Extra Protection Or Extra Maintenance: Overhead Vs. Sliding Vs. Temporary Screen Doors For Workspaces

If you work in an industrial or repair facility that has open dock or vehicle bay doors, you regularly trade ventilation for a whole lot of critters. Birds can fly into the bay or garage, and during summer, bugs can be the bane of your existence. You can now get screen doors made to fit the openings to these bays, allowing you to still have ventilation while blocking the bugs. But the style of door you get can influence your company's budget and affect the safety of the people inside. Here's a look at three common types of screens and where you might find them most or least useful.

Overhead Screen Doors

If your company has rolling overhead doors on its garages, docks, or repair bays, you can get corresponding overhead rolling screen doors. These are sectional and retractable doors that function in the same way as regular rolling overhead doors, only they have screen-filled panels instead of solid panels. The borders of the panels can be very visually prominent if you have issues with birds flying into the screens or people trying to walk through them accidentally.

The overhead screen doors are easy to raise and lower, and they're appropriate for places where the doors are opened and closed on a regular basis. They are also well-suited for businesses that need to keep equipment near the door areas because the screens stay put -- they don't move inward if wind blows on them.

The doors are not appropriate for buildings that can't support rolling sectional overhead doors. They are also not appropriate for companies that need something that is very low maintenance. The screen doors require regular preventative maintenance just like the main overhead doors do, so if you're not prepared to have the screen door checked occasionally, look at a different model.

Sliding Screens

These are curtainlike screens that attach to the top of the doorway. You slide them over when you want to open or close them.

These are great for companies that need low-maintenance screens because they're usually manual -- no automated parts to maintain. They are easy to use and, if you can find reasonably priced replacement parts, easy to fix if something goes wrong.

However, the curtainlike screens can billow inward unless you get a model that has a restraint that holds the curtain straight down. If you're using machinery near the door, the screen could hit the machinery and become entangled.

Temporary Screens

These work well for companies that don't need the screens up on a regular basis. The temporary screens attach to the top and sides of the opening to the building with hook-and-loop closure strips. They're generally simple to use, though you'll need a stepladder to attach the top if you can't reach that high.

The hook-and-loop closure strips on the sides usually keep the screens from billowing inward, but you'll have to be careful about getting the right size to ensure that doesn't turn into a problem. The temporary screens also aren't very secure, as anyone could come along and rip down the screens.

If you'd like to know more about overhead screen doors and other alternatives, talk to an overhead door company to see what they offer. They may have screens that are sized to match their regular overhead doors perfectly.


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