How do you lock a roll up door?

The common roll up door locks

A roller door, as many people call a roll up door, takes the same locks. Which one you have depends on whether the door has a motor and which side you need to lock it from.

A windlock or endlock is not a lock. Those small pieces on the ends of the slats hold the curtain in the guides. DASMA's facility checklist says they should be fastened tight and never loose or missing, but they do nothing to keep a person out.

How to lock a roll up door, step by step

1. Close the door all the way. The bottom bar should sit flat on the floor. DASMA says a balanced rolling door, when closed, rests on the floor or rises up slightly.
2. Line up the bolt with the slot. The slide bolt on the bottom bar has to meet the hole or slot cut in the guide. If it hits steel, the door is not fully down or the bar is bent.
3. Slide the bolt in. Push it all the way into the guide. Do both sides if the door has two.
4. Add the padlock. If the slide lock has a padlock hole, put the lock through it so the bolt cannot be slid back.
5. Lock the chain or the switch. On a chain hoist door, wrap the hand chain on its keeper and padlock it there. On a motor door, make sure the interlock is set so the motor will not try to open a locked door.

How do you lock a roll up door from the outside?

A slide lock only works from inside. To lock the door when you leave through it, you need a lock that reaches the outside face of the bottom bar. There are two usual ways. A center lock has a key cylinder or T-handle on the outside (and often a handle inside too); turning it drives a bar into each guide. A latch with a padlock, the kind on most storage units, hooks a keeper and takes a padlock from the outside. If your door has neither and it is the only way into the space, a center lock is the usual fix.

Locks on a door with a motor

A locked door and a running motor do not mix. If the opener runs while a bolt is in the guide, it can bend the bottom bar, pull the curtain out of the guides or strain the drive. That is why operator makers require an interlock. Genie's manual for its commercial jackshaft and hoist operators says that if a door has a working lock, an interlock switch must be installed so the door cannot be run electrically while the lock is on. The switch sits at the lock and opens the control circuit when the bolt is thrown.

If your motor door has a slide lock and no interlock, either have one fitted or stop using the lock. Janus, a maker of rolling doors, puts the same rule on its safety label in plain words: unlock the door before opening it.

When the lock will not line up

A lock that worked for years and now misses its slot is a sign of something else:

• The door is not closing all the way. A door with too much spring tension can stop short of the floor. That is a technician adjustment, since the tension wheel and barrel hold a lot of force.
• The bottom bar is bent. A bump from a forklift or a cart is enough to throw the bolt off its slot.
• A guide has moved. Loose guide bolts or a hit to the guide shifts the slot out of line.
• The motor's close limit is off. DASMA says the operator should stop as the bottom bar touches the floor or sill. If it stops high, the bolt cannot reach.

Do not force a slide bolt with a hammer or drill a new hole in the guide. The first bends the bolt and the second weakens the guide.

Can you add a lock to a roll up door?

Yes. Most roll up doors can take a slide lock, a padlockable slide lock or a center lock added to the bottom bar, as long as the guides can be cut or drilled for the slot in the right place. On a door with a motor, adding a lock means adding an interlock at the same time.

Roll up door locks and repairs in the Denver metro

G Brothers works on roll up and rolling steel doors across the Denver metro, including self-storage unit doors, which we work on regularly, and rolling security grilles and counter shutters, which we install and repair. We service every operator brand and type, from trolley and jackshaft to hoist operators. If your roll up door will not lock, will not close all the way or has a bent bottom bar, see roll up and rolling steel door repair or storage unit door repair. Call (720) 421-6489 or request a free estimate.

For a house garage door, see how to lock a garage door manually. If the door will not come down in the first place, start with why a roll up door won't go down.

Sources

• Genie, GCL-MJ and MH Medium Duty Operator manual (interlock switches)
• DASMA, TDS 269: Rolling Door Performance Evaluation by a Facility Manager or a Building Superintendent
• DASMA, TDS 270: Recommended Rolling Door Maintenance Practices for Building Maintenance Supervisors
• Janus International, Model 1950 Installation Guide (safety label)