Rolling steel doors in Miami

A rolling steel door coils into a barrel above the opening. A sectional door runs back along the ceiling on horizontal tracks. That one difference decides most commercial specifications: a rolling door needs headroom but almost no depth behind the header, so it suits storefronts and loading bays where sprinklers, ductwork or a mezzanine already occupy the ceiling.

It depends on the opening, not the county. Miami-Dade is a High Velocity Hurricane Zone, so a commercial door needs a Notice of Acceptance and the pressure is written by the engineer against the building's exposure, height and opening size. In practice most South Florida service openings are covered by a door rated to 65 psf in both directions, while wider or more exposed openings move up to 70 or 100 psf.

A service call on an existing door usually runs $250 to $650 depending on what failed. A new galvanised steel service door starts at $5,800 installed, or $4,250 door-only for contractors and export. A higher-pressure or perforated model runs more. Fire doors, grilles, counter shutters, stainless and aluminium are quoted per opening rather than from a list, because on those the curtain material and the size move the price far more than the door type does. Operator and permit are quoted separately, and the figure moves with the size and the design pressure your opening has to meet.

A counter shutter is quoted per opening, with installation and any operator quoted on top. It is the short wide door over a service counter, a concession window, a pharmacy hatch or a bar, and it is priced differently from a service door because almost all of them are made to the opening rather than picked off a size chart. Width, whether it is face or between-jamb mounted, and the finish are what move the number.

It is a rolling door engineered and approved to hold a stated pressure in both directions, in and out, rather than one that merely looks solid. In Miami-Dade and Broward you need one on any exterior opening, because both counties are a High Velocity Hurricane Zone and the inspector checks the door against the design pressure the engineer wrote for that opening. Most South Florida service openings are covered by a door rated to 65 psf, at $6,400 installed; wider or more exposed openings move up to 70 or 100 psf, at $8,600 and $8,900. An unrated door on an exterior opening will not pass, whatever it costs.

Yes. A UL labelled fire door has to be drop tested and the result recorded in writing, and the inspector will ask for that record. The test confirms the door actually releases and closes when the alarm calls for it, which is the only thing the label promises. We drop test, reset the release and leave you the documentation.

Usually yes. A curtain out of its guides is normally the result of an impact or a worn guide. The repair is to straighten or replace the affected slats, true the guides and re-tension the barrel spring. If the curtain is badly deformed we replace the damaged slats rather than the whole door, which is most of the cost.

A chain hoist is a hand chain and gear reduction that lets one person raise a curtain far too heavy to push up. The deeper the reduction, the heavier the door it lifts and the more chain you pull. Ratios run from a direct drive on light curtains up to 25:1 for the heaviest. It is also the fallback when a motorised door loses power.

A jackshaft operator mounted on the barrel shaft, not the trolley opener you would put on a house. We fit Manaras and LiftMaster commercial units in 115, 208, 240 and 480 volt, single and three phase, from half to two horsepower. Curtain weight, cycles per day and the power actually available at the opening decide which one.

Yes, and most of our commercial work is exactly that. We service rolling doors from any manufacturer, including doors the original installer no longer supports, and the trucks carry the common slats, guides, springs and operator parts.