Garage door motor installation and repair in Cape Town
Sectional, roll-up and tip-up doors automated, and motors repaired or replaced on doors that already have one. Battery backup on everything we fit, so the car is not locked in when the power goes.
- Battery backup fitted
- Safety sensors set and tested
- Repairs, not just replacements
Garage door motor installation
Free survey and quote
Which door do you have?
This is the whole quote in one question. Three door types are common in Cape Town, they take different motors, and they fail in different places. If you are not sure which one is yours, send us a photo on WhatsApp and we will tell you.
| Compare | SectionalHinged panels, folding up onto a ceiling rail | Roll-upA curtain of slats that winds into a drum | Tip-upOne solid slab that swings out and up |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Four or five hinged panels that follow a curved rail up into the roof space. The standard new door in Cape Town. | A single curtain of aluminium or steel slats that winds into a drum above the opening. | One rigid slab, hinged so the whole door swings outward and then lifts. Common on older houses. |
| Motor it takes | A rail motor, hung off the garage ceiling with the head at the back. | A roller motor, fitted to the drum itself, usually where the manual winder was. | A rail motor, but the arm has to suit the swing rather than a straight pull. |
| Space it needs | A clear strip above the opening for the rail, and a run back along the ceiling. | Room above the opening for the drum, and clear sides for the tracks. | Clear space in front of the door for the slab to swing out into. |
| Needs room to swing outward | No | No | Yes |
| Automating a door you already have | Straightforward, as long as the door runs freely by hand. | Straightforward. The motor generally goes where the winder was. | Possible, and we check the geometry on site. The arm is the part that decides it. |
| What usually fails | The plastic drive gear in the motor head, the trolley, or the board after a surge. | The motor in the drum, or the manual override when it is finally needed and has seized. | The springs and hinges, which is the door rather than the motor. |
What the job covers
New automations and replacement motors, plus repairs to a motor somebody else fitted. Every installation carries a 12-month workmanship warranty, and the survey and quote cost you nothing.
- Sectional, roll-up and tip-up door motors
- Battery backup so the door opens in a power cut
- Replacement motors on doors that are still sound
- Safety sensors fitted and the auto-reverse set
- Remotes, keypads and extra remotes coded
- Rail, chain and belt tensioning
- Manual release checked and shown to you
- Wiring run in trunking rather than left hanging
What we do not do is the door itself. Torsion springs and bent panels are a different trade and a real risk handled wrong, so if that is what is actually wrong we tell you and say who to call. A motor on a door that is not sound just moves the failure along.
What sets the price
Priced at the free survey. Door type, door weight and whether the old rail can be reused are what move the figure.
- Door typeSectional, roll-up and tip-up doors take different motors and different rails. A sectional is the most common in Cape Town and usually the cheapest to automate.
- Door weight and widthA double door needs more pulling power than a single. An oversized or solid timber door needs a heavier unit again.
- New install or replacementIf the rail and bracketry from the old motor are sound we reuse them, which takes a chunk out of the job. A first-time automation needs the whole rail.
- Battery backupStandard on everything we fit. The battery is sized to the door rather than to the smallest one that fits the housing.
- Power at the doorA plug point in the garage ceiling makes it simple. No point up there means an electrical run has to be added.
- Remotes and keypadsTwo remotes come standard. Extra remotes, a wall keypad or a code pad on the outside are each a small add-on.
All prices include installation and setup. The site survey and the written quote cost you nothing.
The five parts that do the work, and where each one sits
What is yours doing?
Most people arriving here are not shopping for a motor, they are describing a fault. These are the six we get called out to most, and what each one usually turns out to be. Two of them you can check yourself before spending anything.
It reverses before it closes
Nine times out of ten it is the safety beams. A spider web across the lens, a knocked bracket or a film of dust is enough. The motor is doing exactly what it is supposed to. Cleaning and realigning them is a short call-out, not a new motor.
The motor hums but nothing moves
Usually the plastic drive gear inside the motor head, which is a wear part and a repair. Occasionally the door itself has jammed and the motor is straining against it, which we would rather find before you buy a bigger motor.
The remote only works up close
A flat remote battery first. After that, a damaged or badly routed aerial wire on the motor head. LED downlights and a router sitting near the motor can also swamp the receiver, and moving the aerial fixes it.
It worked before the power cut, not after
Either a surge through the control board, or a backup battery that has finally given up after being cycled every day for a couple of years. Batteries are the cheaper of the two, so we test the board before condemning it.
The door slams the last bit shut
The down limit or the closing force is set too far. That is an adjustment rather than a part, and worth booking quickly, because a door that slams is working its own panels and hinges loose.
Completely dead, no lights at all
Check the plug point in the garage ceiling and the breaker before you phone anyone. Ceiling points get switched off at the board during other work more often than you would expect, and we would rather tell you that than charge you for the visit.
A garage door without backup is a car you cannot get out
It is the thing people only think about once. Three parts to getting it right, and we set all three up before we leave.
Battery backup does it for you
Standard on every motor we fit, and sized to your door rather than to whatever fits the housing. The door keeps working through the slot without you having to think about it.
The manual release is the fallback
Pull the cord on the trolley and the door comes off the motor so you can lift it by hand. We have you pull it once at handover, because a blackout is a bad time to be hunting for it.
The surge is what actually kills it
More control boards die on the power coming back than on it going off. Running the motor off a protected point is a small thing that saves the expensive part.
The same logic applies at the driveway. Gate motors we fit carry battery backup too
What Cape Town homeowners say
Read all 14 on Google“Exceptional service, making everything simple while working efficiently. Honestly there's nothing more a customer can ask for.”
“Really kind people, fast and reliable. They were done within a few and even walked me through the process. Would highly recommend.”
“It was very quick for them to respond and they were very helpful and nice. Thank you for your services.”
How a job runs
Nothing gets ordered, drilled or invoiced before you have seen the number in writing.
Free site survey
We come out, look at the property and work out what the job actually needs. No charge, and no obligation to go ahead.
A written quote
You get the price in writing before anything is ordered or drilled, itemised so you can see what you are paying for.
Installation
Certified, insured technicians. Cabling run properly in trunking or conduit rather than stapled along a skirting board.
Testing and handover
Signal checked on a meter, cameras live on your phone, remotes paired. We show you how it works before we pack up.
The rest of the entrance
Gate, garage and intercom are usually the same driveway and the same afternoon. Doing them together means one survey, one quote and one set of remotes rather than three companies and three call-outs.
Gate motor installation
Sliding and swing gate automation, supplied, fitted and set up. Battery backup so it still opens when the power is off.
From R4,500Intercom installation
Audio, video and GSM intercoms, wired to the gate motor so you can see who is at the gate and let them in without walking down the driveway.
Free quoteQuestions we get asked
How much does a garage door motor cost in Cape Town?
It depends on the door far more than on the motor. A sectional door that already runs freely, with a plug point in the ceiling, is at the cheap end. A double door, or a first-time automation needing a full rail and an electrical run, is not. We publish real prices for DStv, CCTV and gate motors because those jobs are consistent enough to price honestly. Garage doors are not, so we survey first and give you a written figure. The survey and the quote are both free.
Will the garage door still open during load shedding?
Yes. Battery backup is standard on every motor we fit, and we size the battery to the door rather than fitting the smallest one that will go in the housing. How many open-and-close cycles you get depends on the battery and the weight of the door, and we tell you what to expect at handover rather than leaving you to find out during a slot.
How do I get the car out if the motor is dead and the battery is flat?
Every motor has a manual release. On a rail motor it is a cord hanging from the trolley: pull it and the door disconnects from the motor so you can lift it by hand. We show you where it is and have you pull it once before we leave, because the middle of a blackout is a bad time to be reading a manual. If the garage is the only way into the property, ask us about an external release when we quote.
Can you automate a garage door I already have?
Usually, yes. The test is whether the door runs freely by hand: if you can lift it smoothly and it stays where you leave it, a motor will be happy on it. If it binds, drops or takes real effort, that is the door and not the motor, and adding a motor only breaks things faster. We check that on site before quoting.
Do you repair garage door motors, or only replace them?
We repair wherever a repair will last. Drive gears, capacitors, limit switches, aerials, control boards and backup batteries are all repairs, and between them they cover most of what we get called out to. If a unit is genuinely finished we say so straight rather than charging you for a repair that buys three months.
Do you work on the door itself, the springs and the panels?
We install, repair and replace the motor and its gear. Torsion springs hold a serious amount of energy and bent panels are a door problem rather than a motor problem, so if that is what is actually wrong we tell you and point you at the right trade. Fitting a motor to a door that is not sound only moves the failure along.
How many remotes do I get?
Two are included with a standard installation. Extra remotes, a wall button inside and a code keypad outside can all be added, and we can usually code new remotes to a motor that is already installed without replacing anything.
How long does the installation take?
A replacement motor on a sound sectional door is typically a morning. A first-time automation needing a new rail, brackets and a power point in the ceiling runs longer, and a roll-up or tip-up door depends on what is already there. We put the realistic figure in the quote rather than the optimistic one.
Do you fit safety sensors?
Yes, and we recommend them on every installation. The motor's own force sensing helps, but a garage door is heavy, and beams across the opening are what actually stop it closing on a car door, a pet or a child. They are also the thing we most often come back to realign, which we would far rather do than have them left off.
Which parts of Cape Town do you cover?
All of it. Northern Suburbs, Southern Suburbs, City Bowl, Atlantic Seaboard, the Deep South, Helderberg and the Cape Flats. If you are inside greater Cape Town we will come to you, and the survey costs you nothing.
Get a garage door motor quote
Tell us the suburb and what the door is doing. Free survey, written quote, and nothing ordered until you say go.
067 706 5216Free site survey. No obligation. 12-month workmanship warranty.