Installing garage doors

[cabezaverde]

Anyone ever done it? I am thinking this might be a 2-person job best to be hired out?

[Finster101]

It is not a bad job. Start by stacking your panels one at a time using a nail driven into the trim at enough angle to hold them in place. Assemble the roller brackets and hinges next. Install the rollers and use them as a guide for the tracks and bolt the tracks to the wall with lag screws. Springs and cables are the hardest part. Most doors will come with directions on how to do them. I am sure there are a lot of UTube videos as well. If you don't feel confident, then by all means hire someone. It's not worth getting hurt.

[pworley1]

It is doable by yourself take your time and follow the instructions.

[Wag]

I wouldn't hesitate to do it. The trickiest part of it is the spring system. You can take your head off with that spring if you're not doing it right.

But then again, you can blow your head off at the reloading bench if you don't do THAT right.

--Wag--

[Thundarstick]

And do not use an internal spring system! ��

[Froogal]

I am a "died in the wool" do it yourselfer, but I won't touch garage doors. I call the professionals.

[Sig]

What size doors & what type of panels? Large wood panels are heavy & awkward to do solo. An 8'x7' steel door is cake.

[bedbugbilly]

I have installed a number of them over the years a lot depends on the door you are installing whether you need help. By that, I mean if it is a 8 or 10 foot door or a 16 foot door with heavy panels. As I got older, I got smarter and the last 2 or 3 I hired it done. In the long run, they knew exactly what to do as that was all that they do. They were familiar with the make of door, getting the spring tension correct and if it had torsion hardware, getting that tuned correctly - if when done if there was an issue (there never was), they would have to come back and make it right. In and out in half the time I could do it by myself and my time was better spent on doing other tasks. In the end, i guess it all depends on your situation and if your time and effort is worth the $$ you would save doing it yourself. You ought to be able to get a quite and decide from there - and these are crazy times and with inflation, even getting someone to quote it and actually show up - you might not have any alternative but to do it yourself.

[cabezaverde]

It is a 9 foot door. What does installation cost?

[Rapier]

I did one garage door R and R, a panel door, by myself, after that, I hired the next two done. I have five roll ups on this place now, I keep them clean and lubed, but if they need an R and R, it will get hired. Three are 3” thick insulated, automatic sealing doors. Takes 3-4 people to pick up.

[Winger Ed.]

I've done a couple. It'd be easier with two people, but one person can do a 10' one fairly safely.
Think it through, watch some youtube videos on it.
It's not that big a deal, but 'read & heed' every safety precaution about loading up the tension on the spring.

If that spring 'gets away' it'll probably send you to the emergency room.
After it whacks you--- the fall off the ladder is going to hurt too.

[Handloader109]

I'd hire it out, cost depends upon location. And I'll never put in an un insulated door. My 2 car garage never gets below freezing even last year at a -8f low and below zero for several days and no supplement heat except really minor seepage through wood door. And no more than 85 even at 103 outside.

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

[Bmi48219]

Being that I’m a dyed-in-wool DIY type, in a pinch I might, if it’s a one-car sized door with a single lift spring. If bigger or dual torsion springs, I’d have a pro install it. Aside from the noted danger springs pose, if things go south you can do a lot of damage to tracks etc.
I’ve been in construction all my life and can say without malice that most of it isn’t rocket science. Heck, an average guy, with proper instructions can defuse a mine or unexploded bomb. But I’ve had enough experience with roll-up doors to defer to the pros.

[Adam20]

It is a 9 foot door. What does installation cost?

mid michigan area $200
more if they have to work around stuff in the way

[higgins]

After watching the man who installed my door a few years ago, there's no way I would attempt to adjust the spring tension. It's a learned feel and an easy way to hurt yourself if you're a bit feeble or uncoordinated. I bought the door at Lowes and used their installer, who turned out to be a full-time garage door installer. The job went without a hitch and after watching what was involved there's no way I would do it myself.

[country gent]

I watched the 2 young men install the 3 garage doors and chain fall openers in my new garage. They got here about 9 and were fine with all 3 by 2:00
The only saw cuts were the shafts every thing else was cut on a Beverly hand shear mounted on a length of 2 x 12. All cordless drivers and drills. high end levels and tools. They installed everything and made a yellow line down the springs with a paint pen before winding tension on. They installed 1 8' and 2 10' doors along with the openers. Best money I spent.

[rbuck351]

I have done three or four and they are not too bad. You want to make sure the wind up rods fit the spring winder holes very well and that they are in all the way before applying tension.

[Noah Zark]

Just a note - the torsion type springs have a paint stripe on them for two reasons: Spring force and proper installation adjustment. One color is for narrow, lighter doors and other colors are for wider, heavier doors. Colors may be different for different door manufacturers.

But a door spring is properly adjusted when there's a specified number of diagonal / spiral paint stripes in the spring when the door is open, and a higher number of stripes when shut. Just use the two steel rods to twist the nut to yield the specified number of turns signified by stripe count, and lock the set screws. TAKE CARE using those rods to twist the spring. I used to do them when I was much younger, but I call the pro now that I'm halfway to 136.

