Alluguard garage roller door banging like mental in the wind

NibblyPig

Hello,

Just wondering if anyone has any advice about this. I have an alluguard garage roller door that, when it's windy, sounds like someone is basically BANGING on it with both hands as hard as they can for like 10 seconds. This wakes me up with a start as it sounds like people are breaking in, and probably annoys the crap out of my neighbours as well.

I phoned the company that installed it and they said there's absolutely nothing they can do and this is normal in high winds... completely fobbed off.

Anyone know if there's anything I can do? I think it's the box at the top rattling in the wind, they said they 'installed box stiffeners' to try and mitigate it but I am not exaggerating when I say it sounds like someone absolutely pounding full strength against it.

I tried to see if I could maybe wedge something in but nothing seemed to help.

I just phoned Alluguard as well, who said that it should not be making any noise in the wind, so I will probably go back to the installers with that, but sometimes companies say that their product is completely perfect in every way so I'm not 100% convinced either way.

Help appreciated!

Bendy_House

Hi Nibbly.

How regular is it - any chance of recording the noise? A clip sent to Alluguard might help to provide a cause?

It would help to know which part is making the banging noise - eg the top roller casing, or the actual door. (Can it really be the casing?!)

Can you replicate the noise by pushing sharply on the door, in t'middle and t'sides?

Does the door clatter noisily when opening and closing? If so, are there brushes or similar that can be added either to the door sections where they run up the side slots, or to the slots themselves?

NibblyPig

Thanks for the reply - it was installed early 2021. During the summer, it happened afaik about 3 times, during the windiest days, the type of day where everyone talks about bins blowing up the street. However from November it seems to happen more, I'd say once/twice a month sometimes on consecutive days. Last night it happened. It often happens multiple times per night, a couple of hours apart.

It seems to be the top part of it that's rattling, when closed there is a slight draft from the top and you can see the light coming in, so there's a gap at the top which I think is probably deliberate since the door has to wind up and around, but I am not sure, perhaps there should be more slats so there's never a gap?

Rattling is an understatement, if you imagine an angry person pounding on the door that's what it sounds like, sustained for 5-10 seconds. Scares the crap out of me!

I will have to try to record a video but it's very hard to do as it's quite uncommon so will have to wait until next time it happens, groggily wander down at 3am and then wait for ages for it to happen... argh...

The door itself is fine, it rarely happens but I did drag myself downstairs at 3am once and wait for 20 minutes and it was the top part of the door that was rattling, the metal box that stores the door when it's open.

The door opening and closing is fine, no considerable noise, and during lighter winds it's also fine.

Bendy_House

Where's this gap? Photo, please.

If the slats rely on secure hinged contact with neighbouring slats for providing door strength, then an unsupported top slat could be a wobbly? A buckly, snappy, bangy?

twopenny

I have an up and over that does this. Right by my bedroom too.

I cut some rubber car mats and used Gorilla glue to stop draughts around the door and voila! No more rattles.

It honestly doesn't show if done carefully and there is no dust and the garage nice and dry.

However if I had a brand new door I wouldn't expect this and think you should have another go at the installers.

Can you get the manufacturer to go as far as putting the 'it shouldn't do this' in writing in an email? Something to show them along with a clip of the noise.

NibblyPig

I'll have to take a photo tomorrow as I tried just now and it's too dark, the light coming through the gap from ouside will help make the issue visible.

The gap is if you stand inside with the door closed and look up, there is also a considerable draught and after doing some research it looks like these doors are supposed to be completely sealed, so perhaps going down that route with the installer will solve both problems in one. I will post a picture tomorrow though before I contact them.

It would actually be great if I could find someone that has one so I can compare it to mine, perhaps that would reveal the issue.

twopenny

Did a quick search and found someone else with a problem - unfortunately the forum didn't give a reply but wondered if this was the same problem

"At the top of my slatted roller garage door is a thin sheet of metal which hides the roller mechanism at the top from the outside. When it is windy this sheet flexes and rattles very loudly. Has anyone got any ideas how I can stop this happening?"

NibblyPig

For future reference of anyone finding themselves here, I fixed the issue with it vibrating by tightly inserting some pieces of foam above the frame. After I removed the fascia and waited, eventually a windy day came and I could see the top of the frame vibrating like a giant wobble board making one heck of a noise.

There's a gap between the top of the metal frame and the brick of my garage door. I'm sure expandy foam would work as well but I just had some pieces of foam I tightly wedged in and last night it blew an absolute gale and there wasn't a peep. The gap looks tiny in this photo but it's actually about half an inch.

Regarding the gap letting the draught in, I can see they must have cocked up the install because on closer inspection I can see there is a foam/felt strip along the frame, and when the door is closed the last slat is pushed backwards to create a seal, but the whole thing is an inch too far forward so it doesn't form a seal.

Currently debating whether I can implement some kind of DIY fix or if I should kick off with the installer. I'm not completely certain how I'd stick an inch thick piece of foam to metal without it coming off over time, or even where I'd buy such a thing, so still considering it.

twopenny

As I'm not there to see I'll throw this in anyway.

I used rubber car mats chopped into strips to stop the wind rattling my up and over garage door fixing them with gorilla glue from a mastic gun. They went round the small gap.

They are flexible so exact fitting isn't an issue.

Works a treat and doesn't show when the door is closed

GDB2222

How did you pay the installer? Credit card, cash?

Is this installer approved by the manufacturer?

NibblyPig

I paid them with card, I am sure I could kick off but realistically what would they do, a protracted argument followed by them at best repositioning the door but since it's been drilled into the brickwork it would be a bit dodgy moving the whole thing forward an inch or so, if it's even possible to do that. They were pretty defensive when I first phoned them to say there's an issue and tried hard to fob me off.

I've fixed the rattle which is the main thing and gluing some kind of thicker strip would probably work OK, just need a piece of foam or something really to cut into strips.