the single most dangerous part of a garage door and are not a DIY job.
Usually a stripped drive gear or a sheared coupling rather than a dead motor, which is good news because it is the cheaper of the two. It can also mean the manual release has been pulled and not re-engaged — worth checking before you call.
That is the safety beam doing its job. Nine times out of ten one of the two sensors either side of the opening is dirty, knocked out of alignment or has a light shining into it. Wipe both lenses and check the indicator lights are steady before booking a callout.
Yes — most of our garage door work is on doors somebody else fitted. We handle roll-up, sectional and tip-up doors of all common makes. Where parts for a discontinued range genuinely no longer exist, we tell you upfront.
Garage Door Motors and Automation View service
The right one for the weight and cycle count of your door, which is why we size it after looking at the door rather than selling one model to everyone. An undersized motor on a heavy double door is the most common reason we are back within two years.
Every motor we fit has a manual override so you can open the door by hand. For normal powered operation right through an outage, we fit a battery backup — tell us at quoting stage and it is included rather than retrofitted later.
Usually, yes — provided the door itself is sound. We would check the springs and balance at the same time, because a door that is out of balance is what kills operators, and replacing the motor without fixing that just resets the clock.
Yes. We supply additional handsets and keypads, and most current operators support app control. We can also pair a garage motor with an existing gate motor or estate access system so one remote does both.
Question not answered here?
Phone and ask. You will get a straight answer from somebody who works on these doors, not a call-centre script.
Next step
Send the opening size. We will do the rest.
A rough width and height is enough to start a quote. If a door is stuck right now, call the standby number instead.
Request a callback
Two working hours is our usual turnaround on callbacks.