Question:
Our garage door slipped off the rails yesterday, due to a shovel handle
falling under one roller. It got twisted up a bit, but we got it all
back together OK. I still need help re-winding the lift cables and
tensioning the spring, etc. Nothing needs to be replaced.
One of the biggest ripoff home repair businesses in existence is septic
system services. Last time our leach pipes were clogged, we got
"professional" estimates ranging from $400 to $8,000. Another big
ripoff business is garage door service. Like the septic repair
businesses, they have you by the balls, since you're probably in the
middle of an unexpected crisis, suddenly not being able to open or
close your garage door. Like, they'll say you can't replace a small,
simple part. They'll say noooooo, you need a "spring replacement kit"
with a dozen pieces. Or maybe something must be replaced because it's
"weak," and my goodness, "it could break, and the door could fall on
you or your car."
All that being said, can anybody recommend a TRUSTWORTHY garage repair
place, if there is such a thing?
Answer:
If you add a column of hinges on either side, I don't see any
reason why you couldn't chop a hole in your door 3 panels high,
although you'd probably want to leave a metal bar across the
bottom to keep the spacing right. Having done that,
there's no reason why you couldn't mount a door in the
hole, except that the door doesn't fold.. So you cut the
door into panels to match the garage door, and hinge the
panels together. Mind you, this door won't open when
the garage door is lifted at all, and if you try to open the
garage door while the access-port is open, you'll wreck
something, so you probably want some sort of interlock on
the electric door-hoist.
How many sections of the bending door would your 7' door span? Lets
say 4. Get 8 strap hinges (or maybe whatever the garage door has now
if you can find the exact thing, but when I had a garage, it used
pretty common hinges.) and attach them on the left and right side of
where the door is going to be. Try lifting the door to make sure it
still moves easily up and down.
Get two sets of door hinges and mark where they should go. Drill the
holes. Also mark the line of the door. Cut on the line where the
hinges are going to be, and as you cut each section, screw in the
hinge. When you get to the floor, or even earlier also, try lifting
the door to make sure it still moves easily up and down.
Mark and drill the holes for a place for the latch and lock on the
open side.Cut the open side and the top. Attach the latch and lock.
Find some method to make sure the door is always shut when you try to
lift it Or maybe you just won't be able to lift it when it is open.
But still, find out how other doors handle this. Try lifting the
door to make sure it still moves easily up and down. Then you're
done.
