Like any building, your hangar may have started to shift as it ages, causing the door tracks to become misaligned and making it considerably more difficult to open the door. You don’t want to spend valuable time straining against a stuck door – you’d much rather fly. Struggling to open your hangar door should be the last thing on your mind.
Maybe your door isn’t difficult to open, but you have upgraded to a larger plane and now it doesn’t fit through your clear opening. Maybe you are looking for a door that allows a little bit of extra light into the building. Or maybe you are just looking for something new.
Good news. There are many door options when retrofitting your hangar.
Sliding Hangar Door
Sliding doors are a popular choice for hangars. These manually operated doors provide a large opening, as they slide along a pair of metal tracks to open. Depending on the type of sliding door, these tracks can be extended past the edges of the building to create an even wider opening.
However, even new sliding doors come with their own set of maintenance struggles. The bottom track on sliding doors is notorious for its tendency to jam, especially in northern climates where ice and snow build up quickly.
These doors also require considerable maintenance as the building continues to shift with changes in the weather.
Tracks frequently become misaligned, doors jump the tracks, or simply become stuck when the wheels wear down. Within a short time, the doors require more maintenance than they are worth.
Hydraulic Hangar Door
A single piece door that opens by lifting upward and outward, hydraulic doors are used in a variety of applications. They allow for a full width opening along the face of the building. These doors also provide a large, covered area when open, protecting you and your equipment from rain or snow.
Hydraulic doors also have their disadvantages. Unlike sliding doors, they require a large clear opening in front of the building to operate. Equipment parked within that area can be easily damaged as the door opens, making it essential to check for planes or personnel in front of the door prior to operating.
A hydraulic door also creates significant strain on the building when it is open due to the weight of the door pulling away from the frame. If not properly supported, this can cause serious structural damage to your hangar.
Bifold Hangar Door
Ahh. Bifold doors. While we are undoubtedly biased toward the bifold door option, hear us out. There’s a reason we prefer bifold doors to anything else.
Folding in half and lifting upward, bifold doors provide convenience that is hard to match. They provide a full width opening without compromising the strength of your building, allowing you to move your plane through the opening with ease.
Unlike hydraulic doors, bifold doors don’t require a large clear area in front of the door to operate, and they require minimal maintenance. At Diamond Doors, we have designed innovative features such as greaseless hinges, durable lift cables, and high-quality frame finish to make our bifold doors a convenient option.
Bifold doors are also designed to shift with the building, meaning that they don’t become jammed on shifting door tracks. The weight of a bifold door is evenly distributed, reducing the load on the building. A unique cantilevered roller design from Diamond Doors protects your door and equipment from high wind loads.
Convenience and Strength
Bifold doors come with all the advantages of sliding doors and hydraulic doors, but with added convenience, strength, and quality for your hangar.
Diamond Doors don’t only provide protection against high wind loads. They shield your plane against wind, rain, and pests. Boasting an excellent seal between the door and the door frame, you won’t need to worry about the security of your plane.
They also come equipped with an electric opener that operates with the push of a button and with a minimum opening speed of 18 feet per minute, they are the fastest doors in the market. “This door has extended by flying hobby by many years, not having to wrestle with a big large door every time I use my airplane,” says customer Maurice B.
Customization and Quality
Diamond Doors also offers fully customizable bifold doors. From polycarbonate sheeting for natural light, to windows, pedestrian doors, and customized cladding colours, we design your door to suit your building.
Our doors are guaranteed to last. We build every door to rigorous standards to ensure that each of our customers has a quality bifold door, and we stand behind that claim with a full, two year warranty on your door.
With doors that regularly last over 40 years with consistent use, we’ve turned your purchase into an investment rather than an expense.
A bifold door is a great option when you are looking to retrofit your hangar. Interested in a free quote? Contact us at info@diamonddoors.com or 866-325-7600, or request a quote online.
