A solid steel door and its pressed steel frame are what you fit when a barred gate is not enough: garages, workshops, plant rooms, storerooms and staff entrances. The door is a flat steel skin over a stiffened core, hung in a frame built into the wall. Tell us the opening size, whether you need single or double leaves, and where you are, and suppliers and fabricators nearby will quote you directly.
Door leaf and frame types
The leaf is usually two sheets of 1 to 1.6 mm steel pressed over a stiffener or honeycomb core, about 40 mm thick. The frame is folded from 1.6 to 2 mm sheet and comes in two main forms:
- Build-in frame: anchored to the brickwork with lugs and mortared in as the wall goes up.
- Retrofit or slip-on frame: bolted or chemically anchored into an existing opening.
Rebated frames take the door flush, and a three-hinge door holds its shape better than a two-hinge one. A frame is also sold by wall thickness, so say whether your wall is a single 110 mm brick, a 230 mm double brick or plastered block, otherwise the frame throat will not match.
Double and garage steel doors
Double steel doors give wide access for equipment, with one active leaf and one leaf bolted top and bottom. A garage side door is normally a single leaf of about 813 or 900 mm, while a workshop may need double leaves of up to 1,800 mm. A tall opening needs a deeper frame and a third hinge. For a workshop where vehicles or pallet trucks pass, add a threshold plate or ramp so wheels do not catch on the frame. Say whether the door opens inwards or outwards, and keep in mind that doors on an escape route must open without a key.
Locks, hardware and ventilation
Steel doors take mortice locks, deadlocks and multi-point systems, plus lever handles, panic bars and closers. If the room contains a boiler, battery bank or gas cylinders, a louvre or vent panel is vital, since a closed steel box traps heat and fumes. Add a drip rail above outdoor doors so rain does not run down the face. For strongroom or high-risk areas, ask about a plate-skinned door and anchor frame, and compare with a barred steel security door in front of it.
What to check on a quote
Check that the price covers the frame as well as the leaf, plus the paint system, the lock and fitting. Look at the steel gauge in writing, the number of hinges and whether the frame is galvanised. Ask what happens to the old door and whether making good the plaster is included. Pricing differs a lot between suppliers, so also read security door prices for typical ranges.
What to include in your request
- Opening width and height in mm, and wall thickness
- Single or double leaf, and which way it opens
- Build-in or retrofit frame, and the wall type
- Lock, handle and closer you need
- Louvre, fire rating or weather seal required
Steel Doors and Frames for different properties
- Houses: a solid steel door on the garage, laundry or a granny flat entrance
- Townhouses and complexes: a steel door to a garage or a bin store, painted to suit the complex
- Flats and apartments: a steel door for a meter room, a storeroom or a refuse area
- Farms and smallholdings: steel doors on workshops, chemical stores, feed rooms and pump houses
- Shops and restaurants: a solid steel staff door and storeroom door
- Offices and practices: a steel door for server, archive and plant rooms
- Factories and warehouses: double steel doors on plant rooms, stores, boiler rooms and workshops
- Schools, clinics and churches: fire-rated and plain steel doors for plant rooms, stores and kitchens
Frequently asked questions
How much do steel doors cost?
Can a steel door be fitted to an existing opening?
Are steel doors good for garages?
How do I stop a steel door from rusting?
Steel Doors and Frames by province and city
- Johannesburg
- Pretoria
- Centurion
- Midrand
- Sandton
- Randburg
- Roodepoort
- Krugersdorp
- Randfontein
- Germiston
- Boksburg
- Benoni
- Kempton Park
- Alberton
- Vanderbijlpark
- Vereeniging
- Durban
- Pinetown
- Pietermaritzburg
- Richards Bay
- Newcastle
- Ladysmith
- Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth)
- East London
- Kariega (Uitenhage)
- Mthatha
- Cape Town
- Bellville
- Paarl
- Stellenbosch
- George
- Worcester
- eMalahleni (Witbank)
- Middelburg
- Secunda
- Mbombela (Nelspruit)
- Rustenburg
- Brits
- Klerksdorp
- Potchefstroom
- Mahikeng
- Polokwane
- Tzaneen
- Kimberley
- Upington
- Bloemfontein
- Welkom
- Sasolburg