What an installed sliding garage door costs
What goes into the price, what is charged separately, and when a motor on the door you already have is enough. Explained with the situations we see in Gorj.
It is the first question we get on the phone and, honestly, the hardest to answer in two words. Not because we are hiding anything, but because a garage door is not an off-the-shelf product: it is manufactured to the dimensions of your opening.
What we can do is explain what the price is made of. After reading this, you will be able to compare two quotes without looking only at the number at the bottom.
Why nobody publishes a fixed price
A 2.5 m and a 3.5 m wide opening look similar on paper. In reality the second means a heavier panel, stronger springs and, above a certain weight, a different motor. And with a sliding door one more thing matters: the ceiling it parks under — whether it is clear for the depth of the door, or has beams, pipes and lights right there.
On top of that, many garages in Targu Jiu and around the county are 30 to 40 years old. The opening is not quite square, the floor is not quite level, and sometimes there is no power run to it at all. All solvable, all visible in the quote.
A new door, or just a motor?
The first question is not what the door costs, but whether you need one. If you already have a sliding door that lifts easily on its tracks, a motor is often enough. The price difference is large: you pay for the automation and the fitting, not for a door.
A motor only makes sense if the door moves well by hand: it lifts easily and stays put when left half open. If it is hard to lift or drags in its tracks, the rollers get fixed or the springs adjusted first — otherwise the motor strains and you replace it within two years. At the survey we tell you straight which case you are in.
What a proper quote should contain
When you receive a quote, look explicitly for these lines:
- The door — dimensions, panel type, colour, finish
- Tracks, rollers and springs — with the fixing method under the ceiling
- The opener — motor type and the number of remotes
- Safety accessories — photocells are not optional
- Labour — including removing the old door, where applicable
- Travel — or a clear statement that it is included
- Warranty — stated separately for the product and for the installation
What moves the price most
The size of the opening
This is the dominant factor. A bigger door means a heavier panel, stronger springs and more weight to lift. Above a certain weight you step up to a different motor, and the price step is steeper than you would expect.
Panel type
An insulated panel costs more than a plain one. Worth it if the garage is attached to the house, if your boiler is in there, or if you use it as a workshop in winter. On a detached garage used purely to shelter a car, the difference does not pay for itself.
Colour
White and anthracite (RAL 7016) are the standard choices and add nothing. A wood-effect finish adds a little. A special RAL colour adds noticeably and, more importantly, adds about two weeks to the lead time.
The opener
For a home garage a standard opener is enough. For big doors or heavy use — a business opening the garage 30 times a day — you step up a class. The price difference is real, but an undersized opener on a heavily used door fails within two years, so the saving is only apparent.
What is charged separately, and why
A few things regularly appear as extra lines, and rightly so:
The power run. If there is no earthed socket near where the motor sits, one has to be run. It is not in the door price because it depends entirely on your house — but we do it ourselves, as part of the same job.
Removing and disposing of the old door. An old up-and-over door in heavy sheet steel means labour and a trip to the tip.
Repairing the existing door. When we automate a door you already have, worn rollers, a bent track or badly set springs get fixed before the motor goes on.
Masonry work. If the opening is out of square or needs narrowing, that is a job in its own right.
How to ask for a quote and get a real number
Call with the following ready and you will get an estimate far closer to the final figure:
- The width and height of the opening, measured with a tape, not eyeballed
- The height from the top of the opening to the ceiling, and whether the ceiling is clear for the depth of the door
- What is fitted there now — nothing, an up-and-over door, a manual sliding door
- Whether there is an earthed socket nearby
- Your town
With those five we can give you a range in minutes. Without them, any figure quoted over the phone is guesswork that will change at the survey — and nobody gains from that.
Three mistakes we see often
A motor goes on a door that runs badly. A motor does not fix a door that drags — it just wears it out faster, and wears itself out along with it.
Photocells get skipped. They are a small fraction of a job worth thousands, and they are the only thing that stops the door if someone walks through its path.
Quotes with different contents get compared. The cheapest quote is usually the one that excludes installation, or travel, or the remotes. It looks good on paper; you end up in the same place, with more surprises along the way.
If you want an estimate for your garage, write to us or call with the dimensions to hand. The survey is free in Targu Jiu and within a 40 km radius, and the quote comes in writing with every line above broken out.