Garage Door Sizes in South Africa: How to Measure

Updated November 2026 by Delene Fortoen, Operations, Installation Coordination & Customer Service.

The garage door size that matters is your opening. Robo Door garage doors are made to measure, supplied and installed by Robo Door, so we quote to the measured width and height, not to a catalogue size. Measure the width, height, headroom and side room, and the right door type follows from those four numbers.

Is there a standard garage door size in South Africa?

Builders work to common opening sizes, but few openings match them exactly. Older homes, renovated garages and walls that have settled all end up a little different, and very few openings are perfectly square. A door ordered to a standard size and forced into a real opening binds, gaps or rubs.

So we do not sell from a size chart. We measure at a free site visit and the door is made to that opening. If you are planning a new garage, ask your builder or architect for the opening size before the walls go up, and we will tell you which doors suit it.

What is the difference between a single and a double garage door?

A single door serves one car. A double door serves two cars side by side. A double garage can take one wide door or two single doors with a pillar between them.

	One wide door	Two single doors
Driving in	No pillar in the way, easier to park two cars	Each car has its own opening
Weight	One larger, heavier door	Two smaller doors
Motor	One motor, sized to the wider door	One motor per door, if both are automated
Daily use	The whole opening opens every time	Open only the side you need
Structure	Needs a lintel that spans the full width	The pillar carries part of the wall

Neither is better in every garage. The wall you already have usually decides. Turning two single openings into one wide one is building work, not a garage door job.

How do I measure a garage door opening?

Use a steel tape and work in millimetres. Measure the opening itself, not the old door.

Width. Measure from wall to wall at the top, the middle and the bottom of the opening. Write down all three.
Height. Measure from the floor to the underside of the lintel at the left side, the centre and the right side. Write down all three.
Headroom. Measure from the underside of the lintel up to the ceiling, or to the lowest thing in the way: a beam, a pipe or a light.
Side room. Measure the clear wall on each side of the opening, inside the garage. The tracks or guides fix here.
Depth. Measure from the opening back along the ceiling. A sectional door parks along the ceiling when it is open.
Services. Note any pipes, cables, geysers or storage shelves near the opening, and where the nearest power point is.

Openings are rarely square, which is why we take three readings. On our own site visits the door is made to the smallest, and the fixing detail takes up the difference. How we measure and fit explains the method.

How does the size decide between sectional and roll-up?

Headroom and ceiling space decide. A sectional garage door lifts in panels along tracks and parks under the ceiling, so it needs headroom above the opening and clear ceiling behind it. A roll-up garage door coils onto a drum above the opening and keeps the ceiling clear, so it suits garages with little headroom or a ceiling used for storage.

Measurement	Sectional door	Roll-up door
Headroom	Needed for the tracks and the top panel to turn	Needed for the drum only
Side room	Needed for the vertical tracks	Needed for the guides
Ceiling depth	The open door parks along it	Not used, the ceiling stays clear

Garage door types in South Africa compares the two in more detail.

Which panel suits a wide double door?

All three sectional doors are made to the measured opening. The Aluminium Garage Door does not rust, which suits modern and coastal homes, with fluted, cladded or glazed panels. The Aluzinc Garage Door has coated-metal panels with a timber-look embossing, the value choice with low upkeep. The Wooden Garage Door gives a real wood face and needs resealing on a schedule that depends on how exposed it is. A wide door shows its panel more, so choose the look you want to see every day.

Does the size change the motor?

Yes. A motor is optional, and when you want one it is matched to the door's size, balance and how often it is used. A wide double door needs more from the motor than a single one. Battery backup is an option on the quotation, for power cuts.

What does a garage door cost, and what is the warranty?

Every garage door is quoted to the measured opening. The size, the door type, the panel, the motor and any removal of the old door are each a line on the quotation. Prices include VAT. The quotation is valid for 7 days. Standard payment is a 70% deposit and 30% on installation, and paying 100% upfront earns a 7% settlement discount.

Every Robo Door garage door carries a 1-year warranty on the door and motor against defective components, and the installation workmanship sits with Robo Door. In South Africa our Alrode teams measure and install. The full range is on the garage doors page.

Next step

Measure the headroom above your garage opening before the visit. It decides between a sectional and a roll-up door. Request a free quote, WhatsApp +27 82 888 1919 or call 082 888 1919.