Garage door sizes
Garage door sizing in New Zealand
Garage door sizing here works differently from what you will read online. There is no fixed standard, because New Zealand doors are made to measure, and that is genuinely good news.
Why the sizes you find online do not match
Most garage door size guides on the internet are American.
Search for a standard double garage door size and you will be told 4.88m wide by 2.13m or 2.44m high. Those are not New Zealand sizes. They are 16 feet by 7 feet and 8 feet, converted. The same goes for the 2.44m single door you will see quoted: that is 8 feet.
New Zealand doors are built to the opening rather than pulled off a shelf in fixed imperial increments. So the useful question is not what the standard size is. It is what your opening actually measures, and whether the door you want will fit the space around it.
That matters most on a replacement. People often assume a new door has to match the old one's size, when in fact the opening can frequently take a taller door, and a taller door is what makes a modern SUV or a roof box fit.
The sizes we fit most often
These are the openings we see most in North Auckland homes, not a standard you have to conform to. Anything between and beyond them is available.
| Opening | Typical width | Typical height |
|---|---|---|
| Single garage | 2.4m to 2.7m | 2.1m or 2.4m |
| Single, wide or for a large vehicle | 2.7m to 3.0m | 2.4m |
| Double garage | 4.8m to 5.0m | 2.1m or 2.4m |
| Double, wide | 5.4m to 6.0m | 2.4m |
| Farm shed or workshop | up to 4.8m (light commercial) | up to 4.5m |
Larger openings than these are available as a custom build. If your opening is an odd size, that is normal and it is not a problem.
How to measure your opening
Four measurements, a tape and five minutes. Get these and we can tell you what will fit before anyone comes out.
- Step 1
Width of the opening, measured between the finished inside faces of the frame, at the widest point.
- Step 2
Height of the opening, from the finished floor to the underside of the lintel. Measure both sides, because floors slope.
- Step 3
Headroom: the gap between the top of the opening and the ceiling, or the nearest thing in the way. This is the measurement that decides sectional versus roller.
- Step 4
Side room: the space either side of the opening to the nearest wall or obstruction, and the depth back into the garage from the opening.
The measurements that catch people out
A sectional door runs back along the ceiling and needs clear height above the opening to do it. A roller door coils into a drum and needs far less. If your headroom is tight, or the ceiling carries storage, lighting or a mezzanine, a roller door may be the only one that fits.
Almost no garage floor is. Measuring the height on one side only is how a door ends up with a visible gap at one end. Measure both sides and use the shorter one.
Most people size for width and then discover the roof box, the roof rack or the ute canopy will not go under. If you have anything tall, measure the vehicle as it is actually loaded.
The tracks and hardware need space either side of the opening. It is rarely a problem, but it is worth knowing before you commit to a wider door.
One door or two?
On a double garage you can fit one wide door or two singles, and the choice is mostly aesthetic, with one practical wrinkle.
A single wide door gives you an uninterrupted opening, which makes manoeuvring easier and looks cleaner on a modern frontage. It is also one motor and one set of hardware rather than two.
Two single doors suit traditional and character houses, and they mean that if one door fails you still have a garage. On very wide openings, two doors can also avoid the extra structure a single span would need.
Common questions
There is no single standard here in the way there is in the United States, because New Zealand doors are made to the opening rather than sold in fixed imperial increments. The sizes we fit most often are 2.4m to 2.7m wide for a single door and 4.8m to 5.0m for a double, with heights of 2.1m or 2.4m. Treat those as common rather than as a standard you have to match.
Most double garage doors we install are between 4.8m and 5.0m wide, and wider doors up to about 6.0m are common on newer houses with larger vehicles. If you have seen 4.88m quoted online, that number is 16 feet converted from an American size guide and it is not a New Zealand standard. Measure your actual opening rather than working from a figure you found.
Both 2.1m and 2.4m are common in New Zealand homes. Choose 2.4m if you have a tall vehicle, a roof box, roof racks, a ute with a canopy, or you might want a hoist later. The extra height costs very little at the time of the build and is difficult and expensive to add afterwards, because it means structural work above the opening.
Sometimes, and it depends on the lintel and the structure above the opening, so it is a question for the measure rather than one to answer over the phone. Going taller within an existing opening is frequently possible where going wider is not, because width usually means moving structure. Bring it up at the free measure and we will tell you what your opening can take.
A sectional door runs back along the ceiling on tracks and needs clear height above the opening to do it. A roller door coils into a drum and needs far less. This single measurement decides which type of door you can have, which is why we measure it on site rather than working from numbers over the phone. If the ceiling carries storage or lighting, mention that too.
Probably not in the sense you are worried about. Because doors here are made to measure, an unusual opening is routine rather than expensive, and it does not add weeks to the lead time. Genuinely custom work is more about shape, structure and finish than about width and height. An odd opening size is normal and it is not a problem worth losing sleep over.
From the bridge to the Brynderwyns
Not sure what will fit?
Send us your four measurements, or book a free measure and we will do it properly. Either way you will get a straight answer about what your opening can take.
We're a family business. Chris owns it, quotes it and answers the phone himself, so you get a straight answer the first time you ask.