- Location
- Market Harborough, Leicestershire
- Main postcode district
- LE16
- Nearby (straight line)
- Corby (10 miles), Kettering (10 miles) and Wigston Magna (10 miles)
- Survey and quote
- Free, with a fixed written quote
A PVC strip curtain is a row of flexible, overlapping plastic strips hung from a rail across a doorway, so that people and vehicles can pass through while the strips fall back to close the gap behind them. At loading bays they hang behind the main door or across internal openings, reducing draughts, dust and temperature loss for much less than the cost of a powered door.
Where does this fit at a dock in Market Harborough?
Smaller trade units in Market Harborough with a single goods door may find a strip curtain the most economical way to keep the working area warmer in winter. In a warehouse in Market Harborough where doors stay open for much of the shift, strip curtains offer a practical first step before considering a high-speed door.
Goods-in areas in Market Harborough that leave the main door open during long unloading sessions can use a strip curtain to hold back draughts and dust.
Your loading bay stays our responsibility from the survey to the handover. In Market Harborough, the survey and written quote are free, and the quoted price is fixed for the agreed scope. Installation is carried out by specialist engineers working under our management, at times planned with you to protect your loading schedule. Out-of-hours work is available by arrangement. We finish by testing the equipment and handing over its documentation.
Do strip curtains count towards building energy rules?
A strip curtain does not replace the need for a compliant door: where a new or replacement external loading bay door is fitted, it is the door that has to meet the energy rules.
- England: Approved Document L (2021) Volume 2 sets a limiting U-value of 1.3 W/m²K for vehicle access and similar large doors in new and replacement work.
- Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland: each nation has its own energy rules, through Approved Document L for Wales, Section 6 of the Scottish Building Standards Technical Handbook, and Technical Booklet F2 in Northern Ireland. We confirm what applies to your nation and project.
What a strip curtain does well is reduce the air moving through an opening while the door is open for loading. That helps a heated or chilled building, even though the curtain is not the door.
Workplace safety still applies around the curtain: strips should stay clear enough for drivers and pedestrians to see each other. HSE is the regulator in Great Britain and HSENI in Northern Ireland.
How often do PVC strips need replacing?
PVC strips need replacing when they become scratched, cloudy, split or shortened, and how often that happens depends almost entirely on traffic. A curtain at a busy forklift opening wears far faster than one at a quiet pedestrian door.
Signs that strips are due for replacement:
- You can no longer see clearly through them.
- Strips have torn at the top fixing or split along their length.
- Gaps have opened because strips have shrunk or been cut short.
- Low-temperature strips have stiffened and no longer fall back into place.
Individual strips can be swapped without replacing the whole curtain, which keeps costs down. Cleaning with a mild detergent helps visibility, while solvents can damage the PVC. Moving strips from the busy centre to the edges, and back, spreads the wear more evenly.
The same published guide range applies across England; access, out-of-hours working and site conditions are confirmed at the free survey.
What does the free survey cover?
- Wheel guide positions and yard markings for reversing vehicles
- Scope to convert ground-level doors into docks or add lift tables
- How often each door cycles during a typical shift
- Gaps around trailers where heated or chilled air escapes
- Yard gradient and the slope of the approach to the dock
- Wall and steel structure for door, shelter and bumper fixings
Options to discuss
Sliding or swing-away rail
A rail that lets the whole curtain be moved clear of the opening for wide loads, cleaning or seasonal removal without taking the strips down.
Standard clear strips
Clear flexible PVC for ambient warehouses and goods-in areas, giving good visibility and draught control at pedestrian and forklift openings.
Planning, building control and safety law in England
Powered doors and dock equipment installed in England may carry the UKCA or the CE mark, and doors are covered by the product standard BS EN 13241. We hand over the relevant documentation for each item fitted in Market Harborough. Planning and Building Regulations questions are never assumed either way: we check what applies at survey, so you know before work is booked.
Questions about PVC strip curtains in Market Harborough
Is VAT included in your guide prices for PVC strip curtains?
No. Our customers are businesses, so guide prices exclude VAT, which is added at the standard rate. The same guide range applies in Leicestershire as everywhere else: for PVC strip curtains, it is £180 to £1,100 per opening, excluding VAT. It covers supply and fit for a typical installation. Your fixed written quote after the free survey shows the net price, the VAT and exactly what is included.
Will you deal with building control and planning for a project in Market Harborough?
We check at survey whether the work is likely to need approval. Forming a new opening or dock pit may need Building Regulations approval, a building warrant or building control approval, depending on the nation, and external structures such as loading houses can need planning permission. Where approval is needed, we explain what is involved, work with your designer or agent, and build it into the programme.
How do you price PVC strip curtains for a site in Market Harborough?
Guide budgets for supply and fit are £180 to £1,100 per opening, excluding VAT. The figure moves with size, insulation, the operator, electrics, access, any pit or groundworks and out-of-hours working. Where levellers are involved, the guide assumes an existing, sound pit. After the free survey you receive a fixed written quote, and that is the price for the agreed scope.
Which grade should we use in a freezer?
Use a low-temperature or polar grade in a freezer. Standard PVC stiffens in the cold, so it cracks and stops falling back into place, leaving gaps. Low-temperature grades are formulated to stay flexible in chilled and frozen conditions, so they keep sealing after each vehicle passes.
Should the strips touch the floor?
Strips usually stop just above the floor so they do not drag, wear or catch on pallet trucks. Where draughts or pests are a concern they can be set closer to the floor, and we agree the finished height with you before fitting so it suits the traffic through the opening.
PVC strip curtains near Market Harborough
Nearby places we cover, measured from Market Harborough, include Corby (10 miles), Kettering (10 miles) and Wigston Magna (10 miles). Ask if your own town is missing.
Other loading bay services in Market Harborough
Full guide to PVC strip curtains · Everything we do in Market Harborough
Have photos of the door, leveller or shelter? Send them with your enquiry and we can give a clearer answer for your Market Harborough site.