Roller Shutters

Insulated Industrial roller shutter door

Roller Shutters are one of the most versatile products available for covering and securing doors, windows and other apertures, but also for providing insulation, privacy, light and sound control. The roller shutter is nearly always made to order and requires minimal space above, outside, or inside any opening.

Define the Roller Shutter

When we talk about a ‘roller shutter’ we are referring to a product which is providing secondary protection or functionality to a door or window and if used over an open aperture, this is not normally a ‘door’ function. A ‘roller shutter door’ is different and generally will offer a different specification, because its purpose is to act and perform as an actual door, which has people or objects passing through it and therefore requires certain levels of safety and compliance.

Samson Doors offer over 50 different types of roller shutter, where the main difference is usually the size and specification of the curtain itself. The strength, performance and often colour of a particular shutter is down to the slats used in the curtain and this also affects the sizes available too. Steel and aluminium are the 2 main materials used for roller shutters, these are also in single or double skinned options.

Up to a certain width and height most roller shutters can be either manual or electric operation, but when you get to a certain size and therefore certain weight limits the roller shutter will always have to be electrically operated and if properly specified it will always have some kind of emergency manual override system in case of a power failure. Electric operation is often far simpler these days overall to control and is not an expensive option over manual operation.

The range of controls available for operating a roller shutter are vast and ensure that in a commercial or industrial application the very best and safest controls can be used for safe and efficient daily use. When used for security purposes you have the choice of very high security access control methods such as finger readers, digital keypads, keyswitches and so on.

Safety and Compliance

A roller shutter generally will have far less safety requirements than a roller door because it does not have people or objects passing underneath it. A roller shutter fitted over a window or door for security will generally be relatively small and therefore more often than not doesn’t have the overall weight to be of a major concern if it were to fall through component failure. However, we will always supply roller shutters which are over the required weight with relevant safety brake systems or anti fall devices, depending on their specification. This includes manual and electric operated shutters.

A Primary Use for Roller Shutters

One of the primary uses for roller shutters in the UK is for security. This is low level, medium and high level security for doors windows and other apertures.

Samson have so many different security roller shutter models because there are so many types of application, whether it is a large detached house where the aesthetics might be one of the more important factors, or a back alley doorway in a city, where no one sees it, but real security is the primary concern. Both solutions could be security specified rolling shutters, but very different finishes and final visual appearances.

Door and Window Shutter Differences

When you use a roller shutter to protect a door or window there are some differences in the specifications. Normally for window protection a shutter is fitted externally to protect the glass and the window from either vandalism or an actually attempted break in.

You would usually operate the shutter from inside the building via a simple rocker switch on a wall and if there were multiple windows covered you might do it room by room or even floor by floor, all depending on the layout of the building and other factors.External fitted windows tend to pose no danger to anyone during operation when closing or opening by electric motor drive unless the window is very large, such as in a commercial shop window. In this case safety is often required depending on the control method adopted on site.

Most doorways need a little more thought as there are several concerns…

One is the door being closed properly to avoid damage when operating (although windows can be the same of course) and if the door opens away from the shutter, and the shutter can still operate even with the door opened, then a secondary issue to address is the safety. A doorway can often use a shutter size which requires anti fall back safety, or even a safety edge detection so the shutter can never harm a person in the doorway.

Another consideration with a doorway shutter is ensuring it has a manual override facility, especially if it is the last point of exit or entry into a building. If there is a power cut or the motor drive fails then it is essential there is another method to open the shutter.

Roller Shutters in the Home

If you have ever been to countries like Holland and others in Northern Europe, you may well have noticed how many homes use roller shutters over doors and windows and don’t have curtains.

An externally fitted aluminium double skinned, insulated roller shutter fitted over a window or patio doorway will provide exceptional performance over curtains or blinds fitted on the inside.

- Heat insulation from the sun hitting the glass
- Sound insulation in both directions
- Light control internally
- Privacy control internally
- Security

They make a lot of sense, but for sure, here in the UK, our windows and often architecture doesn’t always lend itself to external fitted roller shutters.

They can be built into the apertures when the house is built from new, so you don’t see the roller shutter hood or guides, but this requires some careful planning. We have roller shutters with very small hood covers and some models with curved hood covers and being mainly in aluminium they are all very smooth and perfectly finished in almost any colour you wish.

Roller Shutters for Business and Commercial Use

Our commercial shutter range covers an extensive range of sizes and curtain types, including roller shutter grilles, an open vented curtain version for vision and ventilation purposes.

For so many commercial shutter applications such as underground car parks or maybe security grilles on a shopping centre, maximum ventilation and vision is essential and there are many models to cover this requirement both in steel and aluminium.