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Searching for a standard garage door size usually ends in confusion, because manufacturers publish tables that do not quite agree with each other. The reason is simple: Australian garage doors are built to the opening, so the tables are lists of common sizes rather than rules. This guide gives you the commonly quoted figures for single and double doors, explains why height matters more than most people expect, and shows how to measure your opening so a quote is accurate the first time.
Is there a standard garage door size in Australia?
Not in the sense of a fixed set of sizes you order off a shelf. Roller, sectional and tilt doors are all manufactured to measure, with the curtain or panels cut to your width and height. What does exist is a cluster of typical dimensions that builders have used on Australian homes for decades, so most existing openings fall near one of them. Treat the figures below as a guide to what you are likely to find, not as a specification, and expect the installer's measure to be the number that goes on the order.
Single garage door sizes
A typical single garage door in Australia is in the region of 2.4 to 2.7 m wide, with 2.4 m and 2.5 m appearing often on older homes and 2.7 m or more on newer builds where wider cars and mirrors were considered. Heights commonly sit between 2.1 and 2.4 m. Single doors on side-by-side garages, where two singles sit beside each other, are often a little wider than a lone single so that a car can be lined up without clipping the pier between them.
Where a single door is being replaced like for like, the existing door's size is the starting point, but the opening should still be measured, because doors are sometimes fitted to openings that are not quite the size the door was.
Double garage door sizes
Double garage door widths commonly fall between about 4.8 and 5.5 m, with figures around 4.8 m, 5.0 m and 5.2 m cropping up most in established suburbs and wider doors on newer homes and homes built for large vehicles. Heights are the same 2.1 to 2.4 m range as singles. A double door is a single large curtain or set of panels, which is why its weight, spring count and opener rating are all heavier duty than two singles and why very wide doubles move into custom territory.
Width is measured across the opening, not the door
The door itself is made larger than the opening so it overlaps the brickwork or sits inside the guides. When comparing sizes, always compare opening width and height, which is what the installer measures and quotes on.
Height: cars, 4WDs and caravans
Height causes more regret than width. A 2.1 m opening clears most sedans and SUVs, but a 4WD with roof racks, a rooftop tent or a lifted suspension can be tight, and a caravan or a van needs more again. Openings of 2.4 m are common on newer homes for that reason, and doors of 2.7 to 3.0 m or more are ordered for caravan bays and workshops. Before ordering, measure your tallest vehicle with everything on its roof, then add a margin for the door's bottom seal and for the fact that a door in its tracks hangs slightly below the top of the opening when open.
How to measure a garage door opening
- Width: measure the clear opening between the brick or frame faces at the bottom, the middle and the top. Record the smallest figure and note if the sides are out of parallel.
- Height: measure from the finished floor to the underside of the lintel or header at both sides and the centre. Again, record the smallest figure.
- Headroom: measure from the top of the opening to the ceiling or the lowest obstruction above it, such as a beam, a light or a roller shutter box. Different door types need very different headroom.
- Sideroom: measure from each side of the opening to the nearest wall or obstruction. Roller doors need room for their brackets and drum ends; sectional doors need room for their vertical tracks.
- Backroom: for a sectional door, measure from the opening back into the garage along the ceiling, because the horizontal tracks and the opener rail run that distance.
- Floor: check whether the floor is level across the opening and whether the driveway falls toward the garage, since both affect the bottom seal.
Write everything in millimetres, take photos of each corner and of anything hanging from the ceiling near the opening, and hand the lot to the installer. A quote built on those numbers is usually confirmed with a site measure before the door is ordered.
Size and clearance by door type
Roller doors
A roller door coils onto a drum above the opening, so its headroom requirement is the diameter of the rolled curtain plus the brackets, and it grows with the door's height. It also needs sideroom for the drum ends and guides on each side. Roller doors suit garages with little backroom, because nothing runs along the ceiling, and they are the usual answer for narrow single openings and for sheds.
Sectional doors
A sectional door rises vertically then travels back along horizontal tracks under the ceiling, so it needs headroom above the opening for the track curve and the spring shaft, and backroom roughly the height of the door plus the opener. Low-headroom track kits exist for garages with a beam or a low ceiling. Sectional doors are the common choice for double openings and for any garage where insulation or a flush street appearance matters.
Tilt doors
A tilt door is one rigid panel that swings up and back on arms. It needs headroom for the arms and the panel in its open position, backroom for the panel to lie under the ceiling, and, depending on the arm type, clear space in front of the door while it swings. Tilt doors are found on many older single and double garages and are often replaced like for like where the opening suits them.
Custom and oversize openings
Openings wider than a typical double, taller than about 2.4 m, or out of square by more than a little are quoted as custom garage doors. The door is still a roller, sectional or tilt underneath; what changes is the engineering of the curtain or panels, the number of springs and the opener rating.
What size does to the price
A standard new garage door in a common single or double size is supplied and installed by Elite for $3,000–$5,000 incl. GST, with the old door removed. Oversize, unusually tall and custom doors are quoted individually and generally sit in the $5,000–$15,000 incl. GST range. The garage doors page covers the door types, finishes and the measure-and-quote, which is free and confirms every dimension in this guide against your actual opening.