Oh - and an accurate 4' or longer level is your little frien'.

Noah

[Shawlerbrook]

It depends how much time and patience you have. Most things are doable but the question is whether or not is worth calling an expert.

[redneck1]

I'll throw my 2 cents in , if you are the type of person who can think things threw and pay attention to the details you won't have any problems doing it yourself and having a door that works and looks good .

If you are the type that just does things to get them done and you might not have the patience to take the time to get everything as close to perfect as you can , let someone else do it . It might save some cussing and swearing in the future when you have to go back and re-adjust things you didn't spend enough effort on the first time .

[yovinny]

Garage doors are a piece of cake..
I've done up to 16' insulated doors alone, but a helper is advised.
The springs are mostly all wound through a screw drive with a battery drill/driver.
Except for commercial type/size doors,, needing 2 bars to wind springs hasent been a thing in decades...

[Noah Zark]

. . . The springs are mostly all wound through a screw drive with a battery drill/driver.
Except for commercial type/size doors,, needing 2 bars to wind springs hasent been a thing in decades...

Props to yovinny for mentioning this for newer residential garage doors.

My Overhead brand 16' door is 28 yrs old and it uses two bars to adjust the two springs, so that's my point of reference. My local Overhead dealer charges $250 to replace both, and I gladly pay him that.

Noah

[Noah Zark]

Another helpful hint if you have a door with extension springs - get some 1/8" steel cable, clamps, and screw eyes and thread the cables through the extended springs with the garage door down. Anchor the screw eyes in line with the spring travel path and pass the cable ends through the eyes and use two clamps at each end to secure the cable.

When an extension spring breaks the ends won't be able to go sailing through garage airspace before damaging a vehicle parked inside, as one did with my parents' 1970 Pontiac Bonneville.

Noah

[higgins]

another benefit of using Lowes or your choice of big box store is that the installer comes to take measurements instead of relying on someone like me who doesn't really know how to measure for a door. Even if you don't use a big box store it would probably be a good idea to let the installer take the measurements.

[MaryB]

When I built my new garage a few years ago the contractor subcontracted the commercial 16'x10' door out. Door crew came and had it up in 2 hours including testing the opener! R22 insulated door so not light! My contractor said he used to do them but it took half a day his crew could spend working on the interior/putting windows/door in. In the end it was cheaper to pay the door company to come out and handle it.

[Geezer in NH]

Myself when the door broke, I called the guy.

[BD]

I've put in about a dozen overhead roll up doors by myself, sometimes with whoever was available to help, (teenagers, laborers, homeowners). I've also supervised the installation of another couple dozen overhead roll up doors of varying complexity and weight, (up to the steel clad 1,000 lb variety). There are five basic rules for a successful installation:
1. Measure the opening and check it for plumb and width all the way to the top. Check level and condition of the floor. Look for out of level, dips in the concrete and unevenness in the slope, (if any). This is so you will understand the problems as they come up.
2. Start at the bottom and work your way to the top, one panel and one section of each side track at a time. Don't put all the track up first and don't tack in place all of the panels first. Work your way up with both panels and track and closely observe how things are progressing in regard to level on the panels and plumb on the tracks.
3. The bottom panel must be very nearly perfectly level when resting on the sill/floor even with the weight of all the panels above it. Spend 80% of your time on getting this right. If the floor/sill is not perfectly level you will need to get that first panel level by shimming the weather seal to fit the condition of the floor. If you neglect this the panels will try and jam while moving, and you will spend three times as long half-a**ing your way to get it to work, only to be defeated over time. The door has to land level, no matter what the floor condition is. Most overhead door panels are aluminum shells, with the insulated ones having some foam in-between two sheets of aluminum. None of them will resist wracking over time if their are constant forces, (like gravity) working to wrack them.
4. The rails need to be plumb, and the distance between them needs to be correct, and consistent all the way. If not the panels will walk on their wheel pins until they drag on the rails. Do not try and cheat the rails to fit a door opening that is out of plumb. Hang the rails plumb, and then trim out the opening to match the door.
5. The panels need to be stiff enough to support themselves on the flat at the distance between the rails. Do not trust the manufacturer to get this right. Particularly if the door is especially wide, or if it is clad with something, (wood or metal to match the other doors on the house). Try them on a pair of saw horses before you start the install. If they sag when laid flat on the horses, they will sag on the rails when open over time until they no longer correctly first the track width. I've had this happen more than once within a month of the install. All of the manufacturers sell stiffeners to prevent this, but depending on the door width and added cladding, you may need more than one additional stiffener.

[dverna]

I tensioned mine twice, and I will not do it again. I have the old style that used rods to turn the spring.

You can get badly hurt if you screw up.

[Randy Bohannon]

The installation was included in my garage door albeit a small 12’ door, some modifications were needed that I did at the request of the contractor. Most contractors here give you more than you pay for and people still bitch.

[Horn Ridge]

The winding of the spring is the *worst* part. I've done several of them and after you do a couple you understand what needs to happen to A - Not permanently disfigure yourself and B - Make the door open like it's supposed to. If it were a $2-300 for a complete install, I'd sit in my recliner and tell them to send me the bill when they're done.