[rcooled]

My house was built in the '40's and has a garage door that slides open to the side. No floor rails required....the door hangs from a barn-door-type rail above the door. A couple of 2" dia wheels on the floor guide the door's lower edge and keep it from being pushed inward when closed. I rigged a standard screw-drive opener for opening & closing. My door is solid wood (heavy) but this set-up will allow for just about any type of one-piece door to be used. Obviously, this will only work if you have sufficient room alongside your opening for the door to slide into.

I've also seen a vertically segmented door that opened sideways along a curved track that allowed it to turn 90 degrees and park next to the garage's inside wall when opened. This application works well when the door opening is too close to the side of the garage.