Center Stile Reinforcement: Top Reasons Your Garage Door Stiles Get Damaged
Stiles are interior reinforced metal supports that help garage doors maintain structural integrity. They also serve as rigid anchor points for door hardware to fasten to.
Think of garage door stiles as the skeleton of your door. They give garage doors the strength necessary to support other components. The rolled steel outer skin, interior insulation and door hardware are all supported by stiles.
Stiles are made of steel and are very sturdy, but can bend, displace or separate from the door sections when excessive force is applied. There are certain precautions you can take to keep your stiles from being damaged.
What can be fastened to stiles?
- Hinges – Hinges #1-#10 can be fastened to the stiles with self drilling TEK screws or wood screws. The hinges are used to secure door sections together and to support the rollers.
- Top Brackets – Top brackets are located on the top left and right hand of the door.
- Bottom Brackets – Bottom brackets are found at the bottom right and left hand of the door on the bottom section. They allow the cables to fasten to the door.
- Reinforcement Struts – Horizontal braces are called struts and secure across the interior or the door. Like stiles these struts reinforce the garage door.
- Opener Reinforcement Brackets (ORB) – These vertical brackets anchor to the center stiles of the door and serve as a secure anchor point for the opener J arm to connect to the door.
- Slide Locks – Locks that mounted on the end stiles and anchor into the vertical tracks with a latch mechanism are called slide locks.
How many stiles are on a garage door?
Garage doors usually have between three and nine total stiles, depending on width. They are composed of ends stiles, interior stiles and center stiles. Interior stiles vary by door width, but all doors have two end stiles and a maximum of one center stile.
End Stiles – All garage doors have a total of two end stiles. One stile at each end of the door.
Center Stiles – Most doors have a center stile which serves as an anchor point for the J-arm of the garage door opener to connect to. Some special width doors of 10 ft to 12 ft lack a center stile and instead have two stiles slightly offset towards the center of the door.
Interior Stiles – Stiles found between the end and center stiles are known as interior stiles. Single car doors may not have any interior stiles, while wider doors have between two and four stiles.
What causes damage to stiles?
Stiles separate from garage doors for many reasons. Most damage occurs due to user error, inadequate maintenance or door fatigue. Older and improperly reinforced doors are most at risk for damage.
The center stile of a garage door is most often damaged due to the forces exerted by the garage door opener. If enough force is exerted stiles will fail in these ways:
- Bending – the stile bends outward,no longer flush
- Separating – the stile completely separates from the door section.
- Twisting – the stile twists sideways on one side
- Ripping – The stile rips the interior part of the door off with it.
The opener j arm connects to the garage door center stile via a small attachment bracket. This bracket is often not sufficient and ends up damaging the center stile.
User error also accounts for damage to the center stile. Attempting to open your garage door with a slide lock still engaged will damage the center stile and top section of your garage door.
If your torsion springs are incorrect or set with the improper amount of tension the garage door opener will pull on the center stile with excessive force.
In colder climates snow and ice are prevalent in winter. The garage door opener can attempt to lift a frozen door damaging the center stile.
Center stiles can be damaged when the door is closing as well. Examples include the door being set down on top of an object or obstructions in the track.
What are double end stiles?
Doors that are extremely wide or heavy need double end stiles. This means having two stiles side by side at each end.
Double end stiles are wide enough for two hinges to fit next to each other. Then one long stem roller is installed through the roller carriers to the track.
| Door WIdth | Short Raised Panels | Long Raised Panels | Number of Stiles | Center Stile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6ft | 3 | 1 | 3 | Yes |
| 7ft | 3 | 1 | 3 | Yes |
| 8ft | 4 | 2 | 3 | Yes |
| 9ft | 4 | 2 | 3 | Yes |
| 10ft | 5 | 2 | 4 | No |
| 12ft | 5 | 2 | 4 | No |
| 14ft | 7 | 3 | 5 | No |
| 16ft | 8 | 4 | 5 | Yes |
| 18ft | 8 | 4 | 5 | Yes |
| 20ft | 10 | 5 | 5 | Yes |
Why do some doors not have a center stile?
Most doors have a stile that runs directly down the middle of the door. It is known as a center stile and it allows a garage door opener to connect to the middle of the door for balance.
However, certain width doors lack a stile exactly in the center. These non-standard door sizes include 7ft, 10ft,12ft, 14ft and 20ft widths.
The reason they lack a center stile has to do with the odd number of raised panels on the exterior of the door and the possibility of a window frame being in the way..Doors that have 3,5,7 or 9 raised panels on the exterior lack center stiles.
Why did my opener bracket rip off the center stile?
Most garage door openers come with a tiny bracket in the box. This bracket anchors to the center garage door stile, but it poorly designed.
All of the force of your garage door opener pulling and pushing on the top center stile is directed to one small area, instead of being distributed across the entire door section.
When enough force is applied the bracket will rip out of the center door stile. In some circumstances the entire center stile separates from the door. You can guard against this by installing an opener reinforcement bracket (ORB and bracing up your top section with struts or punch angle.
Top Reasons Center Stiles Get Damaged
- Raising the door with broken springs.
- Having an improperly balanced door
- Engaging the slide lock
- Door freezes to the floor
- Obstructions in the door path or track.
- J arm pulling at the wrong angle
- Buying a builder grade door
- Failing to reinforce the stile and top section.
- Older opener lacking excessive force sensor.
- Operating the door after cables slipped off drums
How can I tell where my stiles are located?
All residential doors with an even amount of of raised panels on the exterior have a center stile. Doors with an odd number of of raised panels lack a center stile.
Non insulated raised panel pan and vinyl back insulated door have exposed stiles. Each stile is metallic and exposed from the interior. Double sided steel sandwich style doors have hidden stiles and stiles that are painted white.
To find stiles on a double sided steel door you should locate pilot holes. These guide holes indicate where self drilling TEK screws should be fastened.
Do I have to anchor my door hardware to a stile?
All door hardware should be fastened to a stile. That includes hinges, brackets, struts and locks.
Garage doors are made out of rolled steel that varies in thickness from 24 gauge to 28 gauge.
The interior and exterior skins of the garage door are not strong enough to support the force of heavy garage door operation.
Do I have to mount my opener in line with the center stile?
The best place to install drawbar style openers is inline with the center door stile. However, some doors lack a center stile. In these cases openers can be offset if they have a torsion spring system.
Doors without a stile exactly down the center should have the opener offset to the next closest stile. In certain cases with obstructions, openers can be install on the end stile.
Openers cannot be offset if they use an extension spring system. Likewise, you also can’t use a sidemount jackshaft opener with extension springs.
How can I reinforce my center stile?
All garage doors that use an electric opener should have a strut installed across the top of the top section. Alternatively a stick of slotted punch angle could be substituted in place of a strut.
Additionally an opener reinforcement bracket (ORB) should be installed vertically on whatever stile your opener is anchoring to. The small clip that is included with your garage door opener installation kit is not sufficient to withstand the forces of the opener over the long term. Use our opener reinforcement bracket installation guide to make your top door section more secure.
I write tutorials about garage door repair, installation and maintenance. With over a decade of experience in the overhead door industry I’ve learned a lot and I’d like to share my knowledge with you.