Installing garage doors

[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.