HydraulicvsTilt-Up Doors

Any manufacturer that states that the door is “free-standing” and makes any of the following claims, you need to investigate further:

• Door doesn't require “any building supports.”
• Free-standing door with no building support.
• Door imposes no load onto the building.
• No massive header or horizontal bracing required.
• Only wind load is transferred to your building.

It is clear that when you study the reaction and load information...
that a tilt-up door exerts considerable loads on the building in all load cases.

• Check out the reactions at the base of the columns. Technically the loads at the base of the column are translated into the piers, not the building.
• Check out the loads at the top of the columns.
• Check out the vertical load component at the top of the columns.
• Check on the horizontal component of the load into or out of the building and the vertical component of the load.
• Check out all load cases. Take into account a portion of the dead load and a portion of the two wind loads used in any reporting.
• Check out the building reaction loads when the door is in the open position. Check out the reaction loads for the four load cases when the door is in the open position.
• Engineering analysis clearly demonstrates that wind conditions will result in a substantial amount of load being applied to the building by the door.

Despite the claims to the contrary, a tilt-up door DOES require building supports.

The tilt-up doorframes are narrower than the clear opening

A hingeless doorframe sits in-between two columns. As the door opens it lifts up and floats inward simultaneously. The door requires a gap on each side with at least enough clearance for the doorframe to tilt back into the building as it opens! The gap on each side needs to be sealed! The doors are typically 1.5" to 3" narrower on each side of the framed opening!

The Gap Issues

• By design, the top of the tilt-up doorframe rotates into the
  building while the bottom of the door swings out.
• The doorframe does not overlap the door side columns which leaves a gap.
• The gap needs to be sealed to keep the weather and dust out.
• The design of the tilt-up doors make it difficult to maintain a proper
  seal between the doorframe and door column.
• If the size of the gap changes, it would make it more difficult to keep
  the door sealed.
• The tilt-up doors require constant maintenance to ensure the door
  remains sealed properly.

The door doesn't seal well, making it harder to heat or
cool your building throughout the year, costing more!

Frost Heaves and Snow Under the Doorframe

With a tilt-up style door containing no hinges, you get less stability. There are no fixed connections to the doorframe other than a cylinder on each side of the doorframe. These cylinders do not pull the door downward, it just floats downward. Even the least amount of snow or debris under the doorframe or a frost heave on the outside ramp will result in the bottom of the doorframe sitting slanted and not level with the floor. When a door just floats down instead of being powered down by its cylinders and pump, the bottom seals cannot do an adequate job of sealing the door in the closed position. This creates a gap on one side and a tighter fit on the other side resulting in an open gap or crack that will allow daylight, dust, dirt, and snow to blow inside your building or even unwanted rodents to come inside.

Kit Doorframes... Need to be Assembled

Others companies ship their doors broken down as a bolt-together kit; a giant Erector Set with lots of bolts, small parts and cables to deal with! If by chance the kit is missing components or not assembled correctly it's gonna cost somebody extra time and money! Usually it ends up costing the end-user more when that happens!

Kit Door... Bolted Connections

Installation of bolts and cables on a moving doorframe is critical and is all up to the erector to do a good job. Are all the bolts tight? Did you miss any? Do I have the doorframe square? Did I bolt the truss in place? This all sounds like a real timely undertaking to install a kit door! Kit doors may save manufacturing time, but add more time for the installers to assemble the door at the job site! Schweiss doors are pre-assembled, pre-welded and delivered pre-hung within its own doorframe for easy installation.

Kit Door... Flimsy Bolted Connections Vs. Welded Connections

Will a kit door be as strong as an all-welded doorframe? Welds never work loose and are a much stronger and permanent connections - welds never need to be reinstalled or tightened. Schweiss doorframe members are shop-welded, the doors are delivered pre-hung within their own doorframe for easy install.

Tilt-Up Door Vs. Hydraulic Door