Modification of garage door possible?

OneMoBear · 11-01-2009, 12:17 PM

We would love to install a lift kit as our current clearance is only about 14". You'll all probably tell me I should not do this but when the TM is backed into the garage, we can open the front half and, for example, raise the antenna to install a Wingman

(you guys are a bad influence on me!). Or perhaps get on the bed (I know, I know) and work my way into the middle to dig something out, or put something in. I'm pretty sure I could get to the fridge if we happened to leave the setting in the wrong position. Anyway, it's very handy. Right now we have less than an inch of clearance with our upper garage door track when we do this. Our garage ceiling is 12' high so it is kind of frustrating to be limited by this. I'm just wondering if it might be possible to raise the track enough that we could add the lift kit.

Thanks for any ideas!

Malinda

OneMoBear · 11-01-2009, 02:18 PM

Bill,

Thanks, yes, you have everything correct, as usual

. This is something we would have done professionally. I just wondered if anyone has wandered down this path already. I am attaching a picture. I'm just hoping they could raise the horizontal stuff slightly and make the vertical stuff slightly longer (I hope the picture helps this make sense).

Malinda

**YWORRYDOG** · 11-01-2009, 02:22 PM

with that kind of space at the top, I think I would go with a roll up door!

OneMoBear · 11-01-2009, 02:27 PM

I hadn't thought of that but it would have to be a pretty good looking roll up door - fussy, fussy HOA.

It's worth asking about. Thanks for the idea!

Wavery · 11-01-2009, 03:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OneMoBear

Bill,

Thanks, yes, you have everything correct, as usual

. This is something we would have done professionally. I just wondered if anyone has wandered down this path already. I am attaching a picture. I'm just hoping they could raise the horizontal stuff slightly and make the vertical stuff slightly longer (I hope the picture helps this make sense).

Malinda

A helpful picture would be of the actual clearance, with the door open. If you have enough room to clear that header over the door opening, this should not be a hard job at all for a garage door installer. If the header has to be taken up, that's a different story and I would jut have a new door installed. That would probably be easier than messing with the existing door.

11-01-2009, 03:25 PM

I just had a really off-the-wall idea. Have no idea how much it would cost, but TM is now using a lower profile AC. Depending on costs of construction and how things measure out, you just might be better off overall swapping the AC unit rather than messing with the door. And the new AC is supposed to be much quieter! Food for thought!

OneMoBear · 11-01-2009, 03:40 PM

That's easy.

There is NO clearance with the door open and that is ok. There is currently no problem with clearance with the door closed and the front of the TM open. The problem is, if we install a lift, the roof of the TM will hit the track with the garage door closed. We are not looking to leave it open. We would just like to be able to continue to open it, leave it open for a little bit and close it again. The AC is not an issue.

**Bill** · 11-01-2009, 05:06 PM

Oh, wow, I think you've got a winner there! If you have an HOA, they won't let you do anything that is visible from outside. But I bet an installer will leave the side tracks alone, then raise the center track by a foot and possibly lengthen it a bit. He will then lengthen the connecting arm that attaches the traveller to the top of the door. The length and operating angle of that arm is quite adjustable anyway.

Bill

OneMoBear · 11-02-2009, 11:07 AM

Yikes. Just made the first call on this. He said that you have to replace everything but the door itself. He said that this motor is designed to pull back and would need to be replaced with one that is designed to pull up. The spring would have to go as well . . . bottom line $1600. I'm not sure two additional inches of clearance on the TM is worth quite that much but I'll make a couple more calls. One thing that was very interesting was that he said if you're in for an inch you might as well be in for a mile and it would probably only cost an addition $50 or so to take it all the way up to the ceiling.

**Bill** · 11-02-2009, 12:34 PM

Last year, my wife overshot the driveway and put a small dent into one panel of our garage door. I called the original installer about getting a new panel, he came out and gave us the same story you got. "Oh, you've really mucked things up here. And we don't replace pieces - only the entire door and hardware." I pounded out the dent with a block of wood and a rubber hammer, and repainted, and it looks almost as good as new. Works like new, too.

I don't know why they think they can get away with this. It makes no sense. As you will see if you look at a garage-door-installation site, the door is lifted by the springs, not the motor. But if you don't change the size of the door, the weight doesn't change, so there is no need to change the springs (if you need to, the springs are easily adjustable). And there is certainly no need to change the motor. The "pull back" vs "pull up" makes no sense, since the door is still riding in the same position in the same track. At most, a slight adjustment of the springs would take care of things if a slightly stronger pull is needed due to the slightly different angle of the arm that goes up to the traveller.

Try this. Go to http://www.easy2diy.com/cm/easy/diy_...ge_id=35720629 and look for the tutorial on installing a garage door opener. There are 7 pages of animation. It is all useful, and you should review it, but for your question, the meat is on the 7th page. You will see where they install the connecting arm to the trolley (the trolley is what I called the traveller). As you can see, the connecting arm is two pieces, one straight/one curved, and is highly adjustable by moving the bolts that attach the two pieces. If you raise the center track toward the ceiling, you will need to disassemble the two parts of this arm, and reassemble them so that the overall arm is slightly longer.

After some reflection, it looks to me like you need a handyman, not a garage door installer. I bet a handyman will do it for $100.

Bill