Famous (and very successful) companies that started in a garage!

 

Our garages are used from storing tools or cars, through to extra living space or even a home office! Not to mention small business start-ups. One of the world’s most successful companies even started in their garage… Apple computers. Apple are one of the most famous one’s in my mind, but there are a host of others too. Check out the list below.

1. Hewlett Packard (1939). In California, they’ve got a habit of starting new businesses in their garages! Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard, both Stanford University engineering graduates, founded Hewlett Packard in Bill’s garage in Palo Alto in 1939. One of their first products was a precision audio oscillator, later followed by semi-conductor instruments and calculators.
2. Lotus Cars (1984). So no British companies mentioned yet, I hear you say. Well a very famous sports car manufacturer, Lotus, was started in 1952 by Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman when he started to build early Lotus racing models in his parents’ North London garage. Undoubtedly one of the more traditional uses of a garage, storing and fixing cars. Lotus went on to become one of the World’s most renowned British manufacturers of sports and racing cars.
3. Apple (1976). Back to California… once the world’s most valuable technology company, valued at $700 billion in 2012, all started in the garage of Steve Jobs’ childhood home in Los Altos California. Apparently, according to an interview with Steve Wozniak alot of the testing of early Apple computer models took place in the garage...
4. Google (1998). Two more Stanford University graduates started a very famous company… Google. Larry Page and Sergey Brin, weren’t billionaires overnight… they had to start in a garage like so many other tech start-ups before them. They setup in Susan Wojcicki's (who later went on to become Google’s first marketing manager) garage in Menlo Park, April 1998.

Lot’s of tech companies started in their garages in California and elsewhere over the last 50 years, not to mention a little known (at their inception) car company, Lotus, based here in the UK. These are obviously the most famous companies… Perhaps you’re thinking of starting your own company here in the UK. Why not use your garage! If you know of other companies, write them in the comments section below.

Check out the full range of Garador garage doors on our website.

Our hand transmitter signals just got faster

The signals transmitted from our Garador Series 3 hand transmitters are now even faster. Hand transmitters supplied with new GaraMatic operators will be upgraded with new software which enables a faster signal transmission, with obvious benefits of even faster response times for when you open your garage door.

Existing features such as the use of bi-directional FM radio signals, which use the same 128-bit encryption employed by banks for online banking security, mean the signal transmitted is very secure and almost impossible to copy. The bi-directional technology also means that the hand transmitters transmit a more reliable signal and can be used from further away from your garage. So if you are in the market for an automatic garage door, then our GaraMatic operators and handsets are a great choice.

In addition, Garador’s GaraMatic operators and hand transmitters continue to use rolling code technology, which means that each time a signal is sent from your Garador hand transmitter, a slightly different radio frequency is used, making it almost impossible for anyone to copy the signal or gain access to your garage through the garage door.

Check out the full range of garage doors, electric operators and hand transmitters online at www.garador.co.uk

We just raised £260 for Macmillan Cancer Support

Today and yesterday, the staff at Garador supported the Macmillan Coffee morning charity event, raising £260 by baking cakes and savouries. This year was bigger and better than ever, with more cakes and more money raised than last year.

The variety of cakes was tremendous too, with chocolate cherry cake, lemon drizzle cake, coffee cake, Aussie crunch, raspberry and white chocolate cupcakes, apple cupcakes, chocolate and orange cakes, and red velvet cake to name but a few. There were also lots of fantastic savouries like pizza swirls and sausage rolls!!!

Everyone really enjoyed the event and we look forward to doing it again next year. To find out more about the work this charity does, please visit the Macmillan Cancer Support website.

Chartwell Green has just been added to our Up & Over range

If you are looking for a garage door in a colour to match your Chartwell Green windows or doors, you are in luck! We’ve just added Chartwell Green (BS 4800) as a standard colour across all our Up & Over, Side Hinged and Personnel steel garage door ranges.

The demand for different colour options often varies over time and one of the more recent trends that we have witnessed is the growth in popularity of Chartwell Green as a popular colour used on front entrance doors and window frames.

Although not a RAL colour, we have been working with our paint supplier to formulate this new colour which will complement the other colours in the existing range. The reference given to this colour will be Chartwell Green (BS 4800) and the price will remain the same as all the other colours with a delivery of approximately 4 weeks as for the popular standard colour options.

Visit www.garador.co.uk to view the full range of doors and colours.

A timber garage door for summer?

If you are in the market for a new garage door, a timber Up and Over garage door is a great choice that can give an exceptional first impression on your home. Garador currently offer two ranges of timber doors, the Solid Cedar range and the Elizabethan range. Both ranges are comprised of a diverse selection of designs and six coloured stain options.

Materials

Firstly, it’s worth looking at the materials that the garage doors in each range are constructed from. The Solid Cedar range is made using solid red cedar, while the Elizabethan range offers a more complex build using solid red cedar combined with a plywood backing. Because the door is made using natural wood, no two pieces of timber are the same and will therefore have a completely unique wood grain composition. All Garador timber Up and Over doors are constructed within a solid steel box section chassis which provides a rigid and stable door design.

Windows

Secondly, the choice of door styles is varied and some have windows like the Ashton, Rochdale and Sandhurst in the Solid Cedar range, or the Hinton door style in the Elizabethan range. Windows are a great feature to have giving the door additional character and allowing sunlight into your garage, which may be of benefit of your garage does not have any other windows on the adjoining walls.

Colours

Thirdly, each timber door comes in a choice of 6 long-lasting stain options, including Light Oak, Antique Oak, Mahogany, Walnut, Chestnut and Ebony; the choice of lighter and darker stain options gives the door a breath of life in different ways and can complement the existing architectural and coloured features on your home.

Designs

Lastly, each of the timber Up and Over garage doors on offer is complemented by a further choice of side-hinged and personnel timber garage doors that are also available. Check out the Garador website or Up and Over garage door brochure for more details on these.

With some many door designs now in the catalogue, it is perhaps more appropriate to look at just a couple in this post… the vertical cedar model is constructed from solid red cedar, and as the name suggests falls into the Solid Cedar range. With its simple vertical lined design, it offers an almost timeless appeal that works well with most properties; particularly those with more wooden or timber effect windows and doors. More intricate designs such as the Sandhurst and the Ashton have more character in their design, with windows at the top of the door and a

The Elizabethan range of timber garage doors are constructed from solid red cedar and plywood, with the Seymour, for example, being carefully crafted from strips of cedar wood and placed against a plywood backing. Each channel features a stop chamfer and several styled arches uniformly spaced at the top of the door.

For more information on Garador’s timber garage door range, check out www.garador.co.uk

To insulate, or not to insulate?… That is the question

There’s plenty to choose from in terms of types of garage doors these days, with up and over, side hinged, sectional and roller doors. With summer upon us, its easy to forget just how cold our winters can get… snow, wind, rain all things which our garage doors need to withstand. But not all of these doors are constructed with insulation built into the design.

Garador’s sectional garage doors are supplied in two variations: Premium and Classic.

• Premium sectional doors have 42mm thick PU rigid foam (CFC free) and is constructed with double skinned steel surfaces.
• Classic sectional doors have no insulation and are constructed using a single skin steel surface.

Not having insulation isn’t necessarily a bad thing and offers a substantial cost advantage that works particularly well for detached garages where thermal insulation might not be as important.

But where thermal insulation is a key consideration, a premium sectional garage door is likely the way to go. These sectional doors have side, floor and fascia seals. As well as intermediate seals, between each door section.

View the full range of sectional garage doors online.

Garador supports the Coast to Coast Cycle Challenge!

Last Sunday the 14th May, the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance held their annual Coast to Coast Cycle Challenge and Garador were delighted to support them with transportation for bicycles between the finish and start of the event.

Now in its third year the event was bigger and better than ever, with 580 cyclists taking part, including lots of youngsters and people on tandem bikes as well as regular ones. The organisers have setup the event with two different routes, a longer 54 mile route for more experienced riders which runs from the North Somerset town of Watchet to the seaside town of West Bay, as well as a shorter 11 mile route.

The weather certainly helped by staying mostly dry, providing favourable conditions for the cyclists and bringing out many family and friends to offer their support and encouragement at Watchet, West Bay and various other points along the cycle route. Let’s hope for another really successful event next year!

Have you tried our new Visualise Your Door tool?

We’ve just launched the new Visualise Your Door feature on the Garador website… have you tried it yet? Its a fantastic tool for picturing what your preferred garage door will look like on your house. Plus, its incredibly easy to use…

1. Take a photograph.

The first step is to go outside and take a photo of your garage door. Its best to photograph your garage in the context of your house, that way you will be able to see what the door looks like in relation to the rest of the property. With that in mind, try to stand far enough back from the house so that you can see the entire front of your property.

After testing the image tool, we have come up with a few helpful pointers to assist you in getting some great photographs. It’s normally worth taking a couple of photographs to get one you like. It is always a good idea to remove anything that is obstructing the door panel, such as rubbish bins, cars, building materials or plants. It’s also a good idea to avoid taking a photo of just the garage door.

2. Drag and drop.

The next step is to choose a door and then drag it over your garage door opening. You can use the toggle buttons at each corner of the garage door panel to adjust the size and position of the garage door panel. Once it is in place over your garage door opening, you can click on the door models and colours to change it easily without having to reposition it each time.

You can browse through the entire Garador range of garage doors and colours, so why not have a look and see which door looks best on your home (we’ve gone with an Ascot steel up & over door in Signal Blue above).

3. That’s it… why not print it out!

That’s it, all done! You now have the option to print out your chosen garage door, or you can carry on and build your garage door using our door builder. Check out our visualise your door page, to mock-up your perfect Garador garage door. If you like our new visualise your door tool, please like, tweet and share!!!

New Extended Range of FrontGuard Front Doors

We’ve just extended our range of FrontGuard and FrontGuard Plus front doors, to include five new models. The doors are in Modern, Contemporary and Classic designs, so there’s plenty to choose from.

Each of the doors in the FrontGuard range has been engineered to offer outstanding thermal insulation without compromising on security benefits, such as 5-point locking as standard. Doors are also supplied with RC2 security equipment. The FGS 600 in particular (pictured right), has been designed to last with a sturdy 1000mm long bar handle, and a robust profile cylinder for ease of locking. FrontGuard Plus doors have a thermal break built into the frame to further prevent heat loss.

The new doors include the FGS 410, FGS 430, FGS 450, FGS 515 and FGS 600. All of these models are available in FrontGuard Plus with an exceptionally well-insulated 65mm thick door panel, and the FGS 515 is available in both FrontGuard (46mm thick panel) and FrontGuard Plus (65mm thick panel). The glazing is 44mm thick too, so heat loss is kept to a minimum and the glazing is shatterproof, with safety glass on the inside pane, so in the event of the glass breaking it will not break into small pieces with sharp edges.

Plus there are matching garage doors in the existing Garador range, that won’t look out of place alongside your FrontGuard entrance door.

Visit the Garador website at www.garador.co.uk to see the full range.