Garage Door With Door: How a Wicket Door Actually Works

We get asked about this door more by description than by name. A garage door with a door in it. A door within a door. The proper term is a wicket door, sometimes called a pedestrian door or man-door, and it's exactly what it sounds like: a full-size door built into one panel of a normal sectional garage door.

It's simpler than most people expect. The wicket door is built into the panel itself, hung on its own concealed hinges, with its own lock and handle, completely separate from the main door. When the main door is down, the wicket door works just like a normal front or back door. You turn the handle, step through, and lock it behind you. The main door doesn't move at all.

That's really the whole point. Need to grab a spade, let the dog out, or put the bin out? You don't need to trigger the motor or lift the whole door and leave the garage wide open just to do it. Open the small door, do what you need to do, close it again, and the rest of the garage stays sealed.

It also comes in handy when the power's out. If your motor doesn't have a battery backup, a normal door means pulling the manual release and lifting the whole thing by hand. With a wicket door built in, that's a non-issue. You just use the small door like you would any other day.

The colour and finish match the main door, so from the driveway it still looks like one clean door, not something bolted on afterwards. We supply it in white, anthracite grey and brown, in single (W2440mm x H2135mm) and double (W4880mm x H2135mm) sizes, and we ship anywhere in South Africa.

One thing worth knowing before you order: the wicket door has to be built into the panel at the factory. It can't be retrofitted onto a door you already have, so if you want one, it comes as part of a new door. We supply the door only, no motor and no installation, so you'll need your own installer to fit it